Learned, but not taught

The difficulty of teaching ANY movement cannot be overstated.

I have discussed in a previous article how easy it is for those of us who are familiar with the motion of two bodies- one applying a throw and one attempting to resist the throw- to tell when a move will work on a technical level (a wrestling throw, for instance) and when it will not work on a technical level (e.g: an Aikido “throw”).

This kind of physical intellect, an awareness of how the human body really works in combat, cannot be taught. It must be developed by each fighter himself/herself, through many hours of actual practice.

Equally however, it could be said that many moves themselves, such as throws, cannot be “taught” in any normal sense of the word.

On Confidence

Belief in one’s skills is a necessity for any combatant. Lack of belief in one’s capabilities can lead to hesitation, fear and panic during a stressful situation, and having no confidence in a particular course of action can lead to one’s brain treating that course of action as if it doesn’t exist; One can enter the state of hyper-vigilance, which has been likened to the “deer in the headlights” syndrome, in which one’s mind frantically searches through its databanks for a suitable action to take in the face of new and stressful stimuli, while one is frozen immobile and vulnerable.

Where to begin?

Following neatly on from my previous post, this will (partially) address the (complex) question of how to begin one’s training in the martial arts.

My idea of the best way to begin studying the martial arts is in many ways based on the deficiencies in my own start. As stated in my initial blog posts, I spent (or sadly, mis-spent) much of my precious youth in the meaningless and wasteful practice of Japanese and Chinese martial arts styles that did not have any application to real-world combat. Following these ignominious beginnings, I began to move towards the practice of reality-based training.