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One would think an ancient technique, one developed a few hundred years ago, would not be necessary in today’s civilization. An intelligent martial artist, however, knows that self defense sword techniques must be studied. Take a loook at the following headlines from the newspapers.

Pregnant woman holds on to life after after surviving a sword attack! Man swinging a Samurai sword killed by security guards! And there are a lot more stories like these in todays modern society.

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You want to have a perfectly designed body, and Isshin Ryu, Goju Ryu, or some other Karate System is the key! There are, however, several things you should understand before you begin this journey. These things would be what, exactly, a perfect body is.

To be honest, a perfect body is going to have to do with proportion. One of the best definitions of proportions I have come across is by Leo DaVinci. His analysis of frame is as follows: length the same as height, seven heads high, three heads shoulder to shoulder, two heads from fingers to elbows, four heads hips to toes, and so on.

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It’s funny how these principles roil around and impact with each other. I see them in all the fighting disciplines, but they seem strongest in the kung fu arts arts of Tai Chi Chuan and Pa Kua Chang and Pan Gai Noon. What’s not funny is how you can harm the body as you cross engineer certain movements.

The first notion I developed was that of exploding energy. That’s the easiest type of energy to find, and it pops up through all arts quickly, and I found it in Karate. Unfortunately, I found that at a certain point it was causing me severe head pain; I was suffering whiplash from the energy I was exploding through my structure.

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Making the change from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands should be an easy one. Of course, a fire drill is always easy, until one has a real fire in their backyard. Thus, to understand this change one must make a few adjustments in the way they think about things.

First, the Sticky Hands of Wing Chun is usually done with a certain springiness in mind. Someone pushes on your arms, and you give away enough to deflect, and then spring into the opening created. This is a generality, and there is a lot more, but it is what we must focus on to make our transition.

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The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes. That is the truth of this universe. That this is true in Karate (and other martial arts) is shown in the words of Gichin Funakoshi, the father of Modern Karate.

Before I give you his words, let me make a point through the speech of Matsu Basho. Don’t follow in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seek (the truths) they sought. While this bit of writing I present to you may seem like an attack on traditionalism, it is really merely an admonishment to look deep.

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The Aikido Techniques of Morihei Ueshiba are sometimes accused of not being usable in real combat. Such a statement merely shows that a person doesn’t know the nasty tricks behind this amazing art. One should remember, however, that this martial art is derived from Aikijujitsu, which art was put together by Samurai warlords thousands years ago.

Before going further, let me say that this article doesn’t put forth the use of purely destructive techniques. After all, studying a martial art for the sake of the spirit should provide one with a belief system that will enable one to avoid combat situations. That said, knowing the deadlier techniques will enhance the student’s understanding, and should the philosophy proves insufficient to the task…one will have the necessary tools.

Taekwondo, is a uniquely balanced activity because it increases your strength, flexibility and cardiovascular reserve concurrently something you might achieve at the health club, but just with an extremely tailored training regime which divides your time and effort evenly between weights, cardio machines as well as the stretching mats.

Taekwondo offers all this off-the-shelf, as it were, while engaging your brain and imagination in a manner that a treadmill or bench-press never can.