Learning Tekki

[Sibylla]

I've been doing the Heian katas for about a year. Most of it I've had to learn by myself (books/video), random comments from instructor just doesn't help that much. My heians are as good as my class mates, and maybe even a little better. Now I'd like to learn something new, just to add some spice to my home practice. I've never seen anyone do the tekkis, but I've got literature and videos. (And I can do them in my livingroom without having to bump into the furniture). What do you think?

[tommarker]

sounds like you have already made up your mind to me.

[cross]

If you want to learn them properly i surgest you find a school where the instructor helps you out a bit more.

[aefibird]

I've been doing the Heian katas for about a year. Most of it I've had to learn by myself (books/video), random comments from instructor just doesn't help that much.

 

I'm worried by your remark about 'random comments' from your instructor. Do you mean that he doesn't seem to help/talk to you much? If you've had to learn the Heian kata by yourself, does this mean that you just taught yourself the next kata in the series to get ahead for your next belt test, or does it mean that you learned them because your instructor wasnt teaching them to you? If it is the second reason, then I'd really suggest that you think about finding another club. An instructor that doesn't bother to teach people aspects of that particular style (and, lets face it, kata is a pretty big aspect of the majority of Shotokan clubs) isn't worth bothering with.

 

Go ahead and learn the Tekki's by yourself if you want to; they're a great series of kata to learn (watch out with Tekki Sandan!!). However, learning kata without the help of an actual instructor isn't really recommended - you need someone to wach you and make sure you're performing the kata correctly. Watching someone else perform them is a good thing too. Books, videos and CD-ROMs can only teach you so much, though.

 

Good luck with learning the Tekkis.

[tommarker]

I'm sorry, but a year on the Heian kata really isn't long enough, unless you have some sort of similar previous training. Just because you have some atheltic prowess and can emulate what you see doesn't necessarily mean you should be blowing through all of the forms.

 

I can physically go through the motions of most forms, but there's more to it than just that.

 

IMHO, you'll probably just get bored with Tekki as well, and even faster than the heians.. They are not 'exciting' kata in terms of performance, and rarely does anyone practice them with the frequency needed to get anything out of them.

[Sibylla]

So..if the only comment you get when you do the heians in class are "that's good". (And changing school is not an option) ..what would you focus on when you practice the heians at home?

[cross]

what would you focus on when you practice the heians at home?

 

Practise each technique until you know what its for, the correct way to do it and can use it effectively. Once you can do this with each technique put it all together.

[returning_wave]

if you want to learn tekki's without an instructor, i suggest you stickto shodan (Naihanchi). its easier to learn from a book and teaches the principles of the Wu Shu style Tekki comes from. Tekkis nidan and sandan teach the same principles while omitting the dangerous techniques and were devised later. Also they are harder to learn with no instruction. Tekki is deceptively simple to pick up the moves of, although the applications will take some work.

[Sibylla]

Thanks for the advice! I'll concentrate on the first tekki, that will be challenge enough. I've done it a few times now, and it is really easy to remember, and so different from the heians, actually I think I quite like it. It will take a lot of work to make it look good, but my legs will get stronger from the kiba dachi in the meantime.

[aefibird]

Maybe you could try having a chat with your instructor - ask him what things you need to work on & practice at home. Maybe he'll then be more forethcoming than "thats good", which is alright for self esteem but not much good for telling you what you need to work on (and everyone has stuff that they need to work on, epecially me!! ).