Teaching movement

[gmanry]

The other night I brought the old video camera into the dojo for my student to be able to see his movements, particularly in his kata.

So, I had him do his kata in slow and smooth mode, then in what we call "moderate" which is with a weighty (not stiff or snappy) emphasis through the joints and a little faster than slow and smooth. He has been training for about 9 months. His taikyoku kata are starting to look very good for the period of time he has been training.

Then I tried something new. We positioned ourselves at 45 degrees to the camera. I was in front of him and we did our kata in moderate fashion. His kata looked like he had been doing it for years. It was like an instant transformation. I have led kata but not in terms of this type of drill. We moved like each other's shadow.

We both laughed when we saw this. Suddenly, his goal was to match my timing and he could no longer "concentrate" on his movement. All the proprioperception drills I put him through finally fell into place. Now the key is to try to get him to do that without me standing there and doing it with him.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

[Deshi]

I've seen the same thing, both in my students and in myself. Once someone has something other than perfected technique to focus on (say keeping up), they can relax into the movements. I call it the 'F' word.... FLOW! It's been my observation that so many people are intent on 'getting it right' that they fail to relax, making their movements difficult and errant.

Just my two cents....

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Gary Beckstedt
"A well armed society is a polite society"

[gmanry]

I just wish that I had eyes in the back of my head so I could have seen this before. I had never thought to video it as a drill as such. So, now I will start doing that with beginners more often.

This is the benefit of group training, although it has its share of problems too. The one-on-one nature of this particular drill may have intensified the results in some way. I mean, the change was dramatic.

Thanks for the input.