Hello all,
it is quite enough that I don't find the time for writing.
I want to speak today about an old movie of 2004 that impressed me a lot: CRASH is the title.
This is a very interesting movie: the story is related to the lives of some person, that "incidentally" crash one against the other during the development of the facts.
Different persons, different characters, different worlds are involved into this story: the main point is that this differences, at a first sight, are linked to the colour of the skin. But following the developments, we understand that the differences are not only, and not mostly, based on these colours, but most in the mind of the people, or in the way of thinking that is supposed they have because of different colours.
Yes, because from one side we have black people against white people and viceversa, white people against arabian people and viceversa even when people is not arabian but from Pakistan (ignorance); but of course for pakistanese people in the movie is simpler to turn their rage agaist the black people, in a kind of poor's war to defend their own identity.
But from the other side the most interesting are the conflicts between white people, even when they are policemen (they are supposed to be at the justice side but...it's not so easy) and they give origin to a moral confrontation about what is acceptable or not form a ethical white point of view, in relationship to the problem of racism: but the policeman who seems to be "corrupted" and racist (the "bad" one), maybe for a frustration problem, or maybe to defend his position of policeman or the stereotype of the abuser of his own social position of white policeman, finally he saves his black victim from the death, even risking his own life; while the policeman (the "good" one) who faces the moral problem and shows to understand the problems of the black people, at the end kills a black guy, only because of the suspect he is black and maybe weaponed and dangerous.
Interesting are the conflicts between black people, for instance husband and wife, when the husband shows a racional and "white wise attitude" when the bad policeman abuses of his own power to check his wife, humiliating both just because he can, and this white attitude affects negatively his wife who expected a black macho reaction to the abuse; or situations in which black people who has culture, has to play as white man to respect the stereotype that white people has towards them (basket ball, hip hop culture, ignorance, and so on) giving up to their "white culture" that they have got going out from the segregation of the different opportunities if compared with white people; and in the same time this black-skinned "white people" is watched with critical eye from other black brothers, 'till to the point that black "white" people doesn't know anymore if he is black for his own skin or white for his own way to think, maybe feeling ashamed for the behaviour of his black brothers and in the same time, of his own, different from the stereotype.
There are various other situations, but I think that what I wrote above is enough to think over:
it's not new that each people watch the others just from their point of view, so that we are one, nobody and hundred thousand, depending on how many persons are watching us; but now we can say as well that each of us shows actively to each people just a part of himself. Sometimes this happens because each of us wants to give a special impression to the others, depending on the people, and sometimes to do this, we have to play as movie star, and finally all of us don't know if we are facing the persons, or their or our own prejudices. And we have to recognize that we ourselves do really cultivate these prejudices in the others because this can be very comfortable. The result is that finally we can't know the difference between the truth and the prejudice.
And our face becomes like the woman's one, at the end of the movie: she is unable to speak some word, because she can't recognize in the same person the brutal (maybe actor) abuser and in the same time her own Jesus Christ. Our brain is not able to do this. She goes away in the silence, still alive and with a big interrogative point on his face.
All of these happenings in order to crash in the others's life, just to not feel alone. This is the preface of the film.
And just to think over a little bit more, in this movie all the prejudices, concrete or not, are skin colour-based. So the concept is really evident. But there are many kind of prejudices, based on ideas or other..and we cultivate them or the socially recognized ones , to take advantage, even in the supposed prejudices of the persons surrounding us, only because making part of some group or category.
This is the official "Hek Ki Boen Eng Chun" martial art school of Praha, directed by Suheng Pasquale Mazzotta, who represents Master Riccardo Di Vito of Rome (Italy) in Prague.
giovedì 7 luglio 2011
domenica 17 aprile 2011
FREE YOURSELF FROM YOUR OPPONENT'S FORCE - 2nd principle of power
If our force is a kind of matter that is projected from the inside out, on the other side the opponent's strength tends to follow the opposite way, to enter into us, in our spine, our center. Therefore, these two forces going in opposite directions, mine from the inside out, the other from outside to inside.
By the term "to free", we mean in this case "avoid this force being released into our body"; it will be necessary to prevent the entry of the opponent force while continuing to project our own (to not violate the first law of force ).
However, if the two forces collide in a direct way we could hardly apply the first principle: it is as if a person wants to leave a room and the other one wants to enter, if ythey try to do both frontally and at the same time, probably none of them succeed in his goal, just they keep pushing one each other, using the raw strength - that we want to refine at least -. So it is necessary that the opponent's strength does not affect us without this being a result of a confrontation between the forces.
The possibility therefore are two:
1. The strength of the opponent does not enter, but it doesn't meet my strength (I create the vacuum);
2. The strength of the opponent does not enter, meet my strength, projected outward at an angle different from that attack.
The very existence of the third principle ("if the opponent's strength is greater, yield") suggests that the encounter may well be possible, therefore we have to consider both the possibility. The first situation occurs when my body will not be aligned with the strength of the opponent (see the footwork); while the second one when I can deflect the force of the opponent, projecting mine with a different angle, without the two colliding frontally (see the wedge or pyramid, and yang techniques).
