What do you like at seminars?

I go to a few seminars every year, and some of them are very worthwhile, some are mostly social festivities and some are a waste of time. What do you like in a seminar. I've gone into detail in this blog post.

http://budobum.blogspot.com/2015/07/...-seminars.html

Hi Peter

Some good thoughts. I think it can also depend on the size of your dojo/organisation and who you get to practice with regularly.

There's a heap of value in just practising (with care and attention) - and doing it with others, outside your normal practice circuit, can of itself be very valuable.

Dealing with different types of people is in itself educational - although you need to be careful to look after yourself appropriately sometimes - so don't let yourself be injured because of someone else's "issues". Not always easy, particularly if you are significantly lower graded than your partner.

In my experience, if you can even pick up a single key thought/insight at a seminar, then it is probably worth it. More than one then you are in clover! Develop it and work it - stuff starts to happen.

I saw a video by Dave Ruebens (Yoshinkan, now 6th dan), which I really like (I have trained with him a few times in the past):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBUG7F4VCH4

"There are people here who have done X technique hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of times - what difference will it make to do it a few more times...?" I don't train Yoshinkan, so the details he explains are not necessarily appropriate for me - but the intent/approach, absolutely.

Robert

I enjoy great mat time with other really-interested folks, they don't have to be really-skilled, just really interested in learning. I think that's key.

And, I sincerely enjoy hanging out (i.e. drinking beers after mat time with food available) with like-minded people. I can't talk about all this stuff with -- Normal People -- their eyes just glaze over after a half-hour or so.

I also go to several a year. I have yet to go to one that I considered a waste of my time. However what I do appreciate is a well organized host dojo. When the people hosting don't have their act together it can take some of the pleasure out of the experience. The last thing a person wants after traveling a long distance to a seminar, is to be greeted by people who don't seem interested in helping you to get registered and heading in the right general direction. And when you are not a local it is always nice to be provided with some reasonable options for finding food in the area.

Aside from the social aspects, I go to seminars for:

- Learn new ways to train or new things to train
- Take ukemi from high-level teacher
- Train with really good practitioners
- Make some time to train with the white belts

The last one is important. When I was starting out, seminars were an opportunity to have quality practice time with the folks that usually teach or don't normally leave their own dojo.

Seminars are great for interacting with other practitioners from other styles. I am learning Tomiki and the dojo I train at is the only one in Florida from what I know. So going to another school when the seminar is open to all is fun. Yes I find differences from how I am being taught to those doing it their way. I find it to be fun and opening me to something new and/or different. Some of the black belts are easy to pick out but, since they all wear the Hakama it can be difficult (Tomiki students rarely wear them). I look forward to them.

I also like finding the few people that like to train HARD. There's usually one from each represented dojo that wants to throw and fall like a frikkin' idiot - I'm your guy.

. . . until my back starts getting sore and I remember how old I am.

Peter Boylan wrote: I go to a few seminars every year, and some of them are very worthwhile, some are mostly social festivities and some are a waste of time. What do you like in a seminar. I've gone into detail in this blog post. http://budobum.blogspot.com/2015/07/...-seminars.html

Nicely put! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I don't go to as many as I would like. Most of them have been at the school I attend, which isn't exactly the same thing as going out to them, but it still means feeling people from other schools. Getting a feel of how different people move has always been an eye-opener for clarifying something about how I move.
Thank you again!

Innovation and practical applicability. No different than any other art, really. No one wants, or needs to see and hear the same ol', same ol' song and dance, or listen to a litany of unsubstantiated, or non-falsifiable claims.

Conrad Gustafson wrote: I also like finding the few people that like to train HARD. There's usually one from each represented dojo that wants to throw and fall like a frikkin' idiot - I'm your guy. . . . until my back starts getting sore and I remember how old I am.

Yeah okay, count me in. Come in strong....expect to go out strong.

But in saying that when getting absolutely brutalized, I become very soft, not much point resisting, just enjoy the ride. I always like to remind Nage. Remember MY turn is next!