Cultivate Your Mind's Eye

Take a moment to read the following paragraph slowly, allowing the words to seep in your mind and bring forth images as you do –

“When the long, straight jolt crashes into a fellow’s chin, the fist doesn’t bounce off harmlessly as it might in a light, medium-range left jab. No sir! The frozen solidity behind the jolt causes the explosion to shoot forward as the solid breech of a rifle forces a cartridge explosion to shoot the bullet forward. The bullet in a punch is your fist, with the combined power from your fast-moving weight and your convulsing muscles behind it – solidly. Your fist, exploded forward by the solid power behind it, has such terrific “follow-through” that it can snap an opponent’s head like that of a shot duck…”

The cool thing is that everyone who reads the above paragraph will form their own unique images in their mind. No two will be the same. For reference sake, the preceding text is from the book, Championship Fighting, written by legendary world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey.

Again, take another moment to read the following few lines –

“The great fighter keeps bearing down on his opponent until he secures the moment for the kill… He should possess the eye of an eagle, the cunning of a fox, the agility and alertness of a cat. The courage, aggressiveness and fierceness of a black panther, the striking power of a cobra, and the resistance of a mongoose.”

While some of the above material appears in the book, Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and was attributed to Bruce Lee, it was, in fact, written by renowned fencer Aldo Nadi in his classic book, On Fencing. As with the first paragraph, the writing is descriptive and evocative. It doesn’t merely convey information in words, but brings out images in the reader’s mind, and possibly even feelings.

I really enjoy reading old boxing, fencing, and wrestling books, many of which were written before the advent of such things as television, videos, computers, etc. The primary reason is that the authors of the time often used vivid and wonderful words and phrases in their descriptions of fighting techniques and actions and explaining tactical or strategic elements which would conjure up visual images in the mind of the reader. They had to, there was no other media source available to them, other than an occasional photograph. Some did it well, some not so well. I’ve read some boxing and fencing books in which the author makes the material as bland as most school textbooks.

Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a time when reading books and magazines was one of the primary methods of gaining information and learning, but I still like the feel of a book in my hand, the sound the pages make when you flip through it – sometimes even the smell of a book. And while I believe in technology and use it in my work, I jokingly tell younger friends that while they’re technology ‘natives’ who were born into it, I’m a technology ‘immigrant’ who moved into it when I was older.

As a writer of martial art books and articles, I’m acutely aware of the difficulties that accompany writing descriptions of fighting techniques and actions, and explaining tactical or strategic elements of unarmed combat, because what one is attempting to do is encapsulate in words and put down on paper (or computer) the essence of something that’s dynamic and alive. I always assume people are reading the words, not just passing over them like warm water and simply looking at the photographs or illustrations, so I spend a lot of time coming up with the right words. Most of the time I succeed, but there have been a few times when I didn’t.

I understand that some people experience reading difficulties. I don’t mean someone who just can’t be bothered, I’m talking about a person who has legitimate issues such as dyslexia, or a person who was never taught to read, etc.

Keep watching videos and using any other type of media you can to gather information and increase your knowledge and understanding. But don’t just spend your time watching images that are prepackaged and presented to you. Find some written material on the subject you’re interested in which is descriptive and expressive; that grabs hold of you, stimulates your brain to create visual images, and helps you cultivate your mind’s eye.