Be the Rock… or Be the Water? Real punches don’t wait!

So here’s something that’s been bouncing around my head lately.

In class, we’re working pressure drills. You know the ones.

Slow, committed punch.

You “receive” it.

You feel the pressure.

You redirect it.

Everyone nods like we just unlocked forbidden knowledge.

And every time, part of my brain is yelling:

“My guy… this is not how people punch.”

The classic idea—especially in Wing Chun, Tai Chi, and Aikido circles—is be the rock- or, willow. Let the pressure come in, stay rooted, feel it, and guide it somewhere else.

Nice metaphor.

Clean. Elegant.

And wildly optimistic about how violence actually behaves.

Real Punches Don’t Hang Around

In real life, punches don’t stay extended so you can admire their pressure.

They snap out.

They come back.

They chain.

They hide the second hand.

That’s why we keep seeing those viral videos—Wing Chun “masters,” Tai Chi “grandmasters”—getting absolutely handled by boxers and kickboxers who didn’t agree to slow down and participate in the fantasy.

It’s not disrespect.

It’s timing.

You can’t redirect a punch that’s already gone.

Image: Two people sparring in a gym.

On the left, a person in a white martial-arts gi faces right with black boxing gloves held up in front of their face in a defensive guard; only the side/back of their head and upper body are visible.

On the right, a person with short brown hair wears a gray long-sleeve athletic shirt and dark pants, also wearing boxing gloves. They’re angled toward the other person with their hands up, looking focused. The background is a plain light wall with a green padded mat section visible to the left.

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Why I Don’t Naturally Do the “Rock” Thing

When my sensei tells me I’m not holding firm enough, he’s right—and I know exactly why.

My nervous system is trained to move early.

Angle off.

Step out.

Jam the line.

Disappear.

Standing there like a rock, waiting to read the pressure on my arm so I can do something clever with it? That feels like stage combat. It feels like yelling “Tiger Uppercut!” while someone politely freezes.

Fun drill.

Not a survival strategy- and yes, I know not every training session is meant to be survival-based.

Image: A close-up of two people practicing a knife-defense style drill in a gym.

On the left, a person wearing glasses and a red athletic jacket with white stripes raises their right arm, holding a gray training knife upright. On the right, a person in a gray long-sleeve athletic shirt faces them and uses both hands to control or redirect the knife arm, with their palms touching the other person’s forearm and wrist. Both look serious and focused.

In the background, partly visible at the far left, a woman in a blue shirt smiles while watching. The wall behind them is covered with green padded panels.

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Now Let’s Talk About Being Blind (Because This Is Where People Really Screw This Up)

This is where people think they’ve got a smart counterpoint.

They say:

“But for blind fighters, doesn’t it make sense to stay rooted, feel the contact, and redirect? You can’t see the punch coming.”

That sounds logical.

It’s also a trap.

If you’re blind and you train yourself to be static—waiting for pressure to stay long enough so you can “read” it—you’re finished. The first time you spar, you turn into a living, breathing punching bag.

Real people don’t freeze their arms out there for blind fighters to politely explore.

So what do I actually teach?

Move. Dammit.

Touch is not a cue to pause.

Touch is a cue to explode.

Image: Two people in a martial-arts gym doing a sparring or self-defense drill.

On the left, a person wearing glasses and a red jacket with black sleeves (and dark gloves) extends their left arm straight out, as if throwing or demonstrating a strike. Their face looks tense or focused.

On the right, a person in a white gi wears green-and-black open-finger sparring gloves and holds both hands up near their head in a protective guard, leaning slightly forward and looking downward as if bracing for the incoming move.

In the background, a few barefoot people sit against the wall watching, and there’s an orange ball on the mat. The room has green padded flooring and plain light-colored walls.

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The Snake, the Scorpion, and the Wasp (Pay Attention)

This is the analogy I give my students.

Snakes are smaller than us.

Scorpions are smaller than us.

Wasps are way smaller than us.

So why don’t most people try to grab them with their bare hands?

Because the moment you touch them:

• the snake bites the shit out of you
• the scorpion stings the shit out of you
• the wasp lights you up and ruins your day

They don’t stay there and think,

“Let me feel this pressure and decide what to do.”

They react immediately.

That’s the lesson.

The moment you feel contact—push, grab, punch, whatever—I don’t want you thinking about structure or philosophy.

Bite or sting the shit out of whoever that hand belongs to.

That’s not brutality.

That’s survival.

Rock vs Water (No Incense, No Fantasy)

Being the rock teaches structure, calm, and not flinching. Useful—for a phase.

But water is where real fighting lives.

Bruce Lee said it best:

“Be water, my friend.”

Not after the punch lands.

Before it settles.

Muhammad Ali didn’t stand there receiving jabs so he could feel clever.

He floated.

He angled.

He was gone.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Most redirection-heavy systems only work when:

• the punch commits
• the punch stays out
• the attacker cooperates

That’s why they look amazing in demos

and collapse under chaos.

Rock is a training phase.

Water is the expression.

Stay in rock mode forever, and eventually someone hits you twice, or a bigger rock smashes you.

Image: A kickboxing sparring scene in a gym.

Two fighters wear headgear and boxing gloves. The fighter on the left wears a red headguard, black shirt, green sweatpants, and blue foot guards, leaning forward with arms tucked in as they absorb a strike. The fighter on the right wears a blue headguard, black shirt and shorts, shin/instep guards, and is delivering a side kick or push kick with their right leg into the left fighter’s midsection, leaning back with their left leg planted.

The gym has blue walls, a black curtain on the left, and a red wall-mounted rack on the right. There’s a watermark in the lower right that reads “Lisa Passion Photography.”

My Take, Plain and Simple

I’m not anti-tradition.

I’m anti lying to students.

Violence doesn’t pause.

Pressure doesn’t wait.

And if you’re blind and static, it eats you alive.

So train structure.

Train calm.

Train sensitivity.

But when it’s real?

Move.

Angle.

Flow.

Bite.

Sting.

Be water—especially when you can’t see it coming.

    

Websites:

👉 https://johnnytiger.com

👉 https://tigertactile.com

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