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Old 02-18-2008, 08:07 PM   #44
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Dojo: Team Combat USA
Location: Olympia, Washington
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Re: Daito Ryu's Aiki

Sure combat does grant us a certain amount of wisdom that can only be garnered in that environment, and that experience is invaluable.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that you cannot approximate it "good training"...to a degree that allows for effective simulation of the conditions that you incur in combat.

Notice I used the word Wisdom in the first sentence....in Knowledge Management circles you have Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom. Wisdom represents a synthesis of Information, and Knowledge that is pretty much gained through real life experiences. It is hard to gain that wisdom in any other way really.

You CAN retain Wisdom institutionally to a degree. That is, we can learn or archive wisdom in the institution through those that have "been there,done that". It is possible to take the "lessons learned" and transfer that knowledge to others. Note I said Knowledge, not wisdom.

I think that Martially, we can learned a great deal from the experiences of others through various training regimes and methodologies.

The key to it is to as Brian Dewey wrote, "It all depends on how you train".

Synthesis or Wisdom occurs somewhere down the line when you strike out on your own and put your skills to test in some fashion.

A great deal of wisdom has been learned in the UFC type venues in the last few years. It has changed much about how we view martial arts and training.

Same with Police Officers and Soldiers that take experience various situations on the street.

As well as civilians that find themselves in various situations.

I can remember my first "real fight" many, many years ago....Years before I ever trained in martial arts. I took home the lesson that "there really was no such thing as a fair fight!"

That in itself is Wisdom! Learning intrinsically without the help of formalized martial arts training!

Wisdom also teaches you things like, "Don't come to a knife fight empty handed, come with a gun or don't come at all!".

Wisdom also teaches you things like Matt Larsen like to say "The winner of a hand to hand encounter is the guy whose buddy shows up first with a gun!".

Anyway, Fights are tricky beast! The few that I have been in, I am not sure how much technically my training really did for me, or in the future how much it really will help.

Wisdom kinda works that way. You learn that luck plays a big part, The guy who has the information first (the jump), and who has the most buddies, and/or the better weapons, and of course Size matters!

Budo and martial training matters too, of course. Not so much maybe in the technical skills you gain, but in the esoteric stuff I think, more so. Dammit, I gotta say it again...Musashi!

Not saying that technical skills don't matter, they do...given all else equal....and that may count for alot!

Anyway, back to the main point of the subject...Wisdom.

It seems to me to be illogical to study any empty handed art for any prolonged period of time simply to gain Wisdom to win a fight based purely on technical skills. I kinda covered it in the few "axioms" of offered above. Empty handed arts simply are inefficient in teaching the range of things that you might need in a fight, and again if the guy gets the jump and the monkey is on your back...well it just may not be your day!

So why bother studying this stuff?

Because there is much wisdom to be gained in the study of Budo type arts that can help you.

We have another thread hot right now on "Budo Prepares you to Die". Stuff like that thread is why it is important. The wisdom gained to help you when it is your day, and also when it is not your day!

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