Information Indigestion

 I have a favorite Korean restaurant that I frequent, and I usually stuff myself silly when I eat there. One evening, I ate so much Bulgoki that it was actually painful to breathe! My friends laughed at me, saying "Hey, ya know all that meat and kimchi wasn't gonna run away, you know!".

Funny thing was, for some reason I thought that the food would disappear if I didn't eat it all at once. The soda didn't help either.

Later that evening, I had my very first bout with indigestion. I felt that ugly burning feeling in my gut and chest. To quote an old commercial, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing".

 I was disappointed that I didn't have the opportunity to just sit back and enjoy a full stomach of wonderful food. Instead, I was uncomfortable that whole night....I didn't get much sleep at all that night (until I took some antacid), and I was a tired wreck the next day.

During my years of teaching martial arts, I've found that students will sometimes also suffer of indigestion...but in those cases, the "food" was martial art techniques. I've seen many students get frustrated because they're not "getting it" as quickly as they hoped for. Sometimes, the frustration resulted in complete shutdown, where a student simply could not listen or learn anymore. Many times, a student's feelings of inadequecy (is that how you spell that word??) would build until it affected their very self-esteem. Even though I would try to assure a student that they're doing great, and suggest that they take it slowly, their expectations of themselves would sometimes overshadow listening to assurance and advice. Sometimes, their "indigestion" would get so bad that they would quit classes altogether. 

I once learned  a long weapons routine that I was really excited about learning. I knew it was going to be taught in only two days…a total of 6 hours.  I thought I was doing pretty well remembering the movements the first day........that is, until the lunch break. After lunch, I  found that I couldn't get past the 9th movement. Those previous 3 hours of learning just went ''zing" out the window!  I was frustrated with myself, to say the least. I voiced my frustration to classmates at lunch, and even though they all said "I forgot alot too!!", I was still frustrated with myself. My ego yelled alot during lunch......"I should be better than this",...."After all these years, I should be able to remember 20 moves, darn it!!" I was quickly putting myself into a self-induced "brain drain" by allowing my frustration to get the better of me.

I’ve been told time and time again, that trying to “grab” information can sometimes be like trying to grab a fistful of water. If you thrust your hand into a pool of water, make a fist and try to grab the water tightly in your hand to take a drink, you end up with …..a wet fist. However, if you cup your hand and gently scoop the water a little bit at a time, it might take you longer to quench your thirst, but at least you’ll be able to drink.

So, why attend seminars or workshops then, if you’re not going to get the myriad of information in one day or one weekend?   Exposure to the information, that’s why. The exposure to the information gets us familiarized with it, even though we might not remember all that was taught. One of my teachers used to say that our subconscious absorbs everything, and that our conscious mind just needs time to file things in our head in an orderly manner so that we can pull up the information when we want to. As long as we don't try to force ourselves to remember every single detail of the whole seminar, we'll do okay.

By the way, I did eventually remember the whole weapon form I was taught. As each day went by, the movements slowly popped up. By the end of a week, I managed to pull up the whole form. So now these days….., I can’t get the “42 combined style straightsword form” out of my head!!

.....Nothing wrong with eating slowly, and enjoying your food......

Believe it or not....this blog entry has nothing to do with Archery.

 

"Target fixation" is a term that people learn about when they take the MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) course, or any other acredited motorcycle riding course. In short, its all about "Where you look, is where the bike goes". The thoery is, if look through a turn, you'll follow that path. If you look at that jersey barrier that you're hoping to miss on that decreasing radius turn....well....you'll end up slamming into that barrier!

 

"The bike goes where you look?" You mean I don't have to steer? Is is magic? Or just some wierd new law of physics???

 

Of course you have to steer....Duh. Press the bars left, look left and you'll turn left....Press the bars right, look right, and you'll turn right. Pretty simple, right?  But I'm surprised at how this type of steering ("countersteering") can sometimes work against you. I've heard stories of people trying to keep away from a big truck or lane divider, only to head straight toward it. Most times, the reason is that the rider fixates on the very thing they're trying to avoid, and their inclination is to sort of "lean" away from it. Not a good idea, considering that countersteering comes into play sometimes!  Let's say, that I'm tooling along on my bike, and there's a big rig semi coming up on my left. If I look at those big semi wheels, wondering "Gads, I hope I don't run into THOSE wheels", a common reaction would be to "lean" away from "THOSE wheels". However, in the process of trying to "lean" to the right, away from the wheels, I might actively push myself away from the bike, resulting in a push on the handlebars to the LEFT.   Push left, go left....push right, go right, remember?   Pushing "left" will steer me right into those big nasty wheels.

