Martial Arts knowledge in my writing

[Ray McCarthy]

In relation to the points on shooting. Quick, unconscious reaction would be a major no no and is in fact trained out of you.

High Noon duels have been illegal for a long time. For "normal" shooting you certainly take your time and carefully, slowly and deliberately shoot. It's only way I can even hit a target.

 

[Tim Murray]

I've been taking martial arts classes the last 4-5 months or so. With those classes has come a much greater understanding of how fighting works from a technical stand point.

What are some good ways to bring this knowledge across without bogging down the story?

I don't want to get super technical and start describing the motion of each arm and leg, that would take just about anyone out of the story.

But I do want to make use of it to make more convincing fight scenes.

I look forward to hearing all your thoughts.

I have a sword fighting scene at the end of my second. Your question brings up a valid point I'll have to consider when I get to that edit. One suggestion; you might try to pass the sequence by your sensei?

 

[Nick B]

One suggestion; you might try to pass the sequence by your sensei?

What if their martial art isnt japanese?

 

[Locrian]

What if their martial art isnt japanese?

Ask whoever they learned it from?

 

[Nick B]

I was being jokingly facetious

 

[Toby Frost]

Intriguing stuff. Is it easily available, do you know?

After a bit of searching, the book is called "Hands Off!" by Major W Fairbairn. It's remarkably unpatronising. The tone is very much "You don't have to take this nonsense", even if the methods described are a little extreme!

 

[Darkranger85]

Wow, a lot of nice info here!

As far as passing the scene by my Sensei, yes that would help make sure it's accurate to martial arts. But not necessarily good reads.

I've tried to do a fight scene where I describe the sequence and such and it comes off as too technical and slow. A friend said that it took her out of the story because she had to think about it.

A lot of other good thoughts here. I'm gonna have to really look through it and see what I can incorporate.

 

[Tim Murray]

Wow, a lot of nice info here!

As far as passing the scene by my Sensei, yes that would help make sure it's accurate to martial arts. But not necessarily good reads.

I've tried to do a fight scene where I describe the sequence and such and it comes off as too technical and slow. A friend said that it took her out of the story because she had to think about it.

A lot of other good thoughts here. I'm gonna have to really look through it and see what I can incorporate.

The Sensei is to make sure the technical aspects are met. It's your creative mind that makes the story sing!

 

[Martin Gill]

"Most martial arts are near to no use at best, or are going to get you hurt in a real fight."

I don't wholly agree with that. Knowing how to break out of a hold - in fact instinctively reacting to being grabbed - saved me from having my face smashed in many years ago when I got jumped in the street one night. A few years of Jujitsu taught me to be able to get OUT of trouble and run lick f*ck when faced with four guys who wanted my wallet

Personally I think this depends on what you are trying to achieve in your story. If its an action style piece or something in the vein of Jason Bourne, etc then a fair bit of accurate detail would fit. If it's a character driven story with one solitary fight scene where the your main character takes a pasting standing up for his lover (or the other way around) in order that he/she falls for him/her then you'd want to focus on the fear/pain/horror etc of actually being in a fight.

 

[Mirannan]

"Most martial arts are near to no use at best, or are going to get you hurt in a real fight."

I don't wholly agree with that. Knowing how to break out of a hold - in fact instinctively reacting to being grabbed - saved me from having my face smashed in many years ago when I got jumped in the street one night. A few years of Jujitsu taught me to be able to get OUT of trouble and run lick f*ck when faced with four guys who wanted my wallet

Personally I think this depends on what you are trying to achieve in your story. If its an action style piece or something in the vein of Jason Bourne, etc then a fair bit of accurate detail would fit. If it's a character driven story with one solitary fight scene where the your main character takes a pasting standing up for his lover (or the other way around) in order that he/she falls for him/her then you'd want to focus on the fear/pain/horror etc of actually being in a fight.

I rather agree. I don't think this would help me now (I'm a lot older, fatter and less mobile) but I have been saved from at least serious injury at least twice by even the most basic of judo training. My sensei (who, I believe, was fifth dan) was a great believer in teaching people how to fall - first, and thoroughly.

