Thinking for yourself
Published: Mon, 01/20/14
We had a course in Salisbury on Saturday. Numbers were a bit low
and I might have canceled the event if I had known. John was there
but isn't having the cast taken off his leg until today. John
proved that you can do a version of the stances sitting down but he
wasn't able to do much else. However, I did have four people
training and we worked with applications of the staff exercises,
both as target drills and nine guards partner exercises. Some very
good training went on and I was reminded of two of the most
important things about Stav training (and any other sophisticated
martial art).
Firstly. Practice of simple basics, preferably in your own time
and not just relying on practice in class. The basics educate the
body to move correctly and build up fundamental reflexes. This
means that you can rely on your body to deliver a powerful strike
or simply move out of the way of an attack because the basic
movement has been repeatedly practiced.
Secondly, when practicing drills such as the nine guards with a
partner it is the thought and analysis about what you are doing
that is most important. The nine guards and five principles drills
are our version of Kata. Non of the drills involve more than about
four movements, some only one or two. So it shouldn't be hard
to learn the sequences. The interest and benefit comes from seeing
whether or not you are working with the lines and being able to
understand what works and what does not. Obviously you need to be
taught the drills in the first place and for that you need a good
teacher. Even when practicing with a partner at a course or class
it is the job of the teacher to observe the training that is going
on. Sometimes it is okay to let the students work it out for
themselves. Sometimes it is best to intervene and point out what
is actually happening to speed up the process of learning and
prevent bad habits from being trained in. As a teacher it is
certainly good to see students not only training well but thinking
about what they are doing and taking charge of their own learning.
Certainly it goes way beyond just copying what they have been shown
and then going through the motions.
The Monday evening classes are starting to move in this direction
here in Crewkerne. I am teaching axe training at the moment but
when the time is right we will move onto nine guards work. I have
some beginners for the Tuesday class too. The beginners class is
very much about teaching the basics of exercises and stances and of
course laying the right foundation is essential. There will be
another day course in Crewkerne in February and in Salisbury again
in March. You are very welcome at classes if you can make them or
the day events. However I am also holding full weekend courses for
only six students at a time. The emphasis will be on learning how
to train in Stav, how to do regular practice in stances and cuts
and strikes and how you can use these skills in partner practice
when the opportunity arises. Dates here
http://iceandfire.org/calendar.html and there will be more details
tomorrow.
regards
Graham
PS Alex Fell-Bowers, who some of you know, asked me to let you
know that he is completing a book on Flexibility and Strength
training. I will pass on more details and how you can buy a copy
as soon as I know.