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The three practitioners in the video have had around 10 one-hour sessions of Liberation Martial Arts (LMA). This video is a snapshot of their 10th practice. At this point, they can move from both left and right staggered stances and maintain some consistency in gaze, physical ease, movement, rootedness, flexibility, breathing, and control. In other words, they can play safely.
The 10th practice is the first time they've explored their movement options with their rear arm, and it's emerging organically and naturally without instruction.
Nothing I'm doing is written in stone. What I do isn't as important as how I do it—the LMA approach.
Rather than being instructed on rigid orthodoxy and memorization of techniques, practitioners were informed of new game rules, conditions, and safety guidelines. Beyond that is an infinite matrix to explore.
The practitioners self-organize their movements in real-time based on the game rules and affordances. This allows skillful movements to develop because anything outside of perception and action would be too slow for game application. Translating instructions and memories to action is not real-time. Game speed is faster than the speed of words and thoughts. I mostly play referee, intervening when rules are broken, when things are unsafe, or nudging practitioners to breathe, look, and relax.
Implementing our approach is more about understanding our pedagogy and training theory than memorizing all the various movement tasks. As with child-led learning or gentle parenting, LMA is not an org or an affiliation but an approach to learning. Many LMAists are applying the LMA approach to various other domains and activities. How you use LMA is flexible. However, it's critical that it's not reduced or misrepresented.
Becoming a better mover is more than just a physical state; it's also about building confidence and ease. Many of our practitioners live with chronic pain, preexisting health conditions, debilities, disabilities, and neurodivergence. Having the movements conform to them rather than the other way around allows the LMA approach to meet practitioners where they are. This is why LMA is less about what we do and more about how and why we do it.
The practitioner's learning ability is never the problem; it's always the design. Watching and listening will help organizers adapt training. Allowing practitioners to co-design can overcome most obstacles.
Explaining the footage
Practitioner RT (all black) is featured first in the video. He has several preexisting injuries. Our first session was spent breathing, seeing, connecting to the ground, and releasing tension. This evolved into walking with rotation and our sapling game. Knowing how to root while being soft is key to our injury prevention.
Practitioner RF (grey shirt and black pants) and M (black clothes with lavender mask) did something similar to RT on their first day. Since RF had no day-to-day pain, we found time on the first day to explore staggered stance walking. I introduced movement diversity into her walk and used a metronome to steady her breath. Coming early to breathe and self-regulate is helpful for RF. She comes early to her sessions just to make time for it. They make a night and day difference in her training experience.
I suggested some activities she can do at home, but whether she does them or not is her call. Every practitioner has their own autonomy.
RF was taking to everything quickly, so we scaled up quickly. It's astonishing how much people are capable of in a safe, supported, exploratory environment.
Practitioner M has severe back pain, so her training was organized around moving without tension.
In the second session, practitioners explore rootedness and ambidexterity—doing everything on both sides. The first reason for ambidexterity is injury prevention, and the second is fully actualizing exploration.
Ambidexterity does not mean symmetry. Instead, it's about exploring movement diversity from all sides. For example, RT can't do the same things on both sides because of injuries. That's fine. That means doing what he can without judgment. All that matters is he's breaking his movement monotony and adding diversity to his movement repertoire.
Then, we dive into various movement conditions (games). I introduced some gameplay with RF and M in their first sessions. We start with foam noodles since they make people comfortable and because no one has equipment yet.
The second session is when I begin talking to people about equipment. Lack of equipment is not an issue; there's a lot we can do without it. We also have extra equipment in the LMA Learning Lab for practitioners to borrow. Having spare equipment or donating equipment should be a consideration when organizing LMA practices.
Since most practitioners come to the Learning Lab once a week or less, there's plenty of time for equipment to arrive. You should be as protected as possible without limiting movement.
The sapling game evolves into kicking games. Since leg movements are the least explored for most people, we start leg movements early.
Perception and gaze were introduced on day one, but by the third session, they inform everything we do. How you move is dictated by how you perceive your partner and environment. Let your partner's location and your location in the room inform your movements.
Rather than discussing styles or techniques, we review safety rules and how to move safely. Beyond that are infinite movement possibilities. Instead of prescribing specific movements, exploration means allowing the practitioners to discover.
Through the sapling game, practitioners got used to touching and being touched, informing and receiving. This starts with foam noodles, then hands and feet. We want a smooth transition, which means minimizing shock. I'll use foam pads, gloves, and even chest protectors before increasing the intensity. However, not all roads lead to intense sparring play. It's up to the individual. Also, decisions are not fixed in time; they may change. The LMA Way is fluid.
The third session is all about coupling perception with movement. By this time, most practitioners are coming early to warm up their breath and eyes. Practitioners quickly develop adept movements from both stances if they do it from day one, and they're never taught to believe they can't.
When shin guards and gloves arrive, we can work on absorbing direct blows. Learning to receive and absorb gentle blows early on reduces future anxiety. It's all about how safe the practitioner feels, how much they trust their environment, and how contact is framed. Touch is information; it informs your next movement.
We often use pushes and gentle blows as a somatic healing modality, guiding practitioners to release tension and pain.
Without context, safety is abstract. Our safety concept of alignment makes more sense when we are touching. By touching and pushing, your partners teach you to align your body with their energy. Having safe and trustworthy training partners is a gift. Having them to play with is a privilege.
Equipment doesn't mean hard hitting. We spend a lot of time playing no-touch sparring games. It's a great way to develop precision and control. You can do this without equipment, of course, but there is the risk of accidents.
Control is a byproduct of embodying movement without tension, steadying gaze and breath, and learning to receive blows. The more at ease you are, the more control you have. The more at ease you are about receiving blows, the more ease you have. By the third or fourth session, practitioners are gently punching and kicking each other. They know how to give consent at the start of a round, withdraw consent at the end, and call time-outs.
The foundation for punching and kicking was the walking from the first day. Sparring play should be similar to the pace, ease, rotation, and smooth breathing of walking. If you consistently move as if walking, you always have inertia to channel into your other movements. Inertia travels best in a body lacking tension. You want it to move through you like water. Tension is like a dam.
Some examples of conditions are kicks only, lead attacks only, defense only, kicks to the thighs only, etc. Setting conditions puts a spotlight on areas to develop and explore. Another way to think about it is by blacking everything else out; you highlight what has been neglected.
Practitioners develop a lot in 10 sessions. RT is almost 200 pounds heavier than I am, and we can train safely with no issues. This sort of size mismatch this early on can be disastrous in other martial arts and combat sports systems, but in our system, I feel perfectly safe. RF is around 40 pounds lighter than me, and training with her doesn't feel all that different from training with RT. When RT and RF spar together, size is not an issue. In fact, training together broke RT's habit of uprooting himself. Age mismatches also cause no problems.
RF did a few rounds with M, and despite never training together, there was no issue because everyone knew how to play the games safely. Rather than seeing their partner as a new opponent to defeat, practitioners see each other as new friends to play with. They're excited and relaxed, not tense and scared. It's play, not life or death.
Around the 10th session, they know the general gist of kickboxing. They now need more opportunities to develop, which means more training partners and rounds. Doing lots of rounds with lots of partners means sparring games have to be safe with an explicit consensus on what "safe" means. Growing together through (safe) play fosters community, support, and fun. This is how people stick with training.
To access the Liberation Martial Arts curriculum and contribute to the sustainability of this project, consider upgrading your membership. If you've been putting it off, now would be a great time to sign up. Find other ways to support us here. – Sam
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