Quote:
Cliff Judge wrote:
What if this demo has nothing to do with the teacher demonstrating what he can compel someone to do? What if the uke is not only being compliant, but is being as compliant as he possibly can - which is quite a feat, actually, I don't think I could bend back as far as he does in some places here.
is it that we don't like to see demonstrations that are not application, or do we not understand what they are?
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In my last sentence, I mentioned that I like a mystery when that genre meets my expectation. If I were to watch a romantic comedy when I expected to see a mystery I would probably be disappointed in a similar vein. Worse, if it was a movie with Kate Hudson or Drew Berrymore. Seriously.
For me, the off-putting thing about this video collection is the absence of perspective and expectation. I don't think the demonstration is the issue, it's the lack of perspective in which to frame the demonstration. For example, if your ascertaining that this video is actually an athletic display of ukemi, then the expectation shifts from demonstrating aiki to demonstrating ukemi and the need to express and demonstrate aiki is less important, possibly explaining the perception that some posts have observed.
To your second question, if education is not the intention, how could you hold a viewer to the expectation of understanding the material? This is exactly how a magic trick works, right? A magic trick is based on ignorance of the viewer, not complexity of the trick. It is that we do not understand what is being conveyed.
Nolan Ryan was the greatest pitcher to play baseball. But if I were to illustrate his career from the perspective of his batting average that would portray a different picture. I am waiting to see what picture the demo is trying to paint before deciding the effectiveness of it.