P-K-J
is a living art, which means that both I and my students continue to
refine and change the system. Looking to improve it's effectiveness
and to increase the speed at which it can be taught and understood.
This is done by combining the best of established training principles
along with findings from areas like Neuro Linguistic Programming and
Accelerated Learning.
I
originally started teaching P-K-J in March 2001 and have been blessed
by having
senior students who are both experienced martial artists in their
own right and
also quite willing to say "But wouldn't it be better if..." and "But
that wouldn't work, because..." This keeps P-K-J 'honest' and makes
sure that what we practice is actually as effective as was planned.
P-K-J is a principles based system of martial arts - that doesn't mean
that there are no techniques to be learnt, there are lots of techniques
but... Principles are more important. One principle well understood is
worth a hundred techniques. Why? Because if you understand the principle
the technique is easily derived. If you do not understand the principle
then in a combat situation you have to try and remember the technique that
is 'right' - this takes too long!
One of the basic principles of P-K-J is what I call "Thanking your attacker".
As an attacker attacks, they are actually giving you an immediate opportunity
to defeat them. The seeds of the counter move is implicit in the attack.
This is something that Judo and Aikido have always known but it's less
often thought about in Karate and some other 'kick-punch' arts.
Another basic principle is "Redundancy". This means that any technique
that you perform should ideally work in more than one way. So for example
a counter attack that works by coming off of the attacker's line of
attack also gives you an escape route. A 'pressure point' attack may
also provide
a simple mechanical advantage (say by bending a joint in a way that
is favourable to your attack) so that if the 'pressure point' doesn't
cause
pain then the mechanical effect still helps you. A 'block' that stops
you from being hit also causes your attacker pain so that they
have to slow
their attack or a 'block' (that stops you from being hit) unbalances
your attacker so they can't follow up. Some aspects of Redundancy
are very simple
and some quite sophisticated, what matters is that everything that
you do should have multiple effects on your attacker.
Next is "MFO" Multiple Finishing Options - There are times when an
attack will require you to seriously harm an attacker in order
to ensure your
own safety but there are also times when an attack can be SAFELY neutralised
without doing any long term harm to the attacker. MFO is the underlying
principle that lets you decide on the required level of response. Put
simply, it's not good to win a fight if you end up going to prison!
I'd also like to explain what is meant by "The Martial Art for 'real'
people" - to me it seems, that many martial arts are designed
for people who will train and train and train and train until they
become
super-fit super warriors. Now that's fine and indeed I train a lot
myself however
a true martial art should be available for your self defence needs
with a relatively little amount of training. It should also allow for
the
fact that you may be tired or unwell or that you have been busy at
work and
haven't done any training at all in the last month. In other words
the training should do its best to quickly and permanently instill
into your
psyche and your long term memory and your muscle memory those attitudes,
principles, techniques and habits that will help keep you safe in a
physical confrontation.
It is those attitudes, principles, techniques and habits that P-K-J will
let you learn so as to maximize your safety.
Details of classes - CLICK HERE.
A Student
writes:
"My Journey To Black Belt" - Click
Here (opens in new window - .pdf file).
