Dave and Sing,
Greetings!
I'm glad that you guys brought up the "magic" that can occur while sparring, because in my opinion learning to turn that mind state on at will is what reality training is all about.
The "magic" happened for me for the first time when I was a teenager. I had been formally training in Fu Jow/ Hung Gar for 4-5 yrs at that point...
One day I was distracted while on the street- extremely stupid in my neighborhood- and let myself be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was jumped by a gang of five older guys in an alley, two of which turned out to have knives. Now, fighting and being attacked by gangs were common occurences where I grew up, so one became adept after a while at judging if the situation was really bad, or just some macho posturing bullsh*t.
Let me tell you, when I saw the looks on the faces of the a**holes surrounding me, it was instantly clear that this could be the very last mistake of my short life. I was scared sh*tless! But when the leader and the guy behind me pulled their blades, something weird happened in my head and everything suddenly became crystalline. I could see everything all at once and it was actually simple to take them out- I just knew how each of them was going to move- it seemed even before they did- and could therefore move faster than they did. I think the whole thing only lasted less than a minute.
Afterwards, oh MAN! BIGTIME SHAKES!, and I almost puked. But I never, ever forgot that feeling. And it has since kicked in at other critical times. In fact, even to this day, some twenty five years since I first experienced the magic, I still find that multiple attacker sparring is the most likely to trigger this state for me- my brain just must go right back to that alley.
Over the years, I've come to believe that when you're fighting several opponents at once, you have so little time to think that you simply react instinctively- using everything you have- to the flow of combat. I think that this level of stress flicks some ancient switch in your brain to on, and all of a sudden you can somehow feel attacks coming from your blindside, see everything at once, evade and counter faster than you thought possible. Everything is fast and yet slow at the same time- like the eye of a hurricane.
I find it very hard to describe this state of being and do it any justice. It really does go beyond just adrenaline. The best I can do is to say that you feel completely alive and in the moment. Everything that is you is focused right there, right now. Those of you who have ever been in the "zone" playing a sport- well it's almost the same feeling- but without the acute life and death overtones.
Live blade sparring with gear will also often trigger this magic state for me, which is why I do it. I figure that the more I can groove this neuropathway in my brain, the more likely it is to be triggered again if I ever really need it. I can think of no better reason to train all-out.
So go, find the magic for yourself...its out there.
Mario
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Gaucho
Tuvo muy mala suerte...se callo en mi cuchillo.
[This message has been edited by Gaucho (edited 01-18-2000).]
