Comments on: Increase Your Power by Improving Your Balance

By: ralph a. kern

ralph a. kern — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:13:48 +0000

Sir;
I liked your site very much, but it is hard to renavigate once you have left a page, and want to go back to it. thanks and God bless
1st.dan tang soo do

By: eastpaw

eastpaw — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:31:13 +0000

Nice site, Chris.

That 90% thing sure gets noised around a lot, doesn’t it? Well, I’m sure we can all agree that /some/ fights go to the ground. However, proponents of that 90% idea should consider the following:

1. What proportion of people in fights that go to ground are competent martial artists? Two drunks without any fighting experience are pretty likely to fall over just trying to punch each other.

2. What proportion of such fights were, from the get-go, fights to the death? If the participants in a fight are just trying to beat one another up instead of kill one another, going to the ground would be more likely, wouldn’t it?

Ah well. I’m preaching to the choir here. Most of you guys don’t seem to be groundfighting fanboys.

By: Martial Arts of Addition and Subtraction

Martial Arts of Addition and Subtraction — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:24:35 +0000

[...] The second method can be practiced alone, if necessary. No matter the circumstance, you keep your own balance, and move at your own speed. Push? Pull? Your attacker is not powerful and not important. You [...]

By: Good article on balance … « Aikido

Good article on balance … « Aikido — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:05:20 +0000

[...] Fri 22 Jun 2007 Good article on balance … Posted by aikiinseattle under aikido http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/increase-your-power-by-improving-your-balance/ [...]

By: kortty

kortty — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:12:17 +0000

P.Parker :: A _fight_ doesn’t go on ground if one of the fightERs go down even if he gets kicked. But this is merely semantics.

Just wanted to point the 90%-BJJ-legend is a double mishap: wrong result of false sampling.

Balance, still, is highly important in order to prevent getting down. And also to produce any kind of power from the structure.

By: Breaking The Drama Triangle

Breaking The Drama Triangle — Sun, 27 May 2007 18:10:24 +0000

[...] triangle has a physical analogue in martial arts practice. In both cases, the solution is simply to refuse support to your attacker, forcing them to choose between retreat and [...]

By: seeker6

seeker6 — Thu, 03 May 2007 14:51:48 +0000

Perhaps Patrick has a good point on ground mobility skills, but it also pays to have good balance and the ability to move quickly to reduce the risk of falling.
Gaining balance is largely related to leg strength, which can be increased by stance training. However, a relaxed body can also help you maintain better balance.

By: Patrick Parker

Patrick Parker — Wed, 02 May 2007 17:50:23 +0000

Hey, great article. I have to disagree with your commentator, kortty, regarding the 90% stat that you cited.

Actually more like 100% of all fights go to the ground. At least one fighter or the other ends up on the ground in all fights. It pays to have some ground mobility skills…

By: kortty

kortty — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 10:07:58 +0000

That 90% statement is false. I’ve understood it traces back to a study made by Los Angeles police regarding their use of force situations. Which hardly is the same as “all fights” when the sole objective of a police officer is to immobilize the suspect. And the correct percentage in that study was 60, not 90.

In later studies adult male vs adult male fights go ground on 40% of the cases mostly due pure fatigue or tripping on something rather than be tripped by the opponent. Female vs male or child vs child fights go ground more frequently due the nature of those fights. Women tend to get raped and children just want to control each other. Both are more easily done on the ground than on upright position.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 09:15:27 +0000

That is a good point. The title fit the article I intended to write, but not the one I eventually wrote. If I can think of a better title, I will change it. In the meantime, here is some more explicit advice on methods of improving balance: 3 Ways to Make Tai Chi Form Practice More Interesting The Four Stages of Effective Martial Arts Training Cultivating Happiness with the Secret Smile