The most valuable lesson

 

I had learned a valuable lesson once I began visiting other instructors and attending clinics. This was before I had availability of video tape. Each experience was likely a one shot opportunity to learn, I realized it was necessary to keep notes and to take them after one day to be sure what I had remembered was not short term memory but had transferred to long term memory. The next step of course was never ending practice so you made what you remembered yours. It might not be exactly what you were shown, but from effort it was what you had.

 

In January of 1980 I went to Hazleton Pa. to visit and train with Tris Sutrisno. I had competed against him in tournaments in kata and kobudo, and as time passed we had become friends. I only knew he was Shotokan and not much else about him.

 

So I went to visit his school and jumped into his class. I saw many things that were new to me, and never on subsequent visits did he repeat those lessons. One of them was his multiple striking drill where each technique when delivered immediately flowed to another strike. He showed me 3 Heian forms. Then his class worked as a group on a 12 technique Aikido drill.

 

In fact after watching his students perform the drill, he asked me if I would like to try it.  So I did the drill. And as they were working  8 of the techniques I had memorized what they were doing, then I just did it. He was impressed that I had learnt the drill from watching. It was then he showed everyone 4 more techniques and explained that as he was taught there were another 6 techniques to make 20 total.

 

When I made my notes I never realized those lessons would not be repeated later, I then worked on those drills over and over and made them my own.

 

Before my next  visit I worked on those Heian Kata too. I had learned the Tang Soo Do versions during my studies of that art, and with the assistance of the Karate Do Koyhan which my wife had given me as a Christmas gift, got the forms down. The next visit I made in February to Tris' dojo, the first thing he asked me was could I do those form for him and then I did so. After that I was very welcome to train with him when possible.

 

I guess I passed the test.

  

About 7 years later when I was living in New Hampshire he came up for a visit.

There he saw my adult class having a class on my drive way. During the class they were working the first 10 of the Aikido techniques. Tris had forgotten he had shown to me and I had to remind him he had done so.

 

Later that afternoon he gave a clinic at the club and I had the kids of my youth program perform Aikido drill 1 to 6. Once they had finished Tris explained he had changed technique 3 and demonstrated that change.

 

Later I worked out the why behind the change, as likely his students knew what was coming and they threw themselves in the throw making it much easier for the thrower,  Certainly not what was intended for without correct practice you could not develop the Aikido technique properly. His change was a different technique that yielded the same result and would not be faked.

 

Of course that was a decade of more unique training experiences and many more notes even to keeping video records of those experiences.

 

One time experiences can become a lifetime of practice.