HOW DO I PRACTICE GUIDED CHAOS IF I DON'T LIVE IN NEW YORK?
Get yourself a training partner. You can register to search our list from our Contact page. Second,
find a school (Close Quarters Combat or American Combato based on
Applegate, Fairbairn & Sykes) that teaches simple basic strikes,
like palm heels to the face, eye gouges, edge of hand to neck, head
butts, knees, and low kicks, train them as fast and hard as you can
against various targets, from every angle, in every combination, and
combine it with completely free-form "play" with as many different
partners as you can (without hurting each other!!). Add a course in
basic self defense awareness and confrontation de-escalation. Finally,
you can TRY and find a Tai Chi school that teaches REAL combat tai chi
and incorporate internal energy principles (like softness and "cold
power").
It might be
practical to take ROSS (Russian Martial arts or Systema) as long as
they offer some opportunity or forum where you can practice free form
fighting as opposed to regimented fighting (as long as it's not a bunch
of psychos who go home bloody every night). This way, you have a place
where you can work in Ki Chuan Do (KCD) principles and see what happens
(of course having our book and dvds is a huge advantage--shameless
plug). This can be helpful because KCD principles can work with any
art--KCD is not about techniques--it is a WAY of moving. Russian
Systema has a fairly free-form practice system. Barring this, if you
can find a Tai Chi PUSH HANDS class, you can make some great progress
if you have some open-minded workout partners. You just work in deadly
striking movements at SLOW push hands speeds along with the typical
pushes, brush backs, etc. Another possibility is to join a Jeet Kune Do
school because they tend to be fairly open-minded. Again, you could try
out some KCD with an open-minded partner and try to develop that way.
Note that it's important at some point to come to NY to feel what KCD
feels like from Master Perkins or a senior instructor to verify that
you're on the right path. That "feel" takes seconds to understand (but
longer of course to master).
