mArTiAl_GiRl Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 I was just reading an article about Shinpan Gusukuma, who was a student of Anko Itosu and he brought up something in the article that had been in the back of my mind for some time and I think it would be interesting to get some input on the subject. It used to be that back in the "old days" that most instructors taught only one kata or had very few kata that they taught or thay had some "special technique" that they had mastered, so many students would go from instructor to instructor learning for a while and going on to learn with someone else. This was apparently the most widely used method of learning a lot of different skills, kata, or different secret skills, then later on around the late 1800's and early 1900's students started staying longer with a particular instructor because they had more things to teach. This inturn lead to the formation and seperation of karate into particular styles. So the question I have is why has this been allowed to happen and why is it so looked down upon when a student "school hops" and learns things from many different instructors? I think this is a big issue today with so many different certifying agencies popping up today and everyone asking "Who are you certified with?" or "What degree of black belt are you?" The other part of this is have we lost touch with our karate anscestors for going the route we have taken or is this the next evolution in the martial arts? Hmmm.. that's interesting... and to be honest, I actually like the way how it was in the old days more than nowadays. Here's an example: some disciples think they can just go to the Sensei and ask: 'Hey, can you teach me Chatanyara Kushanku?'. If a disciple asked that from an old master who's used to train like in the old days, the master would not like that kind of a question and say: 'Go and practice some basics instead'. See? It can lead to conceit. Everyone wants to be the best, right? But if students compete like that, it's no good, cuz people forget the true sense of martial arts. A disciple should train basic techniques until she/he has mastered them, and THEN the master will teach him/her that big, cool and difficult kata by himself. I think it is good to learn new skills from different masters, because later on you can combine them, and try by yourself how affective a technique is compared to another. My Sensei is vietnamese. He was a very young kid when he learned kung-fu. And kung-fu makes a person strong and gives a really good health. And then he learned Tai Chi.So he also learned the softer way of the martial arts. He combined them both, using both like '2 in 1' every training, which gave him a double, extra good physical strength and health. Later, he took karate. And as he started to practise karate, he was already with a good physical health and he was soft, but strong at the same time. (Bruce Lee talked about the same thing). And noone can beat him in tournamens, cuz he is so good at martial arts, and he's got such a good knowledge about martial arts, thanks to all of these different skills he learnt from different masters. Yes, this whole belt-thing is a big issue, also questions like: 'how many katas do you know?'. It would be so much better without belts. I wish this whole belt-system changed back to as it was in the old days, just the 'white and black'-belt system, or no belts at all, and no gradings. Just the disciple and the master and the art he/she is studying, and being devoted - I think that is the right way of martial arts. And also the body, health and mind must be all trained, not just the body, like nowadays, no one cares about health.. which is a shame. Kill is love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aefibird Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Good post, Martial Girl! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47MartialMan Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Yeah, old school training. No belts No other "colors" No ridiculous price "menus" No time worrying about nest advancement or method. No open tournaments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mArTiAl_GiRl Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Good post, Martial Girl! heh, thank you.. Kill is love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mArTiAl_GiRl Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Yeah, old school training. No belts No other "colors" No ridiculous price "menus" No time worrying about nest advancement or method. No open tournaments yeah! exactly Kill is love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47MartialMan Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 No central heating or ac. No running water. No indoor plumbing. No electricity. No industrialization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aefibird Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 No central heating or ac. No running water. No indoor plumbing. No electricity. No industrialization. Hey, you just described my dojo! "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuMan Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 At least with the sifu that I train with, I don´t have to worry about tournaments, belts and nor gradings. He keeps things quite traditional. KFM Only time and commitment will make your Traditional "style" good and give you real knowledge. "Marry" your chosen system as opposed to just flirting with it. Make it your partner for life and you will see how well and how complete it really is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
47MartialMan Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 At least with the sifu that I train with, I don´t have to worry about tournaments, belts and nor gradings. He keeps things quite traditional. KFM No colored sashes? No "frog" jackets? No KF "slippers" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mArTiAl_GiRl Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 No central heating or ac. No running water. No indoor plumbing. No electricity. No industrialization. Hey, you just described my dojo! hahaha! same here! That's EXACTLY how my dojo looks like. Kill is love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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