A method of training students.

 

Steve Wilson

 

I don't know why soooooo many martial art instructors don't understand that throwing a bunch of techniques against a student who is frozen in a stationary position like a robot isn't impressive. It is even worse when the instructor uses extremely excessive contact causing an injury to a stationary student. Hard training, body conditioning, controlled contact, etc is part of training. Being excessive and abusive to a student that trust you is simply wrong. Students that have had their shoulders dislocated, arm or wrist broken, nose broken, lips busted, by an instructor demonstrating on them as a sacrificial lamb, may want to re-evaluate who they are training with. Accidents and injuries occur in training, especially during hard fighting, but they shouldn't occur while you are serving as an uke to your teacher. IMO, a student should be the safest when training with their teacher.

 

At a seminar in LA years ago, a visiting 7th Dan from Japan called me out to be his Uke. I was simply to step forward, punch Chudan and freeze. The first count he hit me in the nose causing my nose to bleed. The next count he cut me above my eye. The third count he busted both of my lips, so I threw a second technique, a hard left hook to his jaw and dropped him. He tried to quickly bounce up but fell forward. I was escorted out of the seminar. Point of the story, no matter what someone's rank is, don't allow someone to physically abuse you.

 

Kayo Ong Steve, a good one!!!

I can tell you many stories of the same stupid things that overseas instructors do to show "their" techniques (or their insecurities)...

Back in the late 1960s, one of them was a big name whose name I will withhold, pull a stunt like the one you mentioned, unfortunately for him, he got struck back in the same manner and he never came back to the USA!!! To me, I had always considered him a phony clown... You would laugh at his name and a few other names!!!

Anyways, why they strike a uke during a demo I can never understand; but firing back the same way upon them, they always find it discourteous and disrespectful, so buck them!!!

Remember when you worked with me at Colorado Springs me several decades ago when I ask you to strike me in real-time and you thought I was out of line (and out of my mind)? And I asked not to stand like a statue but to respond to my techniques that were applied to you? That is how exchanges of teaching should be...

The truth and reality are if you or anyone (as uke) can hit me, then I should not be the instructor that I claim to be!!!

I was taught that every instructor should be able to articulate and use every technique learnt in real-time and not rely on the (imposed) static posture...

In my fifty years of teaching, I never struck or abuse my students or anyone!!! NEVER!!! And if was to strike their body (exclude the face or groin), I tell them to brace/lock-up to experience and learn the impact values of the techniques...

 

Steve Wilson Yes, and you put your energy into the student, check the student and their condition, and try to teach feeling their body and technique. Abuse isn't necessary. You may recall that I would hold my Zenkutsu, Shiko, Neko, etc while you talked and you would always tell me to just relax while listening.

Personally, I think the instructors who clock their uke are just egomaniacs. I'm not trying to be racist or disrespectful at all, but these types of actions used to be common with Japanese karate teachers. Due to their culture, they also promulgated the magical, mystical, master syndrome. Most were arrogant and hypocrites. They claim to teach budo, but had no humility, were womanizers, drunks, smokers, etc. Complete farce. A famous TRUE Okinawan karate master who is still alive, actually admitted that he had to re-evaluate his karate because when huge strong foreigners arrived he and his top students couldn't overcome the size difference in kumite. So he re-evaluated, trained differently, adjusted, and was able to defeat the huge foreign students although he is only 5'1 ". That's a "real" karate-ka, humble, honest, and dedicated. He made me want to train Shorin:)

 

Steve Krowitz I make it a practice to avoid those type of so called teachers.

 

 

Victor

I understand what you are describing. Many times I have viewed such demonstrations, and several times I have been on the receiving end. There  are distinctions that should be considered.

 

When my studies with one multi discipline instructor (Shotokan/Aikido/Tjumande) in the aikido training we found pain was always a component (not during learning or practice but at a high level of execution which he often demonstrated) Of course he was not striking a stationary pose but entering a hard, focused strike. He explained the pain or a momentary fear of impending pain was what made the technique work. The Pain causing their body to thrown themselves away from the technique. Of course that is a very different circumstance.

 

From my study of kata application analysis, there were times I did not realize what would happen moving into a focused attack, and suddenly out of my control, the movement when applied put the person on the ground, most suddenly. I remember one time I was working on a tai chi technique which I had never applied before, a very ‘soft’ movement. But when faced with an attack,even moving very slow, my partner ended up on the ground which was not my intention. So I tried it again, even slower and softer and the result was the same.

 

A simple movement from Isshinryu Wansu ko’d my parther, not by intention, I was just suggesting a possibility. A potential application from Chinto likewise dumped my parther, again when I went slowe. Or applying a movement from Isshinryu Seiunchin against a moving attack, I struck them so suddenly without that being my intention.

 

In all those cases my purpose was to attempt to understand the application potential of the movement. It always made me work to understand what was happening which eventually I did.

 

Teaching such was another matter.

 

First a relatively stationary attack was useful to explain what was to happen. Then the speed picked up to a moderate attack for practice, with safeguards to not have my students injure each other.

 

Then you enter the next phase to my way of thinking. As you have shown, taught the Application potential analysis, the harder part of the study begins, the Application Realization. Getting to the point you can actually insert the technique in a whole range of attacks and make it work. A different dimension of study.

 

Most of this is not where my focus was with kyu’s where building power, technique, balance etc. was more important.

 

This is simpler for me to say perhaps as I don’t belong to any association of any sort, except with my original instructor.

 

But as I see it whenever an instructor uses full force against a stationary target, causing damage. That is someone I would not trust, no matter what they know. Intentional damage of anyone for teaching or demonstration simply means they are not trained to a standard I recognize.

 

Steve Wilson Hi Victor: I say that a technique or application that quits hurting when it is over is acceptable and part of training. There is a difference between temporary pain and prolonged pain or injury. I always teach my students that we all need to be able to train tomorrow too:)