The Good Fight

In theory, I should go to grappling class tonight, since I haven't in few weeks. But I've become somewhat addicted to Savate (see links here and here--the first has more pictures, but the second has an interesting entry on the history of the art, even connecting it to common ancestry with Capoeira, which was what I studied last before coming to MKG). So I'm going to follow my intuition. After all, the whole notion of mixed-arts is based on the intuitive understanding that different bodies function differently, that technique and form are ultimately subservient to use.

In fact, to tie this in a little with my other post today (on Ichinen Sanzen) . . . Bruce Lee was always a believer in martial-artistry as a true form of artistry, a vessel for the expression of self, of truth. To engage with another body in combat is to engage with the science of interrelation, all actions committed an effective channelling of emotional content. Lee often spoke of the illusory boundary between opponents, and asserted that the most effective athlete/warrior was one who came to an ability to KNOW an opponent's movement through a realization that we are already one with the opponent, that each of us contains the whole of the other. A microcosm of mutual possession, perhaps? Who knows . . .

In any case, I like the skittery footwork of Savate, the delicate savagery of its kicks (lithe and balletic, yet almost invariably aimed at soft, vulnerable targets), the element of taunting (certainly French in character, but also attributable to the possible African origins of the art). Bruce Lee himself integrated a fair amount of Savate footwork and kickery (I don't know if it's a word, but I like it) into his own Jeet Kune Do (also the subject of several MKG classes); and who am I to question the judgement of the Dragon?