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Old 06-29-2013, 05:42 PM   #5
JP3
 
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Dojo: Wasabi Dojo
Location: Houston, TX
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: What should I show for an expo

In college, while I was in my Muay Thai days, I attended a very clean, effective demo once where the instructor stood and spoke briefly about the difference between training, being safe and supportive with your partners during training, as compared to self-defensive, real world application. Being American, he used the cliché of, "taking the gloves off."

He had a great uke, to start with, big, athletic looking and moving guy who looked like he could fight if he had to - sort of key for a believable demo nowadays due to the prevalence of UFC- there, and another key, his uke had great ukemi.

He spoke about the effectiveness of aikido in self-defense, but pointed out what most of us know, you can't train full-speed to technical termination as joints rupture, bones break, people fall in unsafe manners damaging themselves, like that ... i.e. you end up with no training partners.

So, he proceeded to show a few techniques in a kata format, all very tight and precise, flowing and smooth, and pointed out that he was in the middle of a practical teaching exercise and that with a person who was actively trying to hurt him, he would "take the gloves off and it would automatically transform into this..."

Anyone who's been in class for more than a few months can imagine the difference in look/feel of what he was doing, going from smooth kata practice to demonstration of applications. It looked and sounded painful. The other, beautiful and serene.

It was a dramatic contrast to the taekwondo and kung fu demonstrations going on both before and after. It was fun to watch, and I am sure he got inquiries from several people about becoming students.

I find it interesting that the kanji character for kuzushi illustrates a mountain falling on a house.
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