Improving Creativity with Martial Arts

Have you ever watched a great martial arts film with fight scenes that leave you mesmerised and wanting to be as skilled as that character who can seemingly fly through the air, take 30 people out with their bare fists or weald a weapon like a seasoned master? I certainly did as a child brought up on a host of Hong Kong wuxia cinema staples like Jet Li’s “Once Upon A Time in China” movies, films by the Shaw Brothers, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and more recently films like Ip Man, Ong Bak and The Raid. How did they come up with such original choreography and novel ideas, let alone pull it off so smoothly? Creativity (and of course a shed load of skill).

We all have the ability to innovate and create something original, whether it be through a hobby like music/art or in business and our everyday working lives, to solve problems. We all possess imagination, but as adults living our lives in a world full of laws, chores and the daily grind, it can often be neglected and even supressed. We form rigid thought processes and expectations rather than stay the free-thinkers we were as children.

Martial arts training may be considered by some to be the very antithesis of expressing or enabling creativity because it may be seen as very prescriptive – you learn set forms/katas, drills, particular techniques for certain strikes/takedowns etc. A creative flash of wriggling your toes mid side kick won’t do you any favours. Some things work and some things don’t. You learn what works. However, fighting is as creative as it gets with so many unknown elements. Like learning the alphabet and rules for language for a writer or musical notes for a pianist, you need some structured framework to be able eventually to express creativity. An accomplished jazz musician must have learnt the basics at the start of their career before they can freestyle. The same goes for any martial artist.

Martial arts allows and encourages creativity through constant learning and interactions with others. Your level of engagement never fades as there are always layers of nuance, understanding and skill to develop, even in what may be thought of as the most basic of movements. We have all heard that it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. Martial arts, no matter what the style (Kung Fu, Karate, Jiu Jitsu etc.) takes a lifetime to learn properly – refining movements, reading your opponent, developing power, timing, speed and accuracy. And when you may have reached that point, you are no longer a spring chicken and need to revise your training to retain those skills, and more importantly, to pass on your knowledge to the next generation. The next cycle in creativity with learning and knowing how to teach well so your students can thrive.

Physical exercise and meditation have long been proven to reduce levels of stress in the body and mind which allows another vector for creativity. A strong, healthy body and a free mind are the essential components for any creative endeavour, whether it be in your training or professional lives. Five Ancestors Kung Fu places a strong emphasis on both these balancing elements, and one cannot do without the other (yin and yang). Over the years, I have often struggled with meditation – knowing that it is beneficial but often struggling to practice. I have tried various styles of meditation and different instructors, sometimes falling asleep altogether because I have not been in the right frame of mind or finding it too steeped in religious dogma or hippy “woowoo” for my taste. I kept persevering and found something that suited me - just 10 minutes of daily meditation practice is invaluable. A relaxed and contented mind can seek out creative avenues.

Good martial artists are skilled over years of practice, but great martial artists possess something else, the creative spark that enables them to be open-minded and patient. Patience with themselves and others. Not to lose control of their emotions which is essential in a fight/confrontation situation and the patience to see a bigger picture. They can question, look at scenarios with greater depth and be more prepared for significant challenges. We were often told by our Master to try and figure things out for ourselves – what was the purpose of this move? He was old school and did not readily spoon feed us information. Frustrating as that may have been at the time, he wanted us to use our brains – our creativity – to think for ourselves. Did the move actually work? Could there be more than one application? After putting our grey matter to use, we would speak to him about it again and would retain that information better. Martial arts forces you to be creative – to freestyle. No one to tells you what to do when you shadowbox or are in a sparring situation. Even in the ring at competition, your corner may shout at the top of their lungs as to what you should do in order to win, but it is on you to do the deed. It is on you to process that information and to bring it out somehow with your own creative flair.

To be truly creative, you must give yourself permission to create junk, to “fail”, to miss the mark and it be ok. In a society that worships success and tries to hide failure rather than learn from it, true creativity is often stifled. It is not possible to create “perfection” all the time – that is not human. Martial arts gives you that platform to be creative – if you are any good, at many points you would have failed along the way. You would have tried to pull off moves that did not work, to think outside the box and have it crumble – but you tried. You try and train until it works. A valuable lesson I learnt from one of our Seniors was when we were told to spar bare knuckle encapsulating the essence and movements of one of our Five Ancestors; the Monkey was mine. Monkey being unpredictable was my way of accessing a form of creativity – I knew how the Monkey moved as I had done it a 100 times before but I had to let any preconceived ideas go and just flow with whatever came. My only thought was “be a Monkey on acid” – in other words, be completely random but within a certain framework. Try and test new things. Try moves you would not have done in an ordinary sparring session. It took me a few rounds to get into it, no doubt I got hit, but it worked. I was in “the zone” – this creative process and flow. I remember that feeling and try to take that freedom forward.

Anyone can be creative – it is not something that is confined to certain “special” people.It is a skill that can be developed and provides you with great value in all aspects of life.As a martial artist, your body is your “brush” and combat is your canvas.Be bold and let your creativity run free.

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