When fighting, the opponent intends to apply force against us. If we are too soft the opponent can crush our structure and reach our body easily. If we are too stiff, the opponent can gain leverage against our limbs and off balance us easily.
How should we deal with the opponent’s force? Let us separate the opponent’s force into two categories:
1. “Force That Is Directed Towards the Centre.”
2. “Force That Is Directed Away From the Centre.”
As an example, if I should shove you backwards by pushing your chest, strike your face, or push you backwards by uprooting you by your elbow, these forces likely fall under the first category. They are mainly directed towards your centre.
If I were to grab your arm and pull it across to spin you around, shove your elbow across to slip around to your back, or pull your head down and forwards to knee or choke you, these forces would likely fall under the second category. They are mainly directed away from your centre.
We must be able to deal with these two categories of forces in order to prevent the opponent from imparting force into or against us. How can this be done? The easiest method is simply to move the body to avoid the force entirely. That is not always possible unfortunately. For when we are forced to address the opponent’s force, there are two methods:
1. “Roll the Force Off”
2. “Pull, Slip, Drag”
Let us consider the first category, Force That Is Directed Towards the Centre. We must actively maintain structure with this force because it represents a significant threat – an incoming strike or shove or other force that will affect our balance if left unimpeded. If the opponent’s force is directed generally towards our centre, it should be easy to redirect. This is because we are not fighting the force and therefore do not need to use effort to contest against it. We can simply “Roll the Force Off”. With the body, we can simply pivot it off to the side. With the arms, we can roll the force off using circular arm structures and the rotation of our shoulder joint. The body and arms may both be used simultaneously as well. As long as we can cause the opponent’s force to hit the side of the circle we want, the circle will simply spin towards that side and the opponent’s force will roll off in the desired direction. Intelligent articulation of the elbow joint as a hinge to allow the contact point to be a pivot point is necessary for this. It is also important that the force is rolled off – it hits a circle and rolls to one side. One should be careful not to commit the error of simply collapsing and giving ground. If the skill of “Roll the Force Off” is mastered, any force that falls into the first category, “Force That Is Directed Towards the Centre” is easily dealt with.
Let us consider the second category, “Force That Is Directed Away From the Centre”. We do not necessarily need to actively maintain structure because this force is not a direct strike nor will it directly affect our body if left unimpeded. This is an important point. If we attempt to apply the skill of “Roll the Force Off” when dealing with “Force That Is Directed Away From the Centre”, we encounter a problem. Suppose the opponent’s force is directed away from our centre, to the left for example. To help it on its way and roll it off further left would be easy, but suppose rolling it off to the left will put us in a bad position. We are left with no option but to attempt to roll it off to the right. This will be very difficult though, because the force is not directed straight at us any more – if we attempt to roll the left-directed-force to the right, we are fighting force with force and will find it incredibly difficult. Thus we are left with a problem – the “Force Directed Away From the Centre” cannot easily be “Rolled Off” in the direction we would like. The solution to this problem is to abandon the “Roll the Force Off” method in favour of the “Pull, Slip, Drag” method. Instead of creating a circular structure which rolls force off, we can engage part of our body in the fashion of an elastic rope. This involves the contact point becoming soft like rope. Because the contact point is no longer solid, the opponent loses the leverage that they had against us. We can now “Pull, Slip, Drag” the contact point to its desired destination by pulling from the next body part down. In the case of the opponent grabbing our left wrist and pushing our arm to the left, it will be very difficult to bring our arm across to the right. If we attempt to “Roll the Force Off” it simply won’t work. Instead, we can soften the forearm by releasing the elbow joint, allowing the forearm to have the quality of elastic rope. Then, we can drag the ELBOW across to the right. In doing so, the force we produce will not clash directly with the opponent’s resistance, instead hitting their arm at the perpendicular, granting us the leverage advantage. (In reality all the parts of the body will be dragged/pulled by the Centre). The reason we are able to engage the contact point as an elastic rope and “Pull, Slip, Drag” is PRECISELY because the force is “Directed Away From the Centre”. Because it is not directed at us, we can allow our structure to become soft and rope-like, as “Force That Is Directed Away From the Centre” does not present an immediate threat.
By using the two methods of “Roll the Force Off” and “Pull, Slip, Drag”, all types of forces can be negated. If one method does not work, the other will. If the opponent is grabbing our wrist and shoving it to the side to try to manhandle us, we can simply let the arm go soft and elastic and pull forwards from our centre to off-balance them. If they should take advantage of our soft quality to suddenly change directions and attack towards our centre, we simply engage the circular solid structure and roll the force off, since it is now directed towards our centre again.
The two methods can occur separately, constantly alternating, in sequence or concurrently. They can be applied in a gross fashion with large movements and they can be applied in a subtle fashion with only very small amounts of movement. If successful, the opponent can never properly apply force against you and instead is easily disturbed and off balanced. Of course this is only an essay on the theory of dealing with forces, and practical application requires consistent and dedicated practice in order to achieve reliable results. – Louis Shapiro