Little Memory Keys

While training and working out I have been amazed by the many ways very talented Masters and teachers help their students to grasp complex ideas effectively. As an example recently Larry Holden taught me a simple phrase that teaches students to close the distance and hit their opponent with power and less effort while staving off retaliation and that simple phrase is: "be inside their shirt." Larry is teaching his students if you want to hit effectively with power while breaking the defenses of your opponent you must close distance and be close. The power zone of a solid KFSS practitioner is approximately a one 12" diameter around their mid to high waist line. It's here where the greatest power is passed from yourself to your opponent.

"Be inside their shirt" simply tells the student to get so close enough to your attacker so as to feel like you could easily slip into his very shirt. My instructor Master Kurt Bellman uses a quote something like, "you should be able to smell his lunch." so we need to be close enough to our attacker to smell what he ate for lunch.

I truly enjoy these little expressions that help students like me along in understanding and better applying the martial art I love so much.