Jason, I read somewhere that there are martial arts that teach redirection of opponents rather than hurting them. Do you teach that? And, is that possible?
That said, redirection has its place in every system of martial arts that I’ve trained in. One of the most common is to redirect the enemy into a wall or other environmental weapon that will harm them. I’ll give you an example of a situation that I witnessed:
John Doe (we’ll call him for privacy purposes) was out with his friends when someone came up slandering him. This slanderer, while appearing alone and too drunk to make much of a fight any situation, continued to force the situation; until, he reached out and grabbed John’s shirt-collar and pulled him backward, into a punch.
John, quickly turned and redirected the next punch from his attacker, throwing his attacker into a nearby table. But, John’s attacker wasn’t done. He picked up a knife from the table (they were in a sports pub that served food), jumped to his feet, and began swinging the knife at John repeatedly. . . . To make matters worse, the attacker had friends who were standing nearby to cut off John’s space to escape.
Because John did not take advantage of his redirection and forcefully stop his attacker, the attacker came back with a weapon to continue the fight in a more harmful manner.
Situations, like this one, are why everyone at the Yost Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy learns empty-hand and weapons use and defense training for combat or tactical fighting situations. Without honestly looking at these situations and preparing ourselves for the worse, we cannot fulfill our oblations to our family and community when/if the situation requires us to act. Me and my school will not short-change our students or lie to them. We will work to help those who want to help themselves be prepared for the worst, while hoping we never have to use it.
Are there other uses for redirection besides using things around you as a weapon?
If this sounds like something you’d like to learn, contact us at sifuyost@gmail.com or (812) 229-4097. And learn why we say you’ll Never Again™ (or Never™ if never been attacked) be a victim of someone else’s stupidity.
