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Disneyland's runaway train ride roared overhead. A couple stared at me and chatted in a language I didn't recognize. Children groaned as their parents dragged their kids away. I concentrated on my training, attempting to find calm within myself and block out the crowd. I punched again.

I felt nothing, a lifeless punch, useless if someone grabbed me. What happened? Where did my power go?

During one of my lessons with kung-fu grandmaster Don Baird, he suggested going to the side of a crowded area and throwing a reverse punch. "There's a different feeling when training in the martial arts school," explains Baird. "You have four walls and a ceiling. Your yells have a nice booming echo and your uniform snaps when you punch or kick. You feel powerful."

But outside the school, in a place where I might have to defend myself, I didn't have that power.

Street survival and self-defense involve more than just physical training; it's psychological as well. You need to open your mind to see beyond your martial arts school, to feel powerful everywhere, to find clarity within chaos.

Building Presence

Power is more than just punching or kicking bags. It comes from passion, from chi, from presence. Someone with command presence can walk into a room and feel confident. He's secure in his environment and that emits a feeling others can sense.

"Command presence, in a way, comes from the maturity of the fighter, and that maturity comes from really knowing what you're doing," notes Baird.

For Baird, punching bags never made him feel powerful. "I was hitting 300-pound bags but never felt I had presence. When I went into a larger environment I felt tiny."

To build his presence, Baird trained in the Angeles National Forest near his school. Pine trees towered above him, and the silence was broken only by rustling leaves and the shrill cries from red-tailed hawks.

"I felt so small and insignificant," recalls Baird. "A single punch, even a shout, seemed like nothing while standing in the midst of Angeles National Forest."

Using imagery, Baird projected his power beyond himself to the trees and the rocks. He visualized that his punch blew leaves, helping to free his power.

"When I went back to a smaller arena, such as the school, my power felt huge," notes Baird. "You need to feel small before you can feel big."

Knowledge and confidence build presence. Show up, stay in the process and be committed. "Just because you're training in martial arts doesn't mean you're confident in it," Baird maintains. "But the more you practice and train ... you'll achieve confidence from that."

Seeing with Your Mind

Martial artists must be aware to react in a self-defense situation and to utilize their training. They need to see not just with their eyes but also with the mind.

To become completely aware one has to master the three layers of seeing: eyes, mind and experience.

"Your eyes can't not see," explains Baird. Try looking at a picture and tell yourself to stop seeing. It's impossible. "You see everything you look at, but the mind has to accept what your eyes are seeing."

Baird uses the example of a Christmas tree in a shopping mall. "There are thousands of ornaments and the first thing you notice is the whole picture," he says. "You walk by a dozen times and see an ornament you never noticed before. You ask someone who then tells you it's been there from day one. Your eyes saw it, but your mind didn't."

Martial artists who train for self-defense can see everything. They're aware of who's around them and the environment's layout, seeing all the input with their peripheral vision. For example, a waiter knocks over a bottle. The mind is trained to see what the eyes see, allowing the martial artist to snatch the bottle before it hits the ground.

"Other than moving up and down, side to side, the eyes are rather passive," Baird notes. "But the brain isn't. The brain should be actively 'watching' everything in the eyes' field."

To train your brain, stare at a dot on your opponent's chest while assuming a stationary stance. As your partner moves around throwing different attacks, continue to watch the dot. Your brain is "watching" the moves. Repeating this drill teaches the mind to do the greater part of watching while the eyes send the information to the brain.

Once the mind and body are proficient in a system's movements, the martial artist has the tools for self-defense. It's one thing to train in a martial arts school; it's another to use those moves in the real world.

Clarity Within Chaos

Chaos is the realm of bar fights and brawls. There are no rules, no cushioned floors and no students going easy on that punch to the floating rib. How can someone take what he's trained and apply it for self-defense? Better yet, how can that person walk away whole afterward?

"How do you get seasoned as a self-defender but live a dignified life?" Baird asks. "Martial artists are constantly playing catch-up. For the bad guy that's grabbed you, that's his 200th time, but for you it's your first."

When students train in a school, they get comfortable with the atmosphere. An instructor's guidance, the dedication and support from their classmates adds to a student's comfort.

