The history of the Zero in mathematics is quite complex. It had been around for a long time but was feared and great civilizations went out of their way making their mathematics more complex because they wouldn’t use it.
But it is a tool of great value, both in Math and in some advanced martial studies.
Zero connotes emptiness. Martially stepping back at the right time to draw an attacker into the space you formally occupied to move them into the correct position for your counter, creating an emptiness is using the zero. Each time we step backwards in a kata or when practicing a kihon, we’re touching the zero. Yang Tai Chi Chaun’s two person San Shou exercise utilizes that specific answer.
But there are other uses of a zero, a way to focus a student's development.
Quite a few years ago I awarded some of my best students' zero’s when judging them in competition. But such honor is reserved for brown and black belt competitors, only from my own students. When I worked as an official, I would always have a low score in mind, say a 5, and nobody under any circumstance would receive less. After all the role of the judge is only to pick between the competitors to help determine who is first and award some consolation prizes to a few others. A score never really was an evaluation of anyone’s worth or performance. Why would an intelligent person want to humiliate anyone who chose to step, roll or crawl on the floor to compete?
Of course, there is an answer, to show contempt to others. I’ve received and seen very low scores awarded many times with such a reason. Unfortunately, the judges, high rank that they held, didn’t understand when you judge you are judging yourself as much as the person you’re awarding the score too. A judgment always goes two ways.
Judging shows your honor, your understanding of the arts in general and the specific performance in particular, and the intelligent MA can judge how judges judge as easily as the person performing can be judged. [I have some interesting old video that I will personally let any of you sit through with me and see if I know what I’m talking about.]
But when I train, I’m not creating green belts, brown belts, or even 3rd degree black belts. I’m in a continual event horizon to help each person continually evaluate their ability and move toward higher level of performance.
When my students have competed, I wanted them to always understand their only competition was themselves, and that the award was irrelevant.
So, if a mistake was made..... well it has happened several times.
Once one of my students wanted to compete in a self-defense division and was doing maybe 7 or 8 defensive applied techniques against attacks. On one of them they missed and fell down. When concluding the judges gave polite scores, I awarded a zero.
Simple logic if you can’t make a technique work, you died, so why receive score.
In the years I used to see breaking demonstrations on occasion I saw people butcher themselves trying time after time to batter their head through a cinder cap, and the judges didn’t have the wit to stop them till the blood started flowing. Later the tournaments got some sense, and informed everyone you had one chance for each break, and if you couldn’t do it, there would be no score..... An intelligent use of zero.
In one of his early sho-dan tournaments one of my students really put himself into his form with great dynamics compared to the other competitors that day. When it came time to score the other judges gave him high scores, I gave him a zero, for he left a piece of the form out. He got first place (when high and low scores were dropped), but the other judges didn’t appreciate that I gave him nothing and he won.
Of course, my logic is simple, being awarded anything, at advancing levels, when you made a mistake, even if ones outside of your system couldn’t observe it, will not help you work beyond such mistakes.
A zero becomes the greatest kindness an instructor can offer, to help the student in the most important way.
It really depends on what one thinks an instructor should do. Focus the student to the most intense or worry about getting a trophy.
It’s always good to remember if you win first place, and all of the judges are incapable of understanding why, what does first place mean?
In turn that suggests moving to a few hypothetical tournament ideas to make things more interesting.
A slightly advanced black belt kata competition where the competitor stands forth and is informed which kata they will perform, and they only have 20 seconds to begin.
Ditto, in a slightly advanced kobudo competition.
Anyone with talent can work their tails off to do a good performance with one or two kata. But think how much more impressive to win if they have to perform any randomly selected kata on the spot. There would be a truly gifted skill performance.
Wouldn’t that be more fun?
And how about an instructors division, set up so any empty hand or kobudo kata in the system might be drawn for competition. No advanced knowledge and only 20 seconds to begin (a second might bring them their weapon if that was the kata choice.
Then you’d have a real idea how good your really were.
Preparing for kata divisions like that would but some hair on our chests (male of female as an equal opportunity type of guy that I am).
Isn’t that what the fun of competing should be for, to push yourself to the max.
It would be great to see a senior instructor draw naifanchi kata and then blow everyone else away with it because they could demonstrate that level of skill.
A similar approach could be adopted for tag kumite to make things more interesting. Where you fight for points.
There could be a head judge who is personally responsible for all illegal contact calls.
Two corner judges would work with the head judge to call whether a point was scored (majority rules).
But there would be a fourth judge that would be responsible for the scoring. They could be the power judge. It would be their role to evaluate the power of each strike. The scoring might be as follows:
- too little power - score 0
- adequate power to damage - score 1
- real power to damage - score 2
- compete power to destroy - score 3, fight over
So, if 2 or 3 judges awarded a strike, the power judge would determine it was too weak, how much score it should give, and if their strike could have demolished the competitor the fight’s over, even if on the first movement.
It would make things more real, IMO. Give incentive for more technique variation, perhaps.
As you can see, I’ve just tried to suggest a few possibilities that could make things more interesting (for those who find personal reason to compete).
For myself, many years ago a number of things all pulled together, and I will no longer sit in judgment at tournaments. I don’t look at kata but as technique properly or improperly delivered. In the advanced divisions I only see kata done free of fault, as a 10, and any advanced kata with the slightest lack of focus from correct performance requiring a 0.
Ought not that be a more interesting goal for everyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment