Monday, October 27, 2008
Group practice
Last month there was discussion about group practice Wednesday evenings at 6:30. Unfortunately I was never able to make the practice. Has it continued? With it getting dark by 6:30, any type of group practice would need to be in a well-lit area. Has the group practice continued? Any thoughts about continuing, changing, etc.?
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Insert & Pull
As reviewed in today's advanced students' class, we spoke about the strengths & weaknesses of different weapons traditions in Asian martial arts. East Asian martial arts (such as those in China, Japan, & Korea) are usually quite strong about logarithmic systems of fighting. Southeast Asian martial arts are less about codifying and concealing and more about drilling the fundamentals of movement in the format of a partnered drill.
The partner drills in Filipino Kali & Thai Krabi-Krabong help the combatant better understand distancing, timing, placement, line-of-sight, mindset, and rhythm within the undeniable framework of efficacy. If it doesn't work when you're drilling with practice swords or dull sticks, it won't work on the battlefield.
This morning, more than once, I had to remind a couple of the students to concentrate.... and what gets my goat is that the ONE person I had to remind the most about concentrating probably won't have it register in that person's head. Violence, while socially anathema, is a great teacher when it comes to showing you when you're not concentrating to your fullest potential.
Today's swordsmanship lesson was very simple, taken from the side-to-side slide & slice. Instructions were simple: attack VERY slowly, and the defender is to insert the sword and slice to the side. Yet it's incredible how readily many of the advanced students reverted back to swinging erratically, looking off into the distance, and doing almost anything other than what I outlined.
In the future, please look for the simplest possible solution to each & every situation. If the framework or the logic for the martial system is solid, look for ways to implement it at every occasion possible. With the slide step & side slice (and with most applications), go back to the way the technique is performed in the set itself and try to understand the where, why, what, when, and how behind it.
We're going back to the point of gratest simplicity until the end of '08, so let's learn to get every cell of your body and every molecule of your blade to work as one fluid, total whole.
The partner drills in Filipino Kali & Thai Krabi-Krabong help the combatant better understand distancing, timing, placement, line-of-sight, mindset, and rhythm within the undeniable framework of efficacy. If it doesn't work when you're drilling with practice swords or dull sticks, it won't work on the battlefield.
This morning, more than once, I had to remind a couple of the students to concentrate.... and what gets my goat is that the ONE person I had to remind the most about concentrating probably won't have it register in that person's head. Violence, while socially anathema, is a great teacher when it comes to showing you when you're not concentrating to your fullest potential.
Today's swordsmanship lesson was very simple, taken from the side-to-side slide & slice. Instructions were simple: attack VERY slowly, and the defender is to insert the sword and slice to the side. Yet it's incredible how readily many of the advanced students reverted back to swinging erratically, looking off into the distance, and doing almost anything other than what I outlined.
In the future, please look for the simplest possible solution to each & every situation. If the framework or the logic for the martial system is solid, look for ways to implement it at every occasion possible. With the slide step & side slice (and with most applications), go back to the way the technique is performed in the set itself and try to understand the where, why, what, when, and how behind it.
We're going back to the point of gratest simplicity until the end of '08, so let's learn to get every cell of your body and every molecule of your blade to work as one fluid, total whole.
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