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Thread: Thoughts on eclectic Arts?

  1. #1
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    Default Thoughts on eclectic Arts?

    Hello all,

    I have trained for many years in Kyu Shin Ryu Aikijujitsu. Like many schools of Jujitsu it involves throws, locks, ground work, some weapons, etc. What I enjoy most though is that it borrows concepts from not only Japanese Arts but from Chinese and Filipino as well.

    KSRJujitsu.com
    and
    KSR Youtube

    I am now an assistant Instructor and would just like to get some feedback from experts and novices alike! Please reply with links to other styles as well, I am always looking to learn!
    When in doubt; knock 'em out or choke 'em out. -KSR saying

  2. #2
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    Joshua, welcome.

    Whilst this board is primarily concerned with Japanese Arts and this forum more specifically the traditional styles of Jujutsu, I can accept the value of learning from other arts. I have trained with a number of instructors who have insisted that the students who reach a certain level go out and learn something else either as a compliment to what they already know, or to highlight the differences or more likely the value of what they have been taught.

    In my experience though, everything I have done has been Jujutsu, even if the instructor called it Arnis, or whatever. By which I mean I was learning or looking through the lens of Jujutsu and applying what I knew to what I was learning.

    I suppose it comes down to what are you trying to achieve by bringing other elements into your style, if it is merely a larger collection of tricks or techniques, then I think the only benefit is having more stuff to teach (i.e. being able to keep students interested for longer and charging more fees). If it is to try and integrate a broader philosophy, or a deeper understanding, then the value is great, but difficult to package for teaching.

    The most common reason falls in the middle somewhere, where you have perhaps identified a deficiency in your style, due to changing risks, or a rise in the popularity of a particular style, weapons, tactic, whatever and so you look elsewhere for something to "plug-the-gap". The technique or philosophy you identify is integrated into your system, by which I mean it is taught as part of the style rather than as a separate outside area of study.

    There is an advertisement here in Australia for car insurance that proudly claims to have built a car from all the parts other insurers don't cover (http://work.wtbwa.com.au/nrma/). Can you build a car out of disparate parts? Yes. Will it go as well as a stock BMW? No. Can you take a factory BMW and improve it by carefully adding after-market components? Definitely. Would you trust anyone but the best mechanics to improve the performance of your BMW? No.

    When I was younger I was an avid collector of techniques, now that I am older I have only a handful, but I can apply them to almost any likely situation. I could not easily teach what I do now because it is built on the foundation of many years of practise, but I have had different people look at what I do and say "that's ..." (insert any art or style), but to me it is pure Jujutsu.

    Regards

    Neil
    Neil Hawkins
    "The one thing that must be learnt but
    cannot be taught is understanding"

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  4. #3
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    Neil

    I think you hit the nail on the head.

    Asking "why" one is adding to ones art is the key question. If your doing it to overcome a perceived or experienced lack then that is one thing. If your just "collecting" then it, perhaps, is less than effective.

    Also , as you point out, the arc of training (Depending on what you study) tends to be a phase where you learn everything you can from any source you can get it, then you spend a great deal of time stripping out all the stuff that does not apply to you.

    Odd, really, my karate experience is that people get tired of only having a "few" techniques and kata so they add them---only to strip them out again as they mature in their art and realize that they really don't need so many--and there are only so many hours in the day to practice. So they wind up pretty much exactly where they started.
    Then when they teach what they know their students decide they need "more" and the cycle starts all over again.

    Anyway, good post!
    Chris Thomas

    "While people are entitled to their illusions, they are not entitled to a limitless enjoyment of them and they are not entitled to impose them upon others."

    "Team Cynicism" MVP 2005-2006
    Currently on "Injured/Reserve" list due to a scathing Sarcasm pile-up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cxt View Post
    Neil

    I think you hit the nail on the head.

    Asking "why" one is adding to ones art is the key question. If your doing it to overcome a perceived or experienced lack then that is one thing. If your just "collecting" then it, perhaps, is less than effective."
    Am I seeking to learn? Am I seeking to be entertained? Big difference....

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    El Lobo

    Good point. As you say "big difference."
    Chris Thomas

    "While people are entitled to their illusions, they are not entitled to a limitless enjoyment of them and they are not entitled to impose them upon others."

    "Team Cynicism" MVP 2005-2006
    Currently on "Injured/Reserve" list due to a scathing Sarcasm pile-up.

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