Upper Body Arm Applications

Fighting weight is all-important in combat as it affects your speed of response to an opponent's movements; not just in footwork, but also in arm-work. No matter what your frame or your height, do not exceed 200 lbs; as if you do, your reflexes shall be much slower. In combat, one strikes fast and quick with anything one can find, including one's mind, which is the most potent striking tool of all. You have to out-wit your enemy if you want to survive. Usually, when one fights, one will use one's shoulders, one's elbows, one's forearms, and one's hands to strike with. Very rarely are your fists utilized (we are speaking now of the type of fist that's mainly used in non-western boxing---Eastern Boxing---and not the Celtic Fist which is very different indeed); except when one is striking the insides of the arms of the opponents, in order to paralyze them. Striking surfaces of the hands are the heel of the hand and the edge of a hand, plus those three second knuckles: of the forefinger, the middle finger and of the ring finger (this is the Celtic Fist). If one is using an arm to strike, the strike is delivered from the pocket of the opposite arm. This is completely different from what one sees in Eastern arts. How to find this pocket? Well, if one tries to shrug a shoulder, and then moves one's chin in the direction of that shoulder's shrug, one shall find a small cavity inside the shoulder of the arm that is being shrugged. By using this arm pocket, any strike with the opposite arm causes a diagonal swing with that arm, while one's torso turns away from the diagonal swing; in the exact opposite direction of the swing! If the swing is to the right, the torso turns left. If the swing is to the left, the torso turns right. This comes from usages of a sword. The idea is that the torso turns away from an opponent's possible strike when delivering one's own strike; thereby, protecting the torso from possible penetration by the enemy's sword. This is a very important aspect when one strikes with the limbs of the upper body, whether that strike be delivered with one's shoulder, elbow, fore-arm, or the hand. The torso must turn away from the strike. It never turns towards any strike. In addition to granting greater protection for the torso, the strike is able to penetrate further. It's given greater reach. One flings arms away! Any time your arm is thrown out towards an opponent, and your torso doesn't twist away from your opponent; you're in much greater danger of being struck by your opponent. Now, this axiom does not imply to one's vision. Keep both eyes on an enemy at all times: Don't blink. Don't close them. Fore-arm strikes are delivered against the sides of the neck and of the head, while elbow strikes are to be delivered against the base of the skull and to the opponent's throat. The heel of the hand is used against the opponent's fore-head and his heart, while the edge of the hand is used against the opponent's spine. The Celtic three-knuckle fist is used as a slashing weapon against the sides of an opponent's body; to ribs and kidneys, and also against bladder and testicles. Remember all strikes must always be fast and quick and on target.

Lower Body Leg Applications

There are a great many fine illustrations of various martial applications shown on YouTube, but unfortunately very few of them have much to do with actual close combat. This well might be because of cultural differences. In the Western martial arts, the objective is to kill the opponent without causing serious injury to oneself while doing so. One does expect to be injured in any encounter with an enemy (that's why one avoids such encounters); but when an encounter does incur, one expects some injury. Of course, a better way to avoid injury is simply shun those who would wish to cause injury; but, unfortunately, that can not always be achieved (any person is allowed to use deadly physical force if he or she believes such force to be necessary to prevent imminent serious injury to themselves). The problem of serious injury was the original purpose for writing both my works for The Celtic Martial Arts Club, as the idea was to show how injury can be alleviated and minimized when it occurs; although I did get side-tracked because of all the questions regarding the usage of psychic powers. By the way, I've only seen psychic power used once in a confrontation. That was when my father squeezed a person's heart to stop it during an encounter. This was done at a distance (no touching). I've never seen it done by anyone else, although I do understand that there are some practitioners of other arts that can throw people without touching. That I can do myself, so it isn't that rare; but squeezing the heart to death is. The problem with most of the techniques that one sees on YouTube is the footwork; it's not shown, and it's the most important aspect of fighting. You always absolutely do have to get out of the way of your opponent's attack. When you practice techniques, practice as if your arms were bound to your sides and that they are paralyzed, so that you can't lift them, and simply practice trying to twist your torso in order to avoid any attacks, so that they'll slide pass you. You must position your body at an oblique angle to any attack; so that you could close in on your opponent, while avoiding an enemy's attack. You must never back away from an opponent. Backing away is suicide as it allows the opponent to rush in on you and utilize his full body weight to put you down. What you must try to do is close in on him or her while simultaneously avoiding his attack. Fighting is all about clever footwork. When you turn, always turn on your heels. The reason for this is that it lowers and sinks the hips. This allows you to duck under a strike to your head. When your foot is flat on the ground, the weight is then distributed between the ball of the foot and the heel of the foot. When your heel is lifted, all the weight is on the ball of the foot---never place any weight on your toes. The reason for this is that when weight is placed on the toes, your head will come forward, making an easy target for your enemy. The ball of your foot and the heel of the foot are used to attack the opponent's knee and ankle joints in fighting. They, the heel and ball of the foot, are utilized as if one were slashing with a sword. When an opponent moves in on you, slash his legs with your feet. Try aiming with the ball and the heel of your foot at the joints of the knee and ankle of your opponent's leg. The shin of your leg is used to strike against the calf muscle of your opponent's leg. Your knee is used to strike against the opponent's thigh. Your shin is used against his calf while your knee is used against his thigh; remember, shin against the calf and knee against the thigh! The idea behind all this leg work is to use your legs to buckle an opponent's legs to bring him down to the ground. This is not disparage hand and arm techniques, as one uses them in combination with the legs; but to emphasize upper body techniques can't be as effective unless your legs also are busy with side-stepping and kicking enemies; simultaneously, with your fore-arm, elbow and hand strikes. The lesson here is to use your limbs simultaneously in combinations. Don't rely on kicks. Don't rely on punches. Kick with a punch. Punch with a kick...Not: one, two, three. But: one, one, one!