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What is APA to the Martial Arts?
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APA
State of Mind
If you want to adapt to all potential threats, you’ll want all the tools
in one bag. Follow this simple logic; if you examine all styles, there
are similar features pervasive in each tradition... Kicks, punches,
traps and throws. They arrive through a series of repeating
trajectories. The fundamental mechanical principles of APA optimize all
basic skill motions.
Each existing style typically focuses only on
proficiency in a specified range determined by the length of the weapon
used. Even mixed martial arts and free style approach misses many
crucial elements necessary for thorough training as the eclectic
approach breeds either a constant exchange with the ‘favored’ weapon or
a constant in and out thru 3 basic proximities. APA accesses all combat
technology through common roots.
If you then predict from this list of root weapons (8 fists, 3 kicks,
that’s it!) the likelihood one of three elevations will be targeted in
closed range, your response is a simple selection from a modest
apportion of angles relative to your attacker. He must fall within this
clockwork of positions, left or right of a dynamic center reference
line. Here with a united attack/defense, one is no longer reactionary
to external stimuli and able to facilitate control. This is the domain
of APA tactics.
The psychology influences all energy in the human machine, power and
speed included. Every action is a choice. Quality choices are a matter
of having a clear concept, a simple matter of the discernment of available
options. The search is reducing these choices to
THE MOST EFFECTIVE
solution
from
fundamental probabilities. The foundation for the arts is establishing
firm fundamentals. They represent the vast distinction between a good
and a great fighter, not the quantity nor complexity of technique. The
method of this pursuit is offered in APA.
The body is a
magnificently engineered machine of skeletal levers and fiber-thin
piston pulleys of banded muscle all governed by the physical laws of
motion. The mind is a chemo-electric based bio-computer. A
simple adjustment in mechanics and logic can profoundly optimize a
transfer of energy. A teacher programs these attributes for more
effective functioning in order to activate latent potential. Science
guides us. It helps us dissect events at their most elemental
level; understand the processes that govern the interaction of parts,
unite with new insight and ultimately shape reality to our needs.
APA is a system in every sense of the word as it is learned through keen
observation, analysis and refinement of process.
Mechanics is one of the basic divisions of physics. Concerned with the
motion of objects, understanding the basic factors of physical
dimension, mass, acceleration, time, conservation of energy, inertia and
momentum is critical to being able to deliver a precise quantity of
kinetic energy. This separates window dressing from the crux of the
crisis as we are in constant search for Understanding using the
most elemental laws to predict the broadest set behaviors. Why? So
that intention equals result. Why? To help increase the probability of
control in a crisis, for control is not only the humane solution, it is
the swiftest resolution to antagonism.
The most
fundamental and indispensable principle driving the system is
simultaneity.
It is intrinsic to all
intelligence, philosophy, action and as such undermines the timing of
any one beat per measure, overwhelms the opponent’s psyche, and enhances
one’s ability to process quicker than the eye actions.
When
you Are on the path,
you know what needs to be done.
The martial arts are
of a discipline with thousands of years of thought, knowledge, myth and
mystique. People from every walk of life are compelled to drink of this
vast ocean of knowledge. The why and the wherefore that this fusion of
peace and violence steeples so many souls is perhaps just as much a
mystery. With few exceptions, there is a certain grace to those who
embrace the oldest of traditions and an undeniable character and air of
sophistication about those who venture such pathways. Personally, I
found the courses taught in this ‘invisible monastery’ provided pieces
to the cosmic puzzle; namely the physical, the psychological, the
intellectual and the spiritual. The journey has indeed been so deeply
enriched by this choice as to be immeasurable. But it is a path
without material reward, a pursuit of character development which
precludes being the meanest on the block. Anyone can accomplish this
with little discipline. The art in martial arts, it seems to me, means
killing not required.
Some styles have changed little over
the course of history, while others have evolved to meet the demands of
hostile environments. Present day contact theory has come to the end of
its rope in its style blending and patchwork philosophies. One can not
predict the combinations and mixed martial arts to come. It is as
difficult to forecast as is the potential music produced from 7 notes.
To employ analogy,
APA comprises those 7 fundamental notes. With it
all music can be learned to be played.
APA is a highly
specialized close quarters combat system. It was conceived to
address all performance thresholds, essential for spontaneous
conflict.
Each training phase has a clear cut sequence to aid in achieving
objectives. APA’s strict adherence to the science of mechanics
sources the roots to motion in all martial arts. As nothing is faster than
instantaneous, nothing is more practical as a training standard,
thus all
mental and physical conditioning pushes the
simultaneity
threshold.
APA is
explicitly neither style nor tradition of the martial arts, but rather a combative
science. The program is a means toward the swift resolution of
conflict, a guideline for crisis training, and a highly
spiritually driven path.
From zero prep
in an unexpected hand to hand encounter, APA diagrams an approach to total
control.
The process
is both:
Pulling mind G’s
The founder of the
APA, Master Instructor Chris Mar, did something
quite simple and created something very unique. He broke down every
style into its primary elements; stances, rotations, foot work, fists,
kicks, protective postures and sourced its common denominators, the
shared characteristics in all combat motion. He continued in his problem
solving path to devise an alternative to lethal force, neither soft nor
passive, but rather a radical aggression in quiet packaging with safety
concerns toward even the opponent while orienting toward full conclusion
of the conflict. In cases of crowd control, this is the physical
extraction of the human catalysts of aggression.
He taught me the awesome responsibility of choice in action and speech.
How a single word can hurt or heal, how an expression or the lack of one
can influence antagonism, what it means to be means over ends, and that
there is more to achieving mastery than sheer force. The mind of the
soul on fire can move worlds with a lever of words and deeds. He is a
true master in every reasoning of the word.
If you hunger after in a manner of practice that will revolutionize
combat PT, are a dedicated, conscientious and patient individual, it
would indeed be my honor to share with you what Master Instructor Chris
Mar has imparted to me. Though many have traversed through the library
and museum that is the multiversity of his soul, there are only a
handful of accredited instructors and presently only one in the US, an
appointment I bear with great pride.
CHALLENGES
INCREASE AS SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING GROWS
APA is a shift in consciousness that will transform spirit by advancing
character as the two are synonymous.
I must state unequivocally that
the process of training in the APA system is unlike anything you have
ever seen, heard or participated in before. It is every way as way, by
the book through the roots and embodies the essence of inter-discipline
cross training. The APA program is finishing school for the 21st
century combatant and benefits any ensuing pursuit.
The prerequisites to discipline:
1) THE DEDICATION
2) A METHOD
3) A GUIDE
Size, age, gender, and experience are not conditions. You bring the
will, and I’ll provide the methods.
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