Controlling Distance

In my last post, I talked about "going the distance". This time I want to discuss the actual distance between you and your training partner, sparring opponant, or attacker.

Most people think Martial Arts are about controlling others and to a certain extent that is true, however, the experienced practitioner will work hard at controlling the space between themselves and others. To accomplish that, we need to be constantly working on perfecting our perception of space and the mechanics of changing the spacial relationship.

Whether you are training with promissed sparring, Hapkido,  self-defense, free sparring, etc; you have to have good perception of the space between you and your partner. You begin to improve your perception of that space by way of observation. In other words, you look at the space with your eyes. It is also important to perceive the length of your partners reach and your own know how to control the space.

Often, students will find that their techniques feel awkward and off balance. 90% of the time it is because of poor positioning.  To move beyond the initial stage of observation, you must learn to "feel" the space between your partner and yourself. Once you are able to feel that space, you will begin to instinctively move into the best positions to execute your techniques. Being sensitized to this can enable a person with less technical skill to overcome those with better skills who do not posssess a great perception of space.

OK, so how are we supposed to perfect our spacial perception? We are in luck here because it is built into Yahk Sohk Deta, Bobo Sool, Son Mok Sool, etc. All the basic daily skills we train with in class with a partner are exercises to hone in our spacial awareness. So the next time you work on stuff like that in class, try to focus more on your distance (beginning) and less on the actual technique (end).

SUN!