I am thinking
this evening about whether instructors held information back from students in
the past.
Now I haven’t been to Okinawa nor do I have any secret information.
This
came about because I have been re-watching a Harry Potter movie, the one where
he found an older book on Advanced Potions for class, which had tons of old
notes in it. And when Harry followed those instructions he made all the
preparation of potions work, exceedingly well. Yes it is fiction. But it also
serves to make a point.
The
way alchemy was being taught was more about following directions, which did not
necessarily work well. Which the school know quite well. Any student to succeed
had to do their own research, over and over, till they got it right. And the
rest were left clueless that what they were taught was only a piece of the
picture.
In
that fictional world the point was that apparently the students were not given
the correct instructions, because the society did not really want them all to
be competent at mixing magical potions.
Of
course if the student actually did that extra work, then they would believe in
their personal notes and develop subtle skills in their art.
Now
return to karate. There are analogous points that can be made.
1.
There
is a case that this was how karate was taught in the past, and thus it would be
how it was taught in the present. A case was this is how it was taught to me.
Where some material may have waited 20 ot more years.
a.
Till
the student was sufficiently skilled.
b.
Where
the student proved they were in it for the long haul
2.
Much
may not have been taught until the student was actually deep enough into the
study. The time, the place, the actual need
3.
And
of course there may well have been other reasons.\
On
the other hand the instructors I have trained with in various arts, who were
deepest into their own application studies, they proved to be a different
story.
Tristan
Sutrisno, in his fathers study of Shotokan, Aikido and Indonesian Tjimande were
very much into application of the arts. So much so he would not stop sharing them with his students and friends. Literally
born into the tradition, he only saw the art as the continual practice of the
applications. My short 10 years partial study, has yielded enough practice for
a lifetime of study.
Then,
Sherman Harrill, who started alongside my original study, spent 40 years
working and sharing potential in Isshinryu movement. Again I only trained with
him at clinics over 10 short years. He was constrained at those clinics at
individuals without the full training in his classes, but he exuberantly
demonstrated potential application after application. That said he shared some
800 application potentials for our 8 kata. Since that time I have met his
Senior student, John Kerker, and trained with him a few hours over the years.
That experience showed me what was missing in those clinics. The training
practices, etc. which could not be shared at a 8 hour clinic. In any case, the
study of application potential is just the first step. Then properly preparing
the body, drills such as decades on makiwara, etc. were needed. Only then were
application realization possible.
These
and others I have trained with were so into the full practice of the art, that
they could not teach what they were doing with the practice.
IMVHO,
this seems to be the standard with those I have trained with that do. Their art
or practice could not be hidden under a barrel.
Which
of course does not imply what Okinawan experience was of is. And these
practices do not imply they are a better way, just a different experience,
perhaps.
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