Time to Revisit the Theoretical Aspects



Hello, everyone.

How are things in your country? Is your dojo open? Are you training at home?




If you are a student living in a country under lockdown like ours, I am sure you have a lot that you can do. The number of things that you can practice at home is virtually unlimited with online classes and instructional videos abounding.



I am also sure that if you are studying an art like Karate you have enough forms to practice anyway.

Plus- many of those exercises that you normally have to do in the dojo can be done at home.





If you are a teacher, however, you may feel derailed now. You had this or that competition lined up for the next month, maybe a grading around the corner...




Now those plans have been derailed, right?

So- what is left to do?

Well...

How about teaching martial arts? :)

But- you may ask in disbelief- what have we been doing all this time?

Sure- you have been teaching martial arts. Most likely it was the syllabus handed down from your style's headquarters, or the scheduled kata and kumite training sessions for the upcoming competition, right?

But we know that is not all that martial arts are about, right?

Well... maybe sparring is all that some schools really have, but traditional martial arts have so much more...

I admit that I was a major annoyance to my teachers when I was at their dojos. While they were concerned of getting us fighting fit for the next tournament I had questions about technique, the style's history and self defense situations. And- I have not bothered with philosophy with 3 of my teachers because they did not look like people who had time for that kind of thing...

There were more important things to focus on. There was simply no time...

Well... now we have time...

If you are worried about not having enough material to last you during the lockdown, I can assure you- I have been writing this blog for 9 years now and I always find something to write about. Besides- even though much of the knowledge that we have in martial arts have been passed on to us by a previous generation- we must remember that we are benefiting from the contributions of those past masters who have shared with us their observations, insights and in some cases even what they have created.

As a teacher you now have your chance to build a similar legacy.

To have insights we have to train, however, don't we?


Keep on training. We will get through this. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blindfold training

Image
Now here's something I have not yet written about. :D I have been interested in the Zen side of Japanese martial arts since the age of 16. It was about at this age when I began with Qigong as well. As a young karateka back then I did not have the confidence, strength or aggression of my classmates and looking back- I think it was a good thing. Because of that classes scared me. Now- had it not been to exposure to the mental training techniques provided to me by Zen- I would not have seen this hostile dojo environment as the ideal testing grounds for the things I have read. This is one major factor to which I attribute my development as a martial artist. One very important training tool that has always served me well and that continues to do so to this dat is Zen Meditation. This, in itself, has provided me with a number of benefits about which I can write in detail. One of those- was the development of intuition and sensory acuity. It is actually wonderfu
Read more

Tai Chi Movement #3- Wave Hands like Clouds

Image
I have just started searching for examples of this movement on the internet and realised that among all the people doing Tai Chi out there I might just be the only one who would apply Cloud Hands the way I do. I have found different variations of the movement itself as well. This makes my writing about my version and its application a bit unfair as you will be missing out on some really elaborate applications. Now- how I always did this movement is starting from a posture like the Lute Playing posture like the picture below- or the Spread Wings posture like this: From either one of these ready postures I then rotate my front foot and let my body follow while my leading hand makes contact with an imaginary thrust and I then complete the rotation by passing the attack while I guide its force past me with minimal effort and my free hand follows the blocking hand to wind up for an outward strike. When the rotation and step is complete I shift weight
Read more

Learning a Martial Art- some basic guidelines

Image
I think we have by now come across a couple of people who are studying some martial art or the other on their own. Back when I tried doing it at the age of 10 I used a book and later more books followed. Well- even after I did join an actual dojo more books followed even then... People are quick to say that you can't learn a martial art from a book. That is understandable. I for one know that you can't work as a lawyer if you have only gotten your law degree. In fact- few people feel as incompetent as a bright graduate starting out as a candidate at a law firm. The main reason why martial arts can't be learnt by reading alone is that experience plays a large part in developing the skills that any martial art has to offer. Knowledge is not enough. Nonetheless- self study is possible. We may argue about to which extent, but the history of Chinese and Japanese martial arts feature instances where people studied a scroll or a f
Read more