Other factors come into play on the street: injury, blood, fear and thinking through that fear. Students have no experience with this chaos. "We overcome this to a certain degree by training more realistically in the school," Baird says. "But in some way I don't think the student will ever reach full potential until they've had street experience."

Baird developed the Black Tiger program to teach his more serious fighters how to handle street violence, such as facing single and multiple opponents, fighting from the trunk of a car, pinned on the floor, being grabbed or choked. "The study of self-defense is endless," he insists. His students were under threat but still safe. "It was a lot of psychological training about not folding under pressure."

The mind works better when it recognizes something in which it has seen before or can relate to. Training in different locations and situations allows the mind to react. The more experience you have, the faster your mind will move from chaos to clarity.

Baird suggests other ideas. Try not to lock onto familiarity in training; instead, change things up a bit. Turn around and face different directions when doing your forms. Go to the park or the Laundromat and practice. Do techniques with just your hands or your feet, and then blindfolded.

"A good fighter needs to adapt immediately to the environment of the self-defense situation," he states. "If a fighter has trained in many different places, he or she is better able to adapt."

According to Baird, the most important part of a student's training is showing up for class and putting out the effort. Practice at home and with friends. "Anyone can fold under pressure, but the well-trained student is less likely to."

"When a mind is in chaos, there's so much information. A closed mind doesn't see half of what's going on," he admits. "When you quiet the mind, you can open it to see anything."

He explains how a violent encounter demands a clear mind, able to see through the chaos for that perfect striking moment. There is no hesitation and no feeling overwhelmed. The punch needs to be at a target, power expelling forward.

"When the door to the mind is open," Baird says, "the door is always open."

Baird is celebrating his 30th year teaching martial arts. His American School of Martial Arts is based in Burbank, California.
6 Secrets to Visualization

1. Imagery helps the fighter see what can't be seen. It can give chi and energy a tangible feel, which is important for training. Set the image in your mind-when you throw a sidekick, picture blades of grass or dirt swirling upward. The goal is to project that force mentally as well as physically.

2. Don't think of punching as a constricting motion. This restricts the flow of energy. Instead, imagine yourself punching through the bags; this will expand yourself and your power.

3. Make a conscious effort to notice what is in the eyes' field. Take note of what your eyes are seeing instead of just glancing over it. Be diligent and practice-there are no secrets here.

4. Beginners should solidify their basics. For students who have a greater understanding of their system, sit back with your eyes closed and do your forms with the mind. Go slowly first and then faster, focusing on areas of hesitation or lack of mental clarity. Later, physically do the forms, paying close attention to sections that didn't go well in the visualization.

5. Train everywhere. When the mind has seen something it recognizes, the better it can react.

6. Quiet the mind. Don't think about all the decisions you have to make. Live life freely. You want your mind to be a clear pond instead of a raging ocean. A meditative mind is receptive and responsive to learning-it can see everything.


The Man Behind the Fighter

Don Baird has been studying martial arts since 1962 and was a student of premier grandmaster Young Ik Suh. In 1976, Suh retired from teaching and entrusted Baird with his style and school. In 1993 Baird renamed the style "pyong an do won" or "peaceful mind and way," which is directly from kang duk won/chang moo kwan.

Baird shares his knowledge of martial arts to his students and the community. Concerned for the Burbank police force and its safety, Baird designed specialized techniques for police encounters. He was appointed technical advisor to the Burbank Police Department and donated more than a year of his time riding in squad cars and studying/evaluating their skills.

More than just a great fighter, Baird is a master in the chi kung healing arts. He has worked with people who have ailments such as tumors, leukemia, neuroblastoma, cancer, migraines and ovarian cysts.

Baird, who believes life should be an expansion rather than a contraction, is an author, musician, composer and photographer.

For nearly 10 years, Baird played classical clarinet as a recording artist for studios such as Warner Bros., Disney and MGM. He has produced six CDs in the last few years and has written four books. His most recent book, "A Field of Daises," is a collection of haikus and tanka-Japanese poetry forms.

He was awarded third place in the Kusumakura Haiki contest in Japan two years running.

Chrissy Koeth is a Southern California-based martial artist and freelance writer. This is her first submission to Inside Kung-Fu.