From: ras@athena.mit.edu (Richard A Shandross)
Subject: Re: The Harmony Factor
Keywords: harmony, sparring, attack
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 01:03:12 GMT

In article <1992Dec11.135411.29947@ms.uky.edu> cyeomans@ms.uky.edu (Charles Yeomans) writes:
>The aikido class I attend does do some limited sparring.  The instructor
>keeps a close eye on it and we usually do it with a specific goal in 
>mind.  It is a lot different trying to feel when to do, say, shiho-nage
>on someone who is moving around and generally trying not to be a good uke.
                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>But we don't do much of it, so that we don't forget that the idea is to train
>in aikido, not to "win".  I find that the sparring shows me how 
>weak my techniques are, so I know what to work on next.  
>

I think it's really important that a person simulating an attack not fall prey
to the desire to see the defending student succeed.  It's interesting (and
maybe a bit embarrassing) to share techniques with someone from another school
and discover that one or the other person showing something now can't do it
because when s/he practiced it in class the other person "cooperated."  That
cooperation can even be unconscious, and I think that is one of the primary
danger in the non-sparring method.  But it can be overcome with some attention
on the part of students and teacher.


>It seems easy to get too caught up in external aspects of internal arts - 
>i.e. flowing or looking pretty.  When I was taking classes from Sin The',
>one of his instructors told me just that.  In fact, we were working 
>on a form (Tai Peng Sin Kun) which contains several flowing high
>blocks done while kneeling.  This guy said that he was practicing this
>form and making it look nice when in walked (the infamous) Bill Leonard, 
>one of Master SIn's senior students.  He politely asked my instructor
>to do the form again and, when he got to the flowing blocks part
>Leonard proceeded to knock him half-senseless by hitting him in the forehead
>through the blocks - his way of expressing the idea that form follows function.
>

Yes, someone pointed this type of thing out to me via email a while ago.  I
think there is a balance between challenging the student not to get caught up
in a trance of over-self-confidence and being reasonable to the student so s/he
doesn't just despair over his or her lack of skill.  I could so overwhelm a
less experienced student so that he fails every time and just gets pissed off
and quits, but I see no point in that.  EXCEPT every once in a while to inject a
little reality into the proceedings and even then to be done in a very careful
way which results in the student opening up his or her mind a bit rather than
getting into a defensive ego stance.  On the other hand, the student needs to
be continually challenged to the point of having to stretch a bit in order to
succeed.  The trance thing is very dangerous, and even in solo form is less
than ideal.

>Anyway, it seems to me that, no matter what the art (Welsh arts excepted)
>a certain amount of quasi-realistic practice is necessary.  Or perhaps
>it's just me who needs the reinforcement from time to time.
>
>Charles Yeomans
>

No, we all do.  (The good thing is that we don't always have to get it in the
dojo.  Life itself hands out a lot of butt-kicking... [said after his second
all-nighter this week and prolonged arguments with his girlfriend]  ;-)  )


Rich