From: stark@dwovax.enet.dec.com (Todd I. Stark)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: Rank-test ranting (was: years for black belt)
Date: 30 Jul 92 18:32:20 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


Thanks to Mary Malmros for your response and followw-up rant.  :-)


mary@Cayman.COM (Mary Malmros) writes...

>Well, I don't think it's the "public performance" aspect, exactly.  
>Look at it this way.  When I'm in class and we're practicing a 
>technique and I blow it, or practice one of my unique variants like
>the Falling Wheel Kick ;-) the instructor will either tell me what
>I did wrong or (if we've been through this eleventybillion times already)
>will just shake his head.  If I mess it up repeatedly, we'll probably
>have A Talk, and I'll get told to practice that technique more...but
>it isn't a make-or-break situation.  

That's what sparring drills are for, aren't they ?  It's your lab for showing
what you're doing wrong, and demonstrate dirictly and immediately why.
And if no one around can demonstrate why it's wrong in practice, then maybe
it's not so far wrong in reality as in theory.   I know my most common
mistake is very evident because I get a leather face massage from my trainer
when I throw a short combination and then stop in range to admire my work.  :-)

>On the other hand, if I mess up on a promotion test, that's it...and
>that's what gives the testing scenario some value.  It's a situation
>in which you have to get up and do your stuff...not in a minute, not
>when you get your act together, but RIGHT NOW.  And life is full of
>those kind of situations.  What is a job interview, after all?  Or, 
>what is a self-defense situation?

Every sparring session has that same pressure, and if the opponent is
formidable, it can be a lot more pressure than just the will not to
look bad in front of classmates.  Also the will to keep your nose and
teeth and ribs intact.  :-)

Maybe we just envision training very differently.   If I did nothing
but bag work and shadowboxing and forms, and then tried to throw it together
all at once in monthly pell-mell sparring, and I viewed that as the best
form of training, I'd be wholeheartedly in agreement that other forms
of test are needed for the DO IT NOW situation for technical skills.  But I 
try to incorporate that pressure in isolation sparring drills in daily 
training, so we have to DO IT NOW and DO IT RIGHT right there in training, or 
else get nailed.  The isolation aspect of the drill ensures that you truly
do get nailed if your technique is off.  Unlike in general sparring, where
you can often get away with bad technique without punishment.  At least that's 
my philosophy, and it seems to work pretty well for me.  Then we can put it 
all together in weekly or monthly bouts as needed.

>   These tests just remind me so much of mass production line standardized martial 
>   arts.  I need to know what the people training around me can do and I believe 
>   in small intimate trainer-trainee group environments.   
> 
>That's nice when you can get it, but it isn't available to everybody.

Ok, that's certainly true.  All I can say about that is - I'm very glad
that I didn't settle for less in my own training.  Going from a fancy club to a 
private trainer was the best move I ever made in martial arts, and I've
pulled a lot of sleazy  ---  errr --- I mean I 've made a lot of moves. :-)

And if I teach anymore, after my current training cycle, I won't teach in a 
large club environment (not that I expect to be swamped with offers ;-)), but 
work with people in small groups.   It's become a real matter of principle to
me.

--snip--
>I tend to think it's a US cultural thing, which may be found other places
>as well.  We are always comparing everything.  

I'll agree with that criticism up to a point.  I think a little comparison and a
little competition is useful, hell, essential, and too much is pathological.
The borderline from one to the other depends on what target your're shooting
for, though.  A top level fighter has to be a little pathological, I think.
You can train to beat your own best in running or swimming, but it's harder
to do as a fighter.  You do your best, but you still have to beat your
opponent to succeed.  Even if you're doing Aikido, you still have to
defeat your opponent's goals and neutralize their hostility, and that 
requires you do *something* better than them at some point.  And that
means a comparison of skills.  

			Thanks again, Mary.  
				take care,

						todd
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