(Kala, Kalajengking, Alakdan, Vrischika)
Hello
everyone, long time no post LOL. This time around I wanted to share
with you all an insight into one of my favourite animal mannerisms the
Kala or Scorpion.
We'll look a little at the scorpion
and its biology and anatomy, its psychology and hunting and defencive
habits and we'll also look at how that relates to the tools we as
martial artists have and can use in real world combat.
The
Scorpion martial material is all but lost now in a lot of Indonesia and
as to whether it ever existed in Malaysia is debatable and is the realm
of the scholar the best source of surviving Scorpion material Ive found
comes from the Myanmar (Burmese) Bando systems in their various
forms.actually it was Bando that I was first exposed to the Scorpion
system. A teacher I studied with for a while also exposed me to some
African and Khmer arts which also included Scorpion techniques.
Also
Ive personally added mannerisms and techniques gleaned from my own
expression from watching studying my own scorpions, in the way they hunt
and fight.
It is my opinion that as Scorpions are so
widespread throughout the jungles of Asia that all the indigenous people
would once have used aspects and mannerisms of the scorpion in their
fighting arts
Anatomy:
The Scorpion is an
arthropod and part of the arachnid family of animals an ancient
creature, it is almost entirely armoured and armed with a fearsome array
of weapons two powerful claws Pedipalps used to hold prey whist it is
eaten or if a struggle ensues it utilises its trademark tail metasoma
tipped with a venomous barb or Telson to inject a powerful neurotoxin to
paralysis the prey so it can be summarily eaten.
As far as
behaviour the scorpion is a naturally defencive animal spending most of
the day hidden in borrows or under logs etc but at night the scorpion is
a ruthless predator feeding on small inverts but in some cases small
lizards and mice will be taken.The scorpion as very sensitive hairs on
its feet and on the outside of its claws which can pick up the slightest
vibration of prey moving past, through the ground itself.
Once
startled the scorpion will about face turning on a dime to face its
threat head on, with tail and claws raised in a threatening manner if
that doesn't intimidate the threat the scorpion will pull in its mouth
and head parts cover itself with its large claws and lower its tail so
as to form an almost tessellating armoured target an amazing animal.
Mannerism:
As
a mannerism, we can take the reactive and aggressive defencive nature
of the scorpion as a mindset should we run into confrontation. Like the
scorpion we as humans in a "civilised" society do not seek out trouble
and we are happy to be aloud to busy get on with our own lives but
should we be faced with a situation we cannot get out of and violence is
the only option left open to use we can be aggressive and direct in our
defencive reaction to the foe as we know the best form of defence is
attack and as long as you abide by the use of reasonable force and you
feel like your life or that of your family or friends is in grave danger
then react like the scorpion.As scorpions are obviously devoid of
cognitive thought they react instinctively to a stimulus, whether it be a
feeding response or a defencive response to a threat, there is no
thinking, no "well this guy is really scary and holding a weapon, and
what about the legal ramifications of XYZ, if he doest this specific
technique coming from this specific angle on this certain day of the
week" or whatever.. basically all the things that would get you killed
if your life depended on it and a real trap a lot of martial artists
fall prey too. no. the Scorpion reacts to the stimulus with lightning
speed and then stops and goes about its business as if nothing
happened.That said scorpions know instinctively when to run and hide and
wouldn't fall prey to things like pride or huberous another flaw of
many fighters. When its time to split... split!
Scorpions are very
direct in their attacks seeking to rely on their armoured assault to
crash through the threat utilising its claws to immobilise and tear its
prey while it engages its classic over head stinger to en-venomate the
target which is then eaten alive and torn to bits. Ive often feed my
Scorpions and watched in fascination as the insects are picked up
smashed down on the sides of tank or floor and pulled apart little limbs
scattered around the place like a scene from Starship Troppers or
something its great..... (yes I know I'm sick and need to get out
more!) LOL
Martial Tools:
Obviously
we don't have a armoured carapace eight legs huge claws and a large
tail tipped with a venomous barb, we`re human right?, well we do have
certain tools at are our disposal, which we can use to mimic the
attributes of the scorpion.
The Armour:
To mimic
the lack of a chitin armoured body the scorpion stylist will use the
elbows and knees in a couple of ways. Firstly the elbows are used in a
wedge like manner to help deflect oncoming blows to the upper body as it
drives forward, not to unlike the way the beak is used in the Garuda
sub stystems, seen most recently in the Keysi material. My Pukulan
Cimande brothers will know this as "The Principle of Body armour". Using
various shields to cover the upper body whilst the knees cover the
lower levels. Our attacker throwing in blows will find them impaled and
deflected in such a way that we give the impression of being armoured.
Secondly
the elbows and knees are used defensively to impale oncoming blows, but
these are not used with the same mentality of say Kali or Escrima the
MO is that of driving forward relentlessly, not of staying in a knife
range and Gubting-ing blows as they come in. Obviously once the scorpion
stylist as gotten to close range the elbows and knees are used directly
as weapons to the opponent in a more conventional manner , but that
said still with the forward moving emtherysis.
The Claws:
As we mentioned the scorpion will use the claws to immobilise its prey and to pull it limb from limb.
the
claws are used in a pinching and squeezing manner to various nerve
centres and plexus`s of the limbs and body to cause deep pain in the
limbs this is the scorpion players way of trapping by using the foes
nervous system against him. These pincher like attacks can be used
offensively too to the clavicle region or the windpipe and groin
followed almost always by a strike to finish the confrontation with a
direct downward type nerve strike which if so desired could be fatal
think of this as the tail being employed in a direct downward arch to
inject neurotoxin into the prey to paralyse whilst the claws and teeth
finish the job.
The knuckles are also used either to pinch at the
skin, or nerve bundles or to strike them like the extended knuckle
punches used in classical Chinese and Japanese arts.
The Tail and Sting:
The
material and expression we use in the utilisation of the tail are not
like those used in some of the more "theatrical" Kung-Fu styles and
movies where crazy flexibility allow for the legs the express the
downward arch of the tail strike. We use a far more practical and
pragmatic delivery system of the arm to mimic the deadly sting. With
this we have much more control and accuracy to deliver the strike with
the fingers angled like the Telson of the scorpion to the dangerous
nerves plexus`s of the neck throat and clavicle regions. Also should we
miss and or the opponent doesn't stand still and let us deliver a very
impressive over the headkick, were not caught on one leg bent over
backwards like something from Cynthia Rothrock scene ,)
(Showing my age there I know LOL.)
The Teeth:
Lastly
for this article the teeth are used offensively to bite off parts of
the opponents face and neck and or to hold them still, through pain
compliance whist the sting or punching elbow is utilised.
Closing
So
in closing we`ve looked at the basics of the scorpions anatomy and
mentality as applied to psychology and real world combat / defence and
some of the main tools used to mimic and punish a potential threat.
In
the next article on the Kala we`ll look at some picture examples of
various scorpion strikes and some pics and clips of some basic
applications and Langkas or footwork and stepping of this fascinating
and deadly animal. Till then, play hard and train safe ,)
