msparke
11-19-2003, 04:26 PM
I believe that the next step for ROSSers is to absorb concepts and ideas from other systems and styles. Even though this has always been encouraged from the ROSS camp and practice by many students of ROSS, I feel that there should be a more open dialogue on the subject. I have studied many martial arts over the years before coming to ROSS, and since studying in ROSS for four years, I felt that I have been reborn in my study of martial arts. So I will be writing from a point of view of a ROSSer looking at other styles and systems.
First off let me state on how I view the difference between a system and a style, which is the common sense view. A system is setup to give ideas, concepts, and techniques that you take to make up your own fighting style, ROSS being the best example of this. A style is a specific method of fighting that is rooted in ideas and concepts of fighting. So with that out of the way let’s look at how I am combining the two.
ROSS has three main concepts that I believe make it the best choice to train in first. It gives you the sophistication, such as understanding Hyperfunction, which allows you to see why a particular idea or technique works. It also gives you that right training environment, such as soft-work and hard-work, to explore and improvise your skills. Finally, something that is even more brilliant in ROSS then those is its work on performance enhancement, such as in bodyflow and shockabilty.
Since Scott has said that "performance overrides precision", and combine with the reality that you will make mistakes and you will have to fight when you are not at your best, makes ROSS the best fall back when the "you know what hits the fan". So that is why I teach ROSS as the foundation to my students.
But there are many great ideas, concepts, and techniques from other styles and systems that require precision. So that is why I say that "performance can override precision". This is not so much a contradiction to what Scott said, but advancement to it. I am not saying that you will always have precision when you want it, because there will be times when factors, either of you own or outside ones, that will affect you. This is where the performance enhancement will come into play. But there are time when you will be in control, where you can use precision and speed, etc... You just got to known when to go back and forth; I will get into this more with later posts over the years.
I hope with this post that I will encourage others to post their ideas on incorporating other systems and styles with ROSS.
Future posts will include: guidelines for studying other systems and picking instructors, adding trapping to your hard-work, use of the mook jong, ROSS stick fighting, ideas from Dim-Mak and Silat, awareness training, and combat agility drills just to name of few.
First off let me state on how I view the difference between a system and a style, which is the common sense view. A system is setup to give ideas, concepts, and techniques that you take to make up your own fighting style, ROSS being the best example of this. A style is a specific method of fighting that is rooted in ideas and concepts of fighting. So with that out of the way let’s look at how I am combining the two.
ROSS has three main concepts that I believe make it the best choice to train in first. It gives you the sophistication, such as understanding Hyperfunction, which allows you to see why a particular idea or technique works. It also gives you that right training environment, such as soft-work and hard-work, to explore and improvise your skills. Finally, something that is even more brilliant in ROSS then those is its work on performance enhancement, such as in bodyflow and shockabilty.
Since Scott has said that "performance overrides precision", and combine with the reality that you will make mistakes and you will have to fight when you are not at your best, makes ROSS the best fall back when the "you know what hits the fan". So that is why I teach ROSS as the foundation to my students.
But there are many great ideas, concepts, and techniques from other styles and systems that require precision. So that is why I say that "performance can override precision". This is not so much a contradiction to what Scott said, but advancement to it. I am not saying that you will always have precision when you want it, because there will be times when factors, either of you own or outside ones, that will affect you. This is where the performance enhancement will come into play. But there are time when you will be in control, where you can use precision and speed, etc... You just got to known when to go back and forth; I will get into this more with later posts over the years.
I hope with this post that I will encourage others to post their ideas on incorporating other systems and styles with ROSS.
Future posts will include: guidelines for studying other systems and picking instructors, adding trapping to your hard-work, use of the mook jong, ROSS stick fighting, ideas from Dim-Mak and Silat, awareness training, and combat agility drills just to name of few.