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Old 10-27-2009, 12:29 PM   #87
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Dojo: Team Combat USA
Location: Olympia, Washington
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,376
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Re: Internal Power Development Methods

Dan,

There is alot we agree on...I think most of it is lost in the communication process in digits here.

"This type of training".....

I agree with you on this and my sarcasm in my post simply does not come through in the beginning of it when I mention it.

I will see if I can explain it a little bit better. For me, as I am learning more, it is becoming less and less objectified as a separate and distinct part of training and more and more of my focus and what I am doing. I simply don't have enough skill or context to do it very well.

So I see it more as a conversion process from external focus to internal focus as I learn more and more..so yeah...I agree.

Although most of us begin from the paradigm that says that it is "this kinda training" since it is new and different than what we do.

A good example is how I viewed the distinction between BJJ and Aikido. Today I give no thought what-so-ever about that distinction...it is the same for me...training context is a little different...but no conscious thought at all.

So as I am exposed to the best guys I can find in TMA, Koryu, BJJ or what not....I find out that there are alot of things I thought were correct ways of training...only to discover that what I was doing was not good and incorrect...and now I do things that are correct.

That simple.

So yes, I do agree with what you are saying here I think which is there are efficient ways of doing things, inefficent/ineffective ways of doing them...and middle of the road ways of doing them too.

So, as you learn more efficient ways and they take over what you do in waza/application...your training becomes "more correct or efficient".

Some choose to look at these ways as being "the IT way". Which is really the point I was making...having a big "ah hah" moment over the past couple of weeks.

This really became very apparent to me with Ushiro this weekend watching him doing karate. The same karate I did for many years...although he did it in a way that was greatly different than anything I had ever experienced. Yes, Karate!

Aikido folks might look at him and say..."hey that is aikido...with a little karate flair added!".

Which kinda leads into your UFC/Gracie/TMA example..which is a whole nuther subject, as there was alot going on there as well politically as well.....but that is best left for a discussion over beers as having that discussion in the open here would cause the whole point of the conversation to get mudded and lost.

"We know how the IP/ Aiki V TJMA equation is ending up in person, one be one; TJMA does not stand up very well, if at all. It consistently fails to deliver in the face of well developed IP/ Aiki.
"

Well Dissonance is a bitch isn't it.

However, you have to be careful not to swing hard back the other way and throw the baby out with the bath water.

I am seeing alot of folks feeling like they have gotten ripped off by their past training, sold a bill of goods by their organization, all their training was wasted and then getting on the band wagon in some very extreme ways.

This is a concern of mine and it is not healthy.

I have seen this in other areas as well. Such as military Chaplains abandoning their religions outright after experiencing the horrors of war down range and then feeling empty cause their seminary training did not equip them personally and spiritually to deal with such situations.

Do you really need to abandon your whole religion because of this, or do you need to figure out what is really going on in the situation and fix what is broke?

I have been through this a few times myself and it did me no good to jump to extremes.

I spent this past weekend talking to alot of aikido folks at the seminar...these are the ones that are not afraid to step outside of their comfort zones and try new things...and they are not abandoning their art. We talked alot what is right and what is wrong with budo in general and forming visions for changes on an interpersonal level and in their dojos. Those conversations though I think are ones that need to happen in private as they will cause more harm than good in public. I think alot of talk about this is public is harmful as it hurts egos, feelings, and generally causes folks to "move away" from change rather than embrace it.

I think though that you would find that we actually agree on most of this stuff Dan, ironically, and that having this conversation face to face would be very enjoyable and fun!

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