The Mightiest Adversary

There can be only One. We show the respect, may seem to own similar powers and, when it comes to it, even treat each other in a friendly manner. Nevertheless, there’s no way of being equal. As long as it’s a question of the master besting the apprentice there may be no peace, merely a truce. StarBuck and myself simultaneously walking the Earth is basically a state impossible, which will inevitably lead to an explosion – a calm between two storms. And there can be only One.

Many years ago, in the beginning of it all, he chose to become the father figure. I was pulled in, fate in one hand and destiny in the other. After a long process of upbringing – and I’m not just talking about the actual training that took place but a life of walking the path among others who made the decision - unto me came ultimately the duty of murdering that father; the very pattern that keeps the myth going. And it’s the world of myth we live in, not just the two of us but all those who chose and were chosen.

Apart from the cosmic scale there is the personal level. If people were different styles of combat arts, StarBuck would most likely be heavyweight boxing whereas I’d be represented by something like Tai Chi Chuan. We are climbing the same mountain, on opposite sides of it though, yet there’s been no chance of avoiding the clashes we’ve come to as individuals.

I, as a practitioner of the principle of Tao, understand very well that there’s not much point in fighting only for the fight itself, trying to hammer a square piece through a round hole. There’s a reason for everything, and in most cases of disagreement it’s been that I do not want to let go of the way he brought me up, how I was shaped – although it might not always seem like the smartest thing to do. Determination and acting stubborn are two different things; it’s just that I know where I’m going. We both do.

Success in the eyes of others means nothing as it is my part to overcome StarBuck in areas most spectators are not even aware of: to be a superior athlete, a tougher man, a better human being. This has nothing to do with disrespect. Settling for anything less would be spitting right in his face – he set the standard, the rest is just a test of seeing whether I am worthy or not.

A hundred years from now it will all be over, there will be very little left of what’s been accomplished in Finnish pro wrestling in our time. So what value will any fame, any title, any victory or amount of admiration have then? My goal is simply to be remembered – by those who’ve been involved – as the one who would not kneel. One day I will die too. My life’s been looking up to StarBuck; that day I want to to be the day he finally looks up to me.

To strike at the serpent

Sunzi said: ”If you attack its head, its tail strikes; if you attack its tail, its head strikes; if you attack its middle, both its head and tail strike.”

One peculiar feature in catch-as-catch-can is that when observed in a superficial manner it appears as an art most “external” so to speak; a battle of superior power rather than a quest for sophisticated skill and sensitivity. On the other hand, once we begin to truly understand the techniques and the tactics we come to realize how “internal” it is indeed. We use the spiral movement as they do in Baquazhang, we use grabbing the opponent’s fingers for leverage as they do in Aikido, we use attacks on the nerve pressure points and so on. That combined with the strength and speed essential for athletic prowess makes catch-as-catch-can-wrestling a weapon of destruction whereas many a rival style can merely be regarded as another method with certain emphasis.

In catch-wrestling one must constantly think in terms of turning every part of the body into an instrument of making the opponent suffer: the sharp part of the radius driven across tissues, the shin that’ll work as a cutting tool, the tip of the chin for creating extreme pressure, the crest of the skull in one’s forehead, just to mention a few of the possibilities. On the ground of course such floating upon the target is relatively easy, for gravity will not be your enemy but an ally instead. After this has been learned, go seek applying the principle to striking, in other words fighting while standing in an upright position. Always remember as a student of martial arts that there is a reason for everything. Find the challenge, then become the shuai-ran snake of Mount Chang spoken of in The Art of War.

Watch the clip of Professor Huang Kang-Hui performing a series of Tai Chi moves. To many people it may at first seem like a pile of formal nonsense, but having trained with this man as my instructor I can guarantee he’d be able to crush human bones in an instant with what he does. More so, the flow taken to that extent the opponent will never know what comes next.