A Brief Analogy examining the tuition of the Martial Art form
By John Dawson
As I look back and reflect, I recollect a time of a newness. Here was a time that was filled with adventure, lessons to be learned and cherished memories. I remember my past life and experiences with vivid clarity, as if they happened only yesterday; learning Martial Arts techniques interlaced with instances of trial, discovery and enlightenment.
I didn’t know, at the time, my first steps of this journey were to be a glorious obsession that was to fill the rest of my days with a cause and spiritual uplifting such as I had never embraced before. And as I retrace those first insecure, unsteady steps in my mind’s eye, how I longed to return to those times that were to mean so much. To this day I still reminisce and see the impressions of the man who was to alter my life forever. He stood there, a frail, grey-haired old man, his hair shaven and receding from the front, his small rough silhouette protruded from the centre of a darkened empty dojo, standing nonetheless bold, erect and motionless. He donned a slightly tattered karate uniform, the belt around his waist was old, its colours faded from a black silk to a shaded white, the black partial strands that hung did so from the perfect symmetry of a tightened knot. His face was warm and inviting, his skin battle blemished and scarred, his eyes were open wide. He seemed totally unbothered that I had been observing him in somewhat detail. Yet all at once his small frame burst into what can only be described as a dynamic melange of Martial Arts moves. His combat motions were so quick that they were a blur, his finish power and speed were awesome. In a bizarre chameleon type manner, this cat-like prowess shone through. I realised right there and then I wanted to learn his magic and be as the man who was later to be my instructor and closest friend.
· An excerpt taken from a short story by John Dawson titled 'The Graduation'.
The way in which we teach or project our artforms should be of the most detailed understanding with great care not to over emphasise our own particular preference within that field, so we do not mar or dilute our original Martial Art itself. It seems when we first become involved in the tuition of the fighting arts, we do not just emulate the given subject technique but the very expression and manner in which our previous instructor taught it, right or wrongly. Though, hopefully, we develop our craft further and realise more about our subject matter, clearly aware that students in fact are very impressionable. In retrospect I feel we should try to refrain from anger and over emotion, yet we should learn to interpret the very mechanics of all the techniques and philosophies. We must, I believe, endeavour to make our subject exciting and informative to learn, we must also appreciate that not all individual students have the same deep dedication, appreciation and interest that many of us possess. We still must aim to stimulate our students to a high, professional, comprehensive level, though that is part of the deal or ethics, we must remain humble, informative and always approachable. The interpretation of the grading syllabus within Martial Arts fractions is much over-done and overlooked. I would state the grading syllabus itself is a mere drop in the ocean, a small percentage in what is a fountain of Martial Arts knowledge. One of the major downfalls in the instruction of the combat arts, specifically in younger student instructors, is the over zealous use of the grading syllabus through lack of technical imagination. A grading syllabus is a source of technical input that directs the basic level of technique to meet the requirements of a grade or belt test and the expertise at that one particular level. The Martial Arts is not only about passing grades, what were they before gradings existed? It should not confine a level of learning to a respective individual student, gradients and levels of learning are important to set standards, but enthusiasm to grasp the learning process to proceed, perfect and understand should not be restricted or censored. We are only the pilots on this trip, the students are going on this prospective learning journey anyway.
The blandness of over-emphasis can bore and lose students from you clubs. Basic instruction is of course the essence, though the subject matter itself maybe hit from many different angles; the ingenious mind can achieve this diversification to make your art more interesting. It is hard enough trying to understand and project our arts, we must try always to develop further. In our methods of communication, we must be able to put ourselves across to our students better in many ways, the way in which we express and apply our motions and teachings must be of the highest quality. Psychology can play a senior role in aiding us to teach our subjects better, and understand the way people perceive, this can in fact be a plus to every prospective instructor. Remember, the specific way in which we generate the Martial Arts can have a long lasting effect and influence on many students, thus producing many exponents of different standards and good or bad attitudes with a similar level of expertise.
One of the most important rules is that there are no bad Martial Arts systems, just garbage instructors. Our goal in our projection is self-analysis and to question oneself. ‘Is this right or is there a better way?’ No matter how good we think we are, it can always be done better in another way. We must always be aware of students’ safety, both in the implication and practise of certain motions, and a basic understanding of technical mechanics must be foremost. A student may form and create single techniques so the rigour of his or her workload may be relieved somewhat and made more interesting.
Another important rule I would say should not be broken, is simply never ask a student to do what you cannot do or have not done yourself, this is ethically wrong and in some cases can lead to great embarassment. If you cannot interpret a particular aspect of the Martial Arts as professionally as many of the top Martial Artists, one should still try, this will, I believe, inject an air of confidence in your students and imply that your are a more rounded Martial Artist. Another classic for this area is instructors who do not spar with their students, it is acceptable not to spar if injury restricts or age has taken its toll. With instructors that do not spar or avoid sparring this may leave a slight mysticism for a while, though later it will leave doubt which, in instruction is not a good ally. I would say it does not matter whether you can or cannot spar well as long as you have a go and try to create the balance. Please remember, most of the best instructors, coaches and fighting tutors weren’t successful fighters, just brilliant teachers turning out top-notch students and competitors.
As a footnote, please understand, progression in the Martial Arts is only made possible by the persistence to learn from accurate instruction; this aspect is more senior than any other. We are the oracles that constantly seek no less than perfection from ourselves and plant new seeds in infertile minds in the hope that greatness will reach full fruition that is our eventual solace.