Secret Techniques!

[sensei8]

For hours, and for days, and for months, and for years after years my Dai-Soke continued to teach us that there are secret hidden techniques within the martial arts. My Dai-Soke wouldn't teach nor would he ever reveal those secret techniques to us students, yet, his only explaination to us were that what secret hidden techniques he has found, are his alone, as they will be for us when we do find them for ourselves. What Oyo Bunkai reveals to each of us is as different as the sunsets are for each one of us. Unique! I understood that and I appreciated his profound words.

What my Dai-Soke would teach us about the secret/hidden techniques were just stepping stones for us to ponder on in our own searches for these hidden/secret techniques that were to be revealed to us and only for us. In Shindokan, we are taught a many things about the hidden/secret techniques as they have been discovered my our Soke in Bunkai and Oyo Bunkai, and then those were passed down to all of us students through our Dai-Soke. In that, I've passed on the same to my students.

Yes, If I heard it more than once from the naysayers..."This, Bunkai/Oyo Bunkai and Kata, is as useful for a martial artist as a snowcone is as useful in a volcano" To each his/her own! It has made all of the difference for me, and in that, it's possible that it's for me alone to appreciate and to respect.

Many times, us most senior students of our Dai-Soke would sit quitely and watch him practice one technique over and over, hours upon hours. We'd sit and wait to see any hidden/secret techniques, like starving dogs, just begging for scraps...any scraps. Only at the end of his practice would he acknowledge us, always with a small smile. I'll never ever forget when he once spoke to us the following...

"In the end just remember this one thing. Sometimes Sensei’s best hidden secret techniques are the most obvious...THE BASICS! Don't ever trade them for hidden secret treasures because your basics will be your most memorable"

I've not traded my basics for treasure unfound and/or untold.

Your thoughts?

[tallgeese]

I think it's a fact that advanced movements are simply basics applied at avery high level of competence.

On the secret thing, I think it sounds like you're talking about each individual application of whatever they system is and making it their own. In other words, taking it and using it optimally based ontheir own mindset, physiology, and structure. I don't know that this rises to the level of "secret" or not or simply falls under individaul application.

I tend to favor the latter. However, I often take time to show people what works for me or what I've sorted out of my primary art after years of training. Maybe it will short cut their learning curve and therefore, increse theri survivability in a fight.

Evan my BJJ coach will share his "game" with students he trusts/likes/have shown a commitment to the art. This game is his personal interpertation of how the art is applied. Still, is this "secret". I guess if he never told anyone, but the connotations feel different to me.

[ps1]

I agree that expertise in the basics is what will make you exceptional in your art. I don't, however, believe that anything should ever be kept secret. By divulging every trick and skill you have, you give others the ability to attempt those things on you. That can only help you to learn to elevate your skill and learn how to defeat those techniques, thus leading you to a higher skill level in your art.

[DWx]

I've also never gotten the whole idea of keeping things secret from students. I know that maybe they learn and remember things better if they've discovered them for themselves but then you wait around for people to discover them instead of moving on.. What I'm saying is if everyone just shares the knowledge you keep building upon your teacher's training and your teacher's teacher's training eventually surpassing them and helping the art to evolve.

[sensei8]

I've also never gotten the whole idea of keeping things secret from students. I know that maybe they learn and remember things better if they've discovered them for themselves but then you wait around for people to discover them instead of moving on.. What I'm saying is if everyone just shares the knowledge you keep building upon your teacher's training and your teacher's teacher's training eventually surpassing them and helping the art to evolve.

Solid post and I wholeheartedly concur!

[joesteph]

One of the main reasons I didn't continue with Soo Bahk Do was that its applications--the "secrets" of the moves within the forms--were what I just had to know. Too much was to be revealed when the student makes chodan.

To my teacher's credit, when I asked her about specific moves and their applications, I was answered (but the curriculum guide didn't include practicing them), and when I researched YouTube and asked, again I was answered (but it was not practiced). When something was revealed, my mind kept looking for more, even in the same move, and it was found. The curriculum guide didn't meet my needs; instead, it limited me.

At my new school, just the intro kata has been shown to me. Two moves were immediately explained in terms of applications; another way of doing one of the two moves was also shown; I thought of a variation; a particular move that I didn't understand and asked about was demonstrated for me (not safe for lower belts to practice).

I don't care for "It's a secret." A student shouldn't be overwhelmed with information, but something should routinely be revealed and practiced, especially to the student who expresses a genuine desire to know.

[Jeffrey]

I need to add my 2 cents. Keep in mind this is just my opinion. I believe the secrets are ones own path of discovery. Every individual has their own interpretation of Kata Bunkai. But when you really look at it and explore the different Kata we learn you can find something new. It could be just for you because it uses your body mass/size and how you move. It may be different from what you were taught. If you want to really get into it, take a Kata and try to find a grab, throw, and hit in every techniques. You will find something that works just for you. I believe that is the secret in Kata. I have seen many interpretations to the same move from different Sensei.

But ….. I do value someone going though a technique and sharing their interpretation. You can not start a path of discovery if you don’t know where the path is to begin.

THE BASICS. The best statement ever.

[joesteph]

At my new school, just the intro kata has been shown to me. Two moves were immediately explained in terms of applications; another way of doing one of the two moves was also shown; I thought of a variation; a particular move that I didn't understand and asked about was demonstrated for me (not safe for lower belts to practice).

Doesn't this sound like "I've got a secret"? There was a knifehand block and knifehand strike to the front of the throat; there was again a knifehand block, but a knifehand strike to the side of the throat; examining that second block, I realized that the way I did it I could pull the opponent into the strike; the "unsafe" move was that from where the hands were after block-strike, the head is seized and twisted, pressure on the neck taking the opponent down. And I practiced them (except, of course, for the last).

[bushido_man96]

I do think the "secrets" are not that, but more of what one has found works for him or her. It isn't keeping secrets, or that there are secrets that must be waited for. Its what works for one at the time, and how he/she makes them work. Like tallgeese, I think experts apply simple things at a high level of competency.

[Cable Dog]

Despite learning complex blocks or stances, I have found that soto-uke can be more effective for opening a hole than many of the "exotic" blocks or strikes. It is often so unexpected to use blocks as an offensive art that I've found it to be "my secret technique".