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No Mind. Do you use it? How?
Sir Edward:
Right, exactly. We get into a bad habit of skipping fuhlen altogether and react as if they're hard of the sword all the time.
Thorsteinn:
As practitioner of No Mind, and having fought at the bind and not. I would say that, if my opponent is stronger than I in the bind and I am stronger out of it then I will feel that, and seek to not fight there. If we are tied to the bind then I will get rid of the swords to go to fists or daggers. ;)
A friend of mine told me he can tell when I switch because my pupils dilate and my Speed, Accuracy, & Power all go up by 25-50% while I will be less tired after. Essentially No Mind allows me to fight my True Fight and thus I'm at my most efficient (having essentially gotten out of my own way).
And that is my problem practicing it as well. I can not do No Mind outside of sparring as I MUST be free to do the techniques, speed, and power that feel right.
When I fight with the intent of trying not to bring power & speed to the equation become clumsy like trying to talk with a stutter. I want to be able to practice the Place of No Place without having my kit on but I don't know how.
I feel am trying to explain the touch of the sea to a desert when I speak of this.
The videos below should help I hope.
Sir Brian:
--- Quote from: Joshua Santana on 2012-04-30, 13:58:36 ---
--- Quote from: Sir Edward on 2012-04-30, 13:46:11 ---I'm very analytical of my opponent prior to the first strike, but then once I'm "in the moment", I just flow with it and have a hard time remembering exactly what happened. It might not quite be the "no mind" thing, but it's more muscle memory and reflex than thinking. I actually have to work at bringing the thought back into it so that I can choose techniques that are tactically appropriate rather than just being reactive. It's a difficult balance that I seek.]I'm very analytical of my opponent prior to the first strike, but then once I'm "in the moment", I just flow with it and have a hard time remembering exactly what happened. It might not quite be the "no mind" thing, but it's more muscle memory and reflex than thinking. I actually have to work at bringing the thought back into it so that I can choose techniques that are tactically appropriate rather than just being reactive. It's a difficult balance that I seek.
--- End quote ---
That is an issue most fighters deal with. It is about muscle memory and it is difficult to develop it but once you get there it becomes a game of instinct. How I see choosing tactically appropriate techniques, i would analyze the opponents attack in half a second and use Fuhlen and Indes (Feeling and Instance or In time according to Liechtenauer) and respond accordingly; or what I would call "Call and Response".
--- End quote ---
Assuming I am dueling someone I have never fought before or had very few engagements with, then I typically take a few seconds to observe my opponent before initiating an attack if they do not initiate one first. I look for them to make some obvious mistakes such as frequently changing guards within my measure, especially if I haven’t changed my guard. I also take note if they are ‘circling’ me, if they have any nervous habits such as twitching sword tips, excessive bobbing and weaving their body, etc.
I only take note of these things but don’t attempt to build any true strategy with the information learned until after a couple of ‘instinctive’ engagements of our blades to get a feel for them if we come to a bind, if they even go for a bind. If they do bind then do they like to stay strong or go weak in the bind? If I have survived long enough to acquire that information then I try to formulate a strategy. Perhaps they are habitual fighters that react the same way to the same attack that then gives me an advantage to do some preparatory attacks for a feint.
Then again highly aggressive attacks combined with deliberate fluidity and quick blade speed overcomes many of the best strategies. ;)
Joshua Santana:
--- Quote ---Assuming I am dueling someone I have never fought before or had very few engagements with, then I typically take a few seconds to observe my opponent before initiating an attack if they do not initiate one first. I look for them to make some obvious mistakes such as frequently changing guards within my measure, especially if I haven’t changed my guard. I also take note if they are ‘circling’ me, if they have any nervous habits such as twitching sword tips, excessive bobbing and weaving their body, etc.
I only take note of these things but don’t attempt to build any true strategy with the information learned until after a couple of ‘instinctive’ engagements of our blades to get a feel for them if we come to a bind, if they even go for a bind. If they do bind then do they like to stay strong or go weak in the bind? If I have survived long enough to acquire that information then I try to formulate a strategy. Perhaps they are habitual fighters that react the same way to the same attack that then gives me an advantage to do some preparatory attacks for a feint.
Then again highly aggressive attacks combined with deliberate fluidity and quick blade speed overcomes many of the best strategies.
--- End quote ---
That is good observation on your part Sir Brian. You have a good habit if what I would call "instinctive approaching" to the fight which is what I would use appropriately.
You make a good point here and this is what we need to keep in mind when we bout.
To me Rautt, my moment of Fuhlen and Indes comes when my mind sees me and the opponent, everything else is blackened. That is where the strategic analysis and decision making happens. I could almost say that when I attack I make up my strategy as I go along, going with the flow of the fight instead of against it. This requires Fuhlen and Indes, and a quick, responsive and relaxed mind.
As someone did said, "if you are attacking then responding with counter attacks and defenses, at that point you are fencing or fighting."
Thorsteinn:
Perhaps it is that, if I pause to think in an SCA or EMA fight without first creating distance in time and space, I will lose.
I have never seen an actively intellectual fighter rise beyond the middle. My step-dad is one such. Because he must plan and think of the fight he is as Bruce Lee said "If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow — you are not understanding yourself.".
To beat him I had to learn to unlearn. I had to just be me. He thought that I would follow a classical pattern for the kinds of attacks I, or he, was making, and so long as I fought his way, or the way of others, he would always beat me. When I learned to just 'Be Water' to just allow that which I wanted to do naturally to be done then did I find success. It didn't matter that he countered this move, or that move, or the next. So long as I was Water I could adapt. As he still relies upon the Classical Fencing stratagems & methods for his base he will always be limited by the classical form.
My step-dad is a good fighter but so long as he has to operate with a card of moves he will always be beaten in that moment when he reaches for a new card. Fencing expertise or no.
Thus... my search for a reliable way to the place of No Place. :)
BTW how fast & hard do y'all fight where you fight?
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Shaolin Abbott: I see your talents have gone beyond the mere physical level. Your skills are now at the point of spiritual insight. I have several questions. What is the highest technique you hope to achieve ?
Lee: To have no technique.
Shaolin Abbott: Very good. What are your thoughts when facing an opponent ?
Lee: There is no opponent.
Shaolin Abbott: And why is that ?
Lee: Because the word "I" does not exist.
Shaolin Abbott: So, continue...
Lee: A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.
Shaolin Abbott: Now, you must remember: the enemy has only images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy.
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The perfect way is only difficult for those who pick and choose. Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear. Make a hairbreadth difference and heaven and earth are set apart; if you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against. The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease.
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