As one of my students came walking into the dojo already a sweaty mess at 8:00 am on a freezing Sunday morning, I wondered what he had been doing prior so early in the day. He told me that he had already attended a massive gym session desperately wanting to lose weight. Sensational I thought, going to the gym for that sole purpose, and not the dojo. Holding a grading in the coming weeks, I was asked to hold extra training sessions in order to hone on existing strengths and iron out any weakness, which I happily obliged. Even happier was that he understood the purpose of coming to the dojo.
Due to both of our busy schedules today, we worked on certain parts of kata for only 1 ½ hours. For some, this may seem rather lengthy, but it really comes down to what it is you are focussing on at the time. If those 1 ½ hours were applied to pumping out push-ups, sit-ups, punches and blocks in the air, what have you really achieved? If the aim was to become stronger and fitter, or to lose weight - fantastic, mission accomplished but is this the primary function of the dojo? This is where I believe sometimes the terminology of “karate training” becomes entangled with what is in reality, simply General Fitness Training. It seems like many associate whatever it is they are doing in their karate lessons as actual karate practise, however, if you analyse the definition concisely, the word “Practise” can be defined as to do or cause to do repeatedly in order to gain skill. In other words, it is how we can improve and grow. So, are you simply training, or do you think you are practising?
Going back to this student, about 30 minutes alone was spent only on the first 3 opening movements of gekisai dai ichi – both sides. Was he practising? Yes, he was. Was he executing the techniques and timing correctly? No, he wasn’t (but slowly improving). This leads to the next point- there is no merit in practising for such and such number of hours, days, years, or even decades if the technique performed is incorrect. This is hopefully where we as teachers are guiding our students in the right direction and instructing the ideas and methods we have been taught. Improvement through high repetition does not make a person progress if what is being done is flawed. Through one on one time with this student, it allowed both of us to look at his errors in detail. Every little movement broken down and shortcomings attempted to be resolved, likewise, the same thing occurred for the later parts of the kata.
For many martial arts teachers, I would assume that having students learn and absorb new techniques while executing them simultaneously commonly does not work (apart from the more naturally gifted ones obviously). The mind requires time to fully process new instruction before the body can follow through. Because of this, it is easy to see how 1 ½ hours can fly. Time flies when you’re having fun right? Well in this case, time flies when you are attempting to practise correctly, and remember practise does not make perfect if you aren’t practising correctly 😉
Comments