Injure Without Touch

[Dinsdale]

Damn, now you’re asking me to flaunt my near complete ignorance concerning terminology, especially of thing FMA, and my utter incompetnce at disarms!

I’d have to take a while to write down the movements, but it is a series of 12 disarms, where you rotate the opponent’s weapon hand “around the clock” and switch which hand of yours you use to disarm every step or two. I always hate it whan someone says, “Hey, let’s do the LAMECO 10 count,” and i’m like, “Huh?” But if they say, “Do this,” the grey matter begins to stir.

What I get a kick out of with Dan is how he will go through a series and say, “This is the way Johnny LaCoste does it.” “This is how Angel Cabales would do it.” And so on, and so on. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to fumble through the first couple of disarms, let alone being capable of perceiving the intricate distinctions he is trying to illustrate.

About all I know about knives is that if someone pulls one on me, I’m fucked. That’s when I turn on my Nike-do!

You aren’t training now? Since you are in Tejas, here should be a Dog Brother in the neighborhood. I’ve got a buddy in Dallas, but he primarily does empty hand work.

[Spiritus_Mundi]

I haven’t heard Inosanto refer to his work as Modern Arnis before. He is most strongly associated with kali and Jeet Kun Do. I used to work out with another 2[sup]nd[/sup] generation student of Inosanto. My stick backround comes primarily from the Arnis side, though it has been influenced by both Korean and Viet Namese techniques. We used to get into trouble when our terminology was almost the same. For instance – we would do progressive strike drills that started the same but then diverged because my training had dropped some of the weaker thrusts (I had no intention of trading my stick for a bolo).

Fun stuff, though. And great for seminars. Beginning drills are easy to remember and still effective in developing practical technique and reflexes (though I usd to love demonstrating the holes in senewali to people who thought it was a “spinning wall of death” ;)).

Re the OP: I have had the occassion to witness many demonstrations of chi over the years. I have yet to see one that both functioned on a skeptical subject and defied reproduction through gross physical means. I have no direct knowledge of any of your schools or instructors, but I do recommend being wary. There are many people out there who prey upon desire and innocence. There are also people who perpetuate poor technique without ever realizing that they were duped in the first place.

Oh, and if they start with the “unbendable arm”, run.

[ianzin]

I’m no expert on martial arts, but I know a bit about ‘extraordinary’ claims involving some sort of mind power.

The claim that some form of energy (call it chi, call it what you like) can be used to strike or knock over an opponent, without needing to physically touch him, arises in connection with several different martial arts. However, the people making such claims may often be over-enthusiastic fans sharing their own sense of awe, rather than authoritative sources of information.

It’s not really something you can resolve on a ‘real or not’ basis. It is as real as you want it to be.

Compare it to something like spoon-bendng.

Lots of believe it’s real. And it IS, as opposed to a hallucination. The psychic really strokes the spoon, and it really ends up bent.

Many claim to have witnessed demonstrations. And they HAVE. I myself have done it for a gazillion people, if you include TV shows.

Many say it has been tested under controlled conditions, and it HAS. After all, saying ‘it was tested’ doesn’t mean ‘it was successful’ does it? And in any case, scientists can sometimes be deceived.

But despite all the above, there’s no gee-whizz mind-power involved. It’s a trick. Like a close-up magic trick, but more subtle, and very hard to spot the fakery when it’s done well.

So, back to chi-zapping opponents. Plenty of hype and reports in books. OK, but that’s worth nothing without firmer evidence to back it up. Some demonstrations by experts, but again, the reports may be more impressive than the demos. And as for the demos themselves, only those disposed to believe would be likely to accept them at face-value. For the rest of us, until the ability is demonstrated under controlled conditions, invigilated by people who know the ‘fake’ methods, we may prefer alternative explanations.

It is possible, without doubt, to make people flinch, react as if struck, or even fall over… without touching them. This is standard repertoire for mentalists (= magicians who specialise in ‘mind’ kind of stuff). But these effects are achieved by psychologically conditiong a spectator to react a certain way, and exploiting natural instinctive human defence reactions. No ‘mind power’ or ‘chi’ involved.

One example: imagine a very imposing, confident type of performer. Warms up with some impressive ‘mind power’ stuff. Imagine audience is kinda intrigued and impressed. Next, mention the ‘psychic punch’ effect. Get male volunteer up on stage, someone on the tall, thin side of average. Explain what WILL happen (positive mental suggestion).

A crash mat is placed behind spec on the stage. This looks fair, and a good safety precaution, but it’s mainly there to help the effect. It is (a) quite heavy (b) about 12 inches high and © positioned right at the back of the spec’s ankles. So - any backward movement and the spec has nowhere to go except fall over backwards. Also, this positioning of the mat re-inforces the positive psych suggestion that this thing really IS going to happen.

Spec is asked to stand still, and relax. Performer stands some distance away, conjures up the ‘psychc punch’ (lots of theatrics and pantomime here, special breathing, concentration etc.). Spec is on edge, figuratively and literally, and wondering what spooky stuff is coming his way. Performer arches his whole body, first of all away from the spec (gathering up the energy) and then suddenly - swoosh! - towards him, at the same time making a dramatic, huge, exaggerated ‘force from the hands’ gesture, complete with aggressive facial expression. Spec is very likely to instinctively recoil from this gesture, but can’t go anywhere except fall back on to the crash mat. Which, in any case, he knows he is expected to do, knows will be safe, and knows will get him off that stage where he feels embarassed and awkward.

I’m not for one moment claiming this is how all such demos are accomplished. It’s just one example of the kind of thing that some performers, such as myself, get up to, and which are often mis-reported later in a more exaggerated form.

[SSgtBaloo]

One possible technique to “injure without touch” could involve consumption of large amounts of kimchee and OB beer (available in South Korea). I myself have been able to clear rooms and rattle windows using this technique. I have since given up the practice of this art, however, for the good of mankind.

~~Baloo

[sup]Sorry – I just couldn’t resist.[/sup]