One incident was as simple as slipping on ice, which I believe is one of the leading causes of broken wrists. Not for me! The other was more serious; I messed up taking a turn on a bicycle, while doing about 15mph, and went over the handlebars; after rolling 3-4 times, got up without injury. Without the training...

 

[Nick B]

I believe that to be what I said. Basics are worth knowing. How to fall (judo training always involves extensive break falls) and how to escape holds and get away. Basicaly how to not get hurt.
I was talking about going into a fight in the belief that some martialarts training will make you a fighter. The best training martial arts does (should) teach you is to avoid fighting.

 

[Martin Gill]

That last bit I definitely I agree with. About once a month our sensei would stand in the middle of class and say "Ok I'm going to show you the one move that will get you out of any fight." Then he'd run out of the gym.

 

[Tim Murray]

That last bit I definitely I agree with. About once a month our sensei would stand in the middle of class and say "Ok I'm going to show you the one move that will get you out of any fight." Then he'd run out of the gym.

Then there is the classic dare, A black belt against a pro boxer, who would win?

 

[Nick B]

The one with the most experience of real, brutal fighting.

 

[Darkranger85]

I'd like to apologize for my long absence. My computer time was cut short and I've had a hard time getting back. Reading up on all the posts now!

Edit: I do understand the limitations of martial arts in a real life setting. I'm not in agreement with a statement that they are ineffectual, I believe that depends on the focus of the school you are attending and the effectiveness of your teacher, but thats a different conversation altogether.

The fight scenes in my book will likely be unrealistic considering most real fights only last a minute or so. So I'm not worried about perfect realism.

I'm focusing more on the balance of details shared in the wording.

My hero of an author is R A Salvatore. His fight scenes tend to be detailed. For instance, one of the main characters signature moves is the crossdown block in which he counters a thrust to the center by crossing his swords and pushing them down and then kicking between the hilts of his swords to the opponents face.

However, when I was testing out how much detail to place in a fight scene I said this:

"She raised her left arm and caught his swinging arm with her right, and punched him in the face with with the hilt of her left sword."

And I was told by a friend that this sentence took her out of the story because she had to stop and think about it. Is it because of the detail or perhaps the wording I chose?

That's the kind of issue I'm worried about.

 

[Brian G Turner]

And I was told by a friend that this sentence took her out of the story because she had to stop and think about it. Is it because of the detail or perhaps the wording I chose?

It may be just that you need to cut it shorter. For example, if she "caught his swinging arm" then she's obviously moved, so you don't really need a clause saying that she moved her arm. Additionally, do we need to know exactly which hand is doing all the movement? Cutting those two things out leaves us with:

"She caught his swinging arm, and punched him in the face with the hilt of her sword."

Quicker, more immediate, less like a list of exact actions for the reader to imagine.

 

[Nick B]

Like Brian said, less is more.
She blocked his wild swing and punched him in the face with the hilt of her sword.

 

[JC Kang]

Most of my posts so far have been in the "oriental theater" section, mostly about martial arts films. I LOVE watching beautiful choreography, and will oftentimes back up to slow a fight down to see all the detail.

That said, I am not big fan of reading detailed fights. I'd rather read something at close narrative distance, where I get a feel for the POV character's spacing with regard to his or her assailant (or victim) and what emotions and visceral reactions they are experiencing.

 

[JC Kang]

Can I (as a newbie, LOL) suggest we post a fight scene we enjoyed reading, or perhaps even share one of our own?

 

[Toby Frost]

That said, I am not big fan of reading detailed fights. I'd rather read something at close narrative distance, where I get a feel for the POV character's spacing with regard to his or her assailant (or victim) and what emotions and visceral reactions they are experiencing.

I think this is a really good point. It might be that novels just aren't the best way of depicting complex fight scenes, at least not in that way. For a while I've felt that it would be very hard to depict an exciting car chase in a novel: by the time that you'd explained what was going on and where everyone was, you'd have lost all the momentum of the writing. The thing you can do in a novel that you can't do so well in a film is really get into the character's head and feel what they're feeling.