Attack your opponent's balance: William Cheung (white uniform) faces Eric Oram, who is in a rear-leg ready stance (1). Cheung sees that his opponent's balance is back, so he darts forward (2). When Cheung arrives, he jams his opponent's lead elbow, which moves his balance farther back (3). Cheung then delivers a palm strike to Oram's head and disrupts his balance even more (4).

know--what your tools are, what range or distance they come into play, and what part of the body the strike is designed to hit.
Furthermore, the eye must be trained to recognize the opening in the first place. If you do not have "good" eyes, and don't know how to detect an opening, all the great techniques in the world are not going to help.
So, one must train to detect the opening in any given situation, and have the refexes to be able to take advantage of the opening while the opening is there to be taken advantage of...

10) Must have the "heart" but control your emotions.

Cario-vascular endurance is an absolutely crucial ingredient to becoming a complete martial artist--however, that is not what is meant by "heart." In this case, it means fighting spirit--the will to win.
If you don't believe you can win, you probably can't! If your opponent is more convinced of victory than you are, then your opponent will probably come out on top. Total confidence, combined with good process and a scientificly sound system, certainly begins to make for the probability of success. Even with superior skills, if you do not have the heart, those skills will never see the light of day-- squandered by a more confident opponent.
Again, an old saying: "knowledge is power." For

our purposes this is certainly true. We are usually most afraid of what we don't know. Therefore, the key to eliminating fear is getting to know whatever is you're afraid of. Get to know it. It must reach the point where you become comfortable in very uncomfortable situations. We can't allow fear, anger, excitement, etc. to interfere with our ability to effectively deal with the oncoming opponent.
A wise man once said, "Know thyself." Only through self- examination can we truly accomplish this. By understanding ourselves, we can begin to understand others--including our opponents. And, perhaps, dispose of our fears due to this understanding. This allows us to focus only on the process of engagement--not the fear of the result.
One very useful tool to help the martial artist (or anyone, for that matter) engage a path of self-discovery, is meditation.

In conclusion, if you begin to view each combat situation through the perspective of the above principles--and work to integrate them--in time, you will begin to see a tremendous difference in the application of your technique; no matter what style you may practice...
Keep training. Enjoy the Journey!

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