"Get rid of your opponent's strength"for me means not being crushed, not going to apply force against force, but rather using my own where there is not the opponent's one, trying, of course, to find a gap."Get rid of your own strength", however, as we have said elsewhere, do not mean to be "inconsistent" or yielding always and anyway. The release must be through specific principles and concepts. One thing is to get rid of his strength not worrying too much about what of this force, another is to get rid of it while maintaining control and being able to use it to our advantage.
For some people, the principle we are talking about means "take out" the opponent's energy, while for others it means "not being in front of the opponent. " Many describe the Chi Sao as a technique through which the most skilful of the two creates a vacuum in relation to the push or thrust of the opponent, a sort of "dematerialization" before the attack ... Corners well prepared and well distributed pressures lead "outside" the strength of the opponent. The problem is that our level of knowledge and application often is not adequate and creates handholds which the enemy tends to stick, allowing him to find a gap in our sphere.
In some lineage is believed that in order to get rid of the opposing force is necessary a full rotation of the trunk - old memories ... -, which would allow the release of the opposing force out of our vertical midline (and, consequently, out of our center line). Well, in my experience, I can only "put aside" - to be kind - this theory, which has caused so much damage in the stability of the practitioners, who performed the rotation of 90 ° without any roots to the ground. Rotate your upper body on one leg, but in exceptional circumstances and with the necessary precautions, is like to let everyone, who knows a minimum of concepts of plyometrics, hurl you down!
Let's get back to us. The moment you want to get rid of the other external forces, remember do not get too close your elbows to the body, because you risk being crushed. This is another bad souvenir that many will carry with them, but it is also another luggage - or ballast? - we have to throw into the sea. Does it mean that the arms must not yield back? Of course not, but it is important that the angle of the elbow does not exceed the minimum threshold of 90 °, after which only elbow strikes or other type of shock can save your ass.
We assume that in order to learn the mechanics of how to unload the weight, or, better, how to get rid of the opponent's strength, we must first understand what it means to actually get rid of our own force and all those instinctive reactions leading to muscle contractions in a situation where we receive very strong stimulations on our arms or on our bodies in general. Only after understanding the first concept related to the force we can understand the second one.
Getting rid of the strength of the opponent is an effective way to understand how to take advantage (freeing ourselves from) of the lines of force that our opponent uses (attacking us), to our full advantage.Through a structure built out correctly, our arms will be able to receive all the streams and lines of force of the opponent, unloading all the energy of the opponent to the ground, throughout the body, to be able to fight back dynamically, in the moment in which his strength, that we have unloaded, is equal to zero (thus reversing the situation in our favor and applying in this way the 4th principle of power). If I may suggest a practical thing, I suggest you first unload the opposing force at a diagonal angle: if the attack is to the right arm, get the weight (and strength) on the left heel and vice versa for an attack on your left side. With this basic exercise, you can work to unload the incoming forces. The exercise can be also executed with pushes directly on the body or on the arms.
This principle reveals another aspect of the system, to not ever oppose resistance (composed of raw force) to the opponent. Getting rid of the strength of your opponent means to take possession of his strength for us, then to be able to use to our advantage in combat. The strength of our opponent should not be an obstacle to our action. Even with the Siu Nim Tao, we have to be able to develop the principles that allow us to convey into our body the strength of the opponent, to accumulate and turn it into explosive energy when we go into action to attack.
The application of the principle we are dealing with, is an important element of distinction between the different lineages; it is closely related to the way in which they plan to absorb the opponent's energy.
We use our principles and different strategies (Kiu Sao) to make the first contact and to absorb the force of our opponent (a fist or whichever other action), creating our bridge (Kiu) and trying to sink his (Cham Kiu). From here youwe can have various scenarios. Sometimes it is sufficient to take the weight on one foot, others to apply a small rotation of the trunk, others a step. Create distance, somehow, from the point of pressure - "deflated" - with the center of gravity down and back, so you can decide what to do. But for today I will stop here, because we are dealing with the second principle. To get rid of the attacking force, we should not stop to have pressure towards those who attack us (contact points, lines of force, etc..) how many instructors from the more different lineages explain, with only "power forward" - without saying forward where -.Rather, we must remain stuck to the contact point and we must take care not to let the opponent's pressure or attack enter into our body structure, or we risk to lose our balance and, consequently, we will not be able to get rid of his strength. The stability is vital, remember always that.
(adapted from the Riccardo Di Vito's Blog)
By the term "to free", we mean in this case "avoid this force being released into our body"; it will be necessary to prevent the entry of the opponent force while continuing to project our own (to not violate the first law of force ).
However, if the two forces collide in a direct way we could hardly apply the first principle: it is as if a person wants to leave a room and the other one wants to enter, if ythey try to do both frontally and at the same time, probably none of them succeed in his goal, just they keep pushing one each other, using the raw strength - that we want to refine at least -. So it is necessary that the opponent's strength does not affect us without this being a result of a confrontation between the forces.
