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KUNG FU
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Glen Doyle teaches at Previous Lessons
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By Sifu Glen Doyle
So many times when teaching, whether it be in my club,
or at my seminars (I'm sure many other instructors will
agree), the inevitable question comes up... and it
always starts with the famous two words... "WHAT IF?"
Meaning, you're teaching a technique and the students
move the source of the attack, and/or situation....
What if he had a gun? What if he came from behind?
What if he had two friends? What if he was a big fan
of Pauly Shore films?.... etc...
These questions are fine with regards to the mind
working, instinctual technique, and any situation
where you improvise, overcome, or adapt... it shows
the individuality of the mind... as long as the
instructor doesn't stray from the thread of technical
instruction, it's great.
But when teaching a string of techniques together,
which for simplicity we can call a Form, or Kata,
for our Japanese stylists, "What if" questions
really shouldn't play.
Please remember, a form or a kata is simply --
numerous individual fighting techniques strung
together in a certain pattern to allow an individual
to practice them within a certain time frame.
Each movement has a purpose. Just because in your
form you may turn to the right after the groin kick to
face the next attacker, in a real fighting situation
you NEVER fight in form... meaning that after that kick to
the groin, your next attacker may be to your left or maybe
you're only fighting one person.
When learning a form -- know what each individual
technique is for... know why you're doing each movement.
Forms are great... you can use full power, speed, and
intensity... but if you just memorize the moves,
you're doing yourself a disservice... you may look
awesome doing the form, but if you...
a)...have to call upon one of the techniques in a real
situation, will your mind be able to call upon it?
b)... have to teach the form to another person, the
imagery of
the move may suffer should you not be able to explain
the complete thought behind the technique.
If you find yourself performing movements simply
because they're in the form, you may want to sit down
with your instructor and ask him/her to dissect the
form with you. If they come upon a movement that
they cannot explain, they had no right to teach that
move to you.
You are allowing someone to step into your mind... to
re-circuit your way of thinking, acting, and
re-acting... make sure you get the best programmer
possible -- because your mind is your ultimate
computer... you must have a smooth program to run
or else your computer may crash... and when dealing
with personal safety and protection, a crashed
system could lead us to the graveyard.
Welcome to 2000
STRONG HORSE, STRONG PUNCH.
G. Doyle
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