BLAME THE DRUGS,

The drugs are now ‘sadly’ out of my system and I am back in the real world.

I recently underwent surgery that has given me a couple of days of forced relaxation that includes coming down to earth from the anesthetic and a diet of OxyContin to help with the pain.

The perfect recipe for deep contemplation.

I am still to a certain extent in that sphere, my sleep is messed up and I am writing this at 3.26am..
Two strange events, both from T.V. programs I was watching, framed my thinking.
One of the episodes on a series named “What the British Stole”, had, of all people, the son of my Sifu in the background doing a dance based on the Bart Cham Dao Form.
This was so incongrous that it was not possible to take it lightly.
He appeared some 4 or 5 times, and allthough it was basicly correct from the point of view of the Bart Cham Dao Form, it was glaringly “out there” from the point of view of using any ‘real weapon’ against a human attacker.
It was never more obvious that the Bart Cham Dao is a make believe, almost theatrical weapon.
And it forces people to move like marrionettes.
And then there is a program called “BANSHEE”.
This is a ‘based on a graphic novel’ type of program, with plenty of fantasy violence.
One of the characters is repeatedly shown using a Wing Chun Wooden Dummy.
Needles to say this is “SO WRONG”.
It is just a man hitting a piece of wood and posing his arms in unrecognisable shapes.
But then, “HELLO” a funny thing happened on my way to the studio event happened.
I am in the process of filming myself doing the Mok Jan Jong for the club, suddenly, I looked like a man hitting a piece of wood and posing his arms in unrecognisable shapes.
At first I told myself it was ‘the OxyContin’ that was making me see it this way.
But was it?
The drugs are now ‘sadly’ out of my system and I am back in the real world.
But nothing has changed with the Bart Cham Dao or the Mok Jan Jong.

ONCE SEEN, IT CAN NEVER BE UNSEEN.

For 50 years, I worked as a Chef.
I am, to say the least, comfortable with a knife in my hand.
As a result I train a lot with weapons.
I like the flow.
I like the feel of a moving blade and the theatre of slicing and dicing.
But now I find that all sword play is wrong, not just the Bart Cham Dao.
If we select as our starting premise the question…
… “what would need to be happening for me to be doing this action”?
It is very hard to create any realistic scenario unless my attacker is also practising with their own chosen Martial Art weapon and working hard to feed me obvious strikes.
None of the attacks we defend against would be chosen by anybody with a working knowledge of using a weapon.
They are just too easy to defend.
Back in the 1970s I had friends that were deeply into ‘historical re-creations’.
They were part of a group that named themselves the “Seald Knot” and they took their work every bit as seriously as I took my training.
Accuracy and reality were key.
I have banged steel on many an occasion and it is far from pretty.
The reality of trying to stop a 2.5 kilo piece of metal being swung at you with purpose is a long way from any Garn Bart or Dai Bart.

This sudden change of perspective is to say the least ‘a bit of a spin out’ because now everything has been called into question.

Even I am interested to see where this goes.