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Monthly Message: March 2004
Fellow Karate-ka:
Life is change. Constantly moving and
evolving. Adapting, reorganizing, and reforming. Sounds like karate to
me.
Studying our kata with another person by
creating two man drills from the techniques of the kata teach us how to
move, adapt, feel, and reform. Proper balance, coordination, strength,
and the ability to overcome and take the upper hand are learned through
this process. It does take time though.
Sometimes you may watch me demonstrating
something in class and get all excited about it because you want to
learn it. Then you see another senior belt working on something and you
want to learn that. Don't worry. You're not alone. We all are like that
at times. It's human nature to want to get as much as we can as fast as
we can when we really like something. It is a wrong approach though.
If you learn a new technique, you must
LEARN THE TECHNIQUE. This involves practicing it until it becomes
natural to you. It must flow naturally. Say you are learning a new arm
lock technique. At first you must learn the mechanics of the technique
and then you must practice it. If you do not execute the mechanics
properly then it will be ineffective. Therefore a great deal of time and
practice must be spent on it in order for it to work correctly. Not to
mention how you may use it on partners of different sizes and weight.
Without taking the time to learn each
technique your karate will be terrible. You may think that you have an
arsenal of many techniques at your call, but you will soon realize that
you are confused in an actual confrontation because you are thinking
about what to use instead of just reacting. In other words. It's not how
much you know, it's how well you use what you do know when it counts.
You cannot reasonably learn all the
techniques that you see in class. You must learn from the bottom up and
work the techniques given to you until they become effective. Only then
will I allow you to move on in other techniques and in rank as well. I
have a responsibility to teach you correctly so that you can adapt,
reform, and defend yourself correctly. Your responsibility is to
practice each technique until you can do it without effort. You must
have a strong base with which to build a library of techniques. Without
it you are just collecting book covers with no content between them. You
may have a lot, but they useless to you.
This is the way.
Sensei Dave
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