How You Train is How You Fight

By David Mandeix
David is an Orange Belt student at Wu Dao

Recently, Wu Dao celebrated its second year anniversary as well as its debut in Kung Fu tournament circuit. Two years of hard work, blood, sweat, toil and tears was put to the test, and the results were gratifying to say the least.

For my own part, this was not my first martial arts tournament. I have a long string of (somewhat unsatisfying) Judo and Tang Soo Do experiences (read: I lost a lot). In the wake of the team’s success in Washington DC, I found myself trying to figure out what had been different about this particular tournament. All of my usual elements were there- the nervous jitters, the anxiety, the alternating feelings of faux bravado and gut-churning trepidation. In the past this usually resulted in a downward spiral of increasing alarm culminating in nightmarish defeat. This time, however, I broke the mold. What gives?

I am convinced that the factor that carried everyone through this tournament is the training we have absorbed at Wu Dao--training that has been ground in on a bone-deep level and flushed through our digestive systems with liberal amounts of "bitter." Proper stances, proper technique, and expression of power is not something that just comes to you when it’s your moment to shine--it takes a great deal of care and consistent hard work to develop. When you only have one form to show off your Kung Fu, every little thing counts, and if you haven’t trained out your bad habits by then, they will show up.

Every time we sweated and strained to hold a position while Shi-fu made minor adjustments, every time we felt like collapsing at the end of a form because he pushed us to perform at maximum speed, every time we groaned because he said: “Again!”, has helped to build this victory. What’s more; our training has given us an awareness and an understanding of what we can reasonably expect of ourselves. When we found ourselves stiff and stressed out before competing, we stretched. When the stretching wasn’t cutting it, we fell back on some sun salutations to loosen up. (Personally, I loathe sun salutations--both A & B--but I know that they are the best way to loosen me up and have me ready to go in a short period of time). It may come as no surprise that they did the job.

Interestingly enough, however, the physical training isn’t the end all and be all. Watch the video for yourself--Wu Dao students go about their business with confidence and a clear focus. Waiting to compete, we stood at attention. We acted with purpose. We expressed excellent martial spirit, something that is built up over time. Serious and careful training has given us serious and careful attitudes, and this shows up when we are under the gun.

In times of heightened stress, in a tournament or even combat, our training is what we fall back on. When we don’t have time to think or are too anxious to, what has been deeply ingrained comes to the surface. You may want to think of it as instinct or muscle memory- but those don’t include the attitude you adopt. You can say that you just need to “psych yourself up," but no amount of that is going to make you remember to pull the fist back to the waist. Ultimately, as Shi-fu constantly reminds us, "How you train is how you fight."