The possibility therefore are two:
1. The strength of the opponent does not enter, but it doesn't meet my strength (I create the vacuum);
2. The strength of the opponent does not enter, meet my strength, projected outward at an angle different from that attack.
The very existence of the third principle ("if the opponent's strength is greater, yield") suggests that the encounter may well be possible, therefore we have to consider both the possibility. The first situation occurs when my body will not be aligned with the strength of the opponent (see the footwork); while the second one when I can deflect the force of the opponent, projecting mine with a different angle, without the two colliding frontally (see the wedge or pyramid, and yang techniques).
"Get rid of your opponent's strength"for me means not being crushed, not going to apply force against force, but rather using my own where there is not the opponent's one, trying, of course, to find a gap."Get rid of your own strength", however, as we have said elsewhere, do not mean to be "inconsistent" or yielding always and anyway. The release must be through specific principles and concepts. One thing is to get rid of his strength not worrying too much about what of this force, another is to get rid of it while maintaining control and being able to use it to our advantage.
For some people, the principle we are talking about means "take out" the opponent's energy, while for others it means "not being in front of the opponent. " Many describe the Chi Sao as a technique through which the most skilful of the two creates a vacuum in relation to the push or thrust of the opponent, a sort of "dematerialization" before the attack ... Corners well prepared and well distributed pressures lead "outside" the strength of the opponent. The problem is that our level of knowledge and application often is not adequate and creates handholds which the enemy tends to stick, allowing him to find a gap in our sphere.
In some lineage is believed that in order to get rid of the opposing force is necessary a full rotation of the trunk - old memories ... -, which would allow the release of the opposing force out of our vertical midline (and, consequently, out of our center line). Well, in my experience, I can only "put aside" - to be kind - this theory, which has caused so much damage in the stability of the practitioners, who performed the rotation of 90 ° without any roots to the ground. Rotate your upper body on one leg, but in exceptional circumstances and with the necessary precautions, is like to let everyone, who knows a minimum of concepts of plyometrics, hurl you down!
Let's get back to us. The moment you want to get rid of the other external forces, remember do not get too close your elbows to the body, because you risk being crushed. This is another bad souvenir that many will carry with them, but it is also another luggage - or ballast? - we have to throw into the sea. Does it mean that the arms must not yield back? Of course not, but it is important that the angle of the elbow does not exceed the minimum threshold of 90 °, after which only elbow strikes or other type of shock can save your ass.
We assume that in order to learn the mechanics of how to unload the weight, or, better, how to get rid of the opponent's strength, we must first understand what it means to actually get rid of our own force and all those instinctive reactions leading to muscle contractions in a situation where we receive very strong stimulations on our arms or on our bodies in general. Only after understanding the first concept related to the force we can understand the second one.
Getting rid of the strength of the opponent is an effective way to understand how to take advantage (freeing ourselves from) of the lines of force that our opponent uses (attacking us), to our full advantage.Through a structure built out correctly, our arms will be able to receive all the streams and lines of force of the opponent, unloading all the energy of the opponent to the ground, throughout the body, to be able to fight back dynamically, in the moment in which his strength, that we have unloaded, is equal to zero (thus reversing the situation in our favor and applying in this way the 4th principle of power). If I may suggest a practical thing, I suggest you first unload the opposing force at a diagonal angle: if the attack is to the right arm, get the weight (and strength) on the left heel and vice versa for an attack on your left side. With this basic exercise, you can work to unload the incoming forces. The exercise can be also executed with pushes directly on the body or on the arms.
This principle reveals another aspect of the system, to not ever oppose resistance (composed of raw force) to the opponent. Getting rid of the strength of your opponent means to take possession of his strength for us, then to be able to use to our advantage in combat. The strength of our opponent should not be an obstacle to our action. Even with the Siu Nim Tao, we have to be able to develop the principles that allow us to convey into our body the strength of the opponent, to accumulate and turn it into explosive energy when we go into action to attack.
The application of the principle we are dealing with, is an important element of distinction between the different lineages; it is closely related to the way in which they plan to absorb the opponent's energy.
We use our principles and different strategies (Kiu Sao) to make the first contact and to absorb the force of our opponent (a fist or whichever other action), creating our bridge (Kiu) and trying to sink his (Cham Kiu). From here youwe can have various scenarios. Sometimes it is sufficient to take the weight on one foot, others to apply a small rotation of the trunk, others a step. Create distance, somehow, from the point of pressure - "deflated" - with the center of gravity down and back, so you can decide what to do. But for today I will stop here, because we are dealing with the second principle. To get rid of the attacking force, we should not stop to have pressure towards those who attack us (contact points, lines of force, etc..) how many instructors from the more different lineages explain, with only "power forward" - without saying forward where -.Rather, we must remain stuck to the contact point and we must take care not to let the opponent's pressure or attack enter into our body structure, or we risk to lose our balance and, consequently, we will not be able to get rid of his strength. The stability is vital, remember always that.
(adapted from the Riccardo Di Vito's Blog)
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