Martial Arts Best Practices for Pragmatic Strategists

By M.E. H., Rick Matz, and Michele Noelle

Many of our associates are believers of the Asian strategy classics and are avid players of the Chinese and Japanese martial arts. During our chats and emails, we talk about our various internal martial arts training experience and enjoy quoting from the strategy classics and various martial art essays. At our annual dinner party, we discussed the topic of the best practices that we have found helpful in our many years of martial arts practice. After dinner we compiled a list of the best practices that might be helpful to the next generation of strategists and martial artists. Here are the most relevant of the practices outlined below.

Side note: Much of the content in this article is common sense. The article's goal is to ensure that our readers have a foundation for improving their training and their performance. Strategy and Competition Always read The Art Of War and other strategy classics many hours before entering any serious competition. Sometimes it puts the mind in proper "competitor" perspective. We also recommend The Art of War [CD-ROM] from Denma's translation and Ralph D. Sawyer, as a very good substitute.

Understand the importance of having a clean and quiet temple of the mind before beginning the process of assessing and planning While amateurs strategize from a two-dimensional view, the professionals strategize from a multi-dimensional perspective By practicing the principles of The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China (History and Warfare) and the Tao Te Ching, you learn the metaphysical connection between the two subjects The process of the strategy is always greater than the features of the technology Display a state of calmness; never show a sense of stress and anxiety

Best Practices of Internal Martial Arts

The following internal martial arts best practices can be useful for strategists:

• Practice the various internal martial exercises before the sun rises
• The key to internal martial arts is to develop the skill of feeling
• When practicing, focus on feeling your entire body and your settings in terms of yin and yang
• Practice the alignment of your whole body in terms of center, relax, ground, calm and whole
• Where the attention goes, the energy flow
• When exercising, revel in the process not the pace. Indirectly, it is also a test of your concentration
• Always quietly practice your exercises at the same place and at the same time. Silence is golden. Positive consistency and continuity is important to the mind and body.
• The quiet practicing of stances allows you to gain the feeling of stillness
• Understand the practice of stillness to gain insights
• When training, ensure that one of your ligaments is always connected to the ground
• There is greater value in the practicing of a single- to double-motion exercise than in the practicing of multiple-motions exercise
• Begin all practices with a series of deep breathing and stretching exercises without stressing the body
• Start the stretching process by using low-level and deep stances. Continue by focusing on one-legged stances.
• Wear a weighted vest while practicing (a training tradition of some Cheng Ting Hua’s Bagua players)
• You should always stand than to sit.  We recommend the use of the standing table for work
• Learning Yi Quan is a good way to gain a grand insight into the benefits of standing and stilling the body
• "When one is relaxed, the body comes flexible (lively), the qi circulates throughout the body, and the body now becomes whole. ..." (Yi Quan training quote)
• Practice within the training stages of static, active, and changing
• When practicing Taijiquan, Baguazhang, or other forms of internal art systems, learning and practicing Push Hands (or similar "one on one" sparring exercises) is very important in the development of body sensitivity
• Always have a good "above-average" skilled training partner to practice the "Push Hands" exercises
• Practice circle walking everyday (a training tradition of Baguazhang players)
• Focus on evading, encircling, and entrapping your opposition (a practice of Baguazhang players)
• Understand the quintessence of Yang Taijiquan through the practice of the Yang Taiji 13 postures
• Perform the Taiji long form with a fast rhythm. Then practice the Taiji short form with a slow rhythm.  While the practice of the long form in a quick rhythm develops aerobic and endurance, the pace of the short form develops the feeling of patience and steadiness (a training tradition of Taiji players)
• The circular motion of the moving body should never break. (One should always deploy the circular motion before implementing a linear motion.)
• Never practice internal martial arts exercises in a cold, windy and noisy area
• Unless it is absolutely necessary, never travel in an extremely cold and windy area without the proper clothing. If possible, avoid those areas
• Serious martial art players should have at least one high-quality, customized implement. The customization of your implement enables you to develop a bond with it
• Never be the martial art player who has the best gear without the skill and the drive to practice with it

Food and Diet

The following food and diet best practices can be useful for strategists:

• Drink green tea in the morning
• Drink Pu-Erh tea after a meat-based meal
• Drink Iron Goddess Oolong tea during extreme summer weather
• Never overeat or over drink alcohol
• Always consume fruits and veggies first before a meal
• Fasting twice a month is a good way of cleansing the body
• Drink Oolong tea after completing an extensive training session. It is not recommended to drink cold water or fluids.
• Never eat before practice
• Always drink a cup of warm tea or water after training

Practice of Martial Arts and Health

The following martial arts and health best practices can be useful for strategists:

• Always have access to Dit Dat medicine for injury purposes. Finding a good brand of the Dit Dat medicine can be a difficult challenge. (It is very helpful to learn how to make it.)
• Develop an interest in general medicine and health science
• Always have the names of well-recommended acupuncture doctors and sport medicine doctors in your rolodex
• The faster our society moves, the more extreme the stress will become. Connect yourself to the ground and sip some water to relax
• Another good stress-relieving exercise is the cleaning and the polishing of the implements during the pre-practice and post-practice period
• Cleanliness is next to godliness
• The perfection of the practice is more important than the routine of practicing to perfection
• The key to proper internal martial arts practice is to understand the connection between the Xin (body), Qi (the breath), and Shen (spirit)

Reading Resources

The following is an abridged listing of our favorite martial arts training authors and books:

• Doug Wiles books on Yang Taijiquan books
• Joseph Crandall translations of various internal martial art books
• Andreas Falk translations of various internal martial art books
• Victor Harris translation of A Book of Five Rings
• Ron Meyer's book on Aikido: Center: The Power of Aikido
• Dan Miller and Tim Cartmell translation of Sun Lu Tang's Xing Yi Quan Xue: The Study of Form-Mind Boxing
• Louis Swaim's books on Yang Taijiquan

Reading martial art training books once or twice a year is usually helpful for those who have gone through the proper training and practice. It also allows experienced practitioners to compare and contrast whether their training practices are similar to the traditions of that of the grandmasters.

The only tangible secrets in the internal martial arts are knowing what are the best practices for training and having the conscious will to perform those practices consistently.

M.E.H. is a "strategy consultant." You can find him at collaboration360.blogspot.com.

More of Rick Matz  posts can be found at http://cookdingskitchen.blogspot.com/.

Previous M.E.H. Writings on Strategy

• Playing with the Dao: A "Pragmatic" Strategic View – Part 1 and Part 2
• Sun Tzu's The Art of War
• The Mind of the Strategist: Knowing the Questions
• The Game of Go
• Chinese Chess
• Zhuge Liang – Part 1 and Part 2
• The Tao of Becoming a Strategist
• STRATEGY as a Way of Life: "Know the Question. Then Find the Answer"