 

In a nutshell......LOOK AWAY from the obstacle.

 

When I young and stupid, riding my old Honda Rebel 250, I had a bad habit of not "looking through turns"......I used to look at the ground only about 5 feet in front of me while turning, usually looking at the other cars in oncoming lanes. As a result, I took many right turns very wide. Not a good thing when there's traffic in the oncoming lane! I took a long hiatus from riding (a good thing, since I was so young and stupid.....a "squid", in biker terms), and took the MSF course to refresh my dusty rider skills. Alot of great range exercises for looking through curves, quick (safe) stops, swerving, tight u-turns, etc. When I got my new license with that great motorcycle endorsement on it, I was happy that the endorsement gave me the opportunity to be on constant practice in improving my rider skills. Being complacent in rider skills, will undoubtedly get me a bad case of road rash.

 

Believe it or not, whenever I throw a leg over my bike, the bike reminds me of "target fixation" in daily life. Look to your goal, and you'll get there.....don't fixate on the obstacles or you'll land smack in the middle of the obstacle you were trying to avoid!!  I still have a hard time with target fixation in daily life...... Too bad that what comes easily on a motorcycle, is sometimes so hard to accomplish off the bike!  In retrospect, I realize that every "failure" I've encountered, was caused by my fixating on the possiblity of failure.

 

As my target fixation improves on the road, I hope my target fixation on my goals and my life improves too.

 

"Get yer motor runnin'.....

Head on down the highway...."

"One shot, life ends" is a Kyudo saying. It refers to treating each shot as if it were your very last. I'm sure there are many interpretations of this saying, and I interpret it as putting your whole heart and mind to each shot.....comitting your complete awareness and skill from approaching the shooting line, to stabilizing your body, to nocking the arrow, raising the bow, drawing the bow, firming your body and the shot, to releasing the arrow, to walking off the shooting line.  I find it difficult to do, as many distractions enter my mind while shooting, ranging from "will I hit myself in the face with the string again?" to "why can't I hit the target?".

 

To me, this "committed awareness" of each moment of shooting, gives the "Zen" aspect to Kyudo, as well as fosters a stable, yet dynamic spirit. For me, Kyudo is not merely a technical activity (anyone can learn to shoot a target if given the time), but a spiritual activity as well.

 

As I look back on years that I've taught martial arts, I find that this saying applies to all arts. Be committed to each movement or form. Be aware of not only yourself, but your opponent as well. Put your heart into your training,....treat each class your attend, as if it were your last.

 

This off-handedly brings me to my next subject......"technical skill VS. ingrained core skill". 

 

I remember when I used to teach Karate....many students would hound me with "When will I learn the next kata?", usually when they haven't yet improved much on their previous kata.  Many times, lower ranked students would try to follow along with upper ranks during kata practice, just to get the next kata.

 

"When will I learn the next kata?"

 

"When you're ready", would be my usual reply".

 

"But when will that be?"

 

"I don't know....you show ME when you're ready".

 

Of course, there would be times where I'd have to "spell it out" for these students.  1) yes, you know the sequence of movements, but your stability in stances needs alot of work.  2) clean up your hand techniques or kicks.  3) know the proper lines of your movements, as well as the proper angles of your footwork. 4) For goodness sake, lower your stances and put kime (focus) into your techniques.  My explanations would go on and on, yet many students would think that my advice would not apply to them.

 

Impatience, would be their weakness.

 

Learning forms in Martial Arts is not only for advancement in rank, nor is it only about learning combat applications or fighting strategy (yes, I know there are some of you that will say "forms don't teach you fighting", but humor me here for a minute!). The importance of forms lies in the SKILLS you develop, instead of merely advancement in rank or fighting strategy.  You say you want to hit hard? Then hit hard in your forms, but do so with proper technique and alignment....then get to the heavy bag and hit that with good technique and alignment. You say you want to learn to jump kicks? Then drop your stances to strengthen your legs and develop your center....you need good center even while your up in the air! You say you want better stamina in the sparring ring? Then do cardio exercises....try to do 5 forms you know, back to back,  as fast as you can, with as best technique, lowest stance, highest jumps (if applicable to your style) and power you can muster. (it doesn't count if your stances get higher during the exercise), then get in the ring and apply that cardio fitness for 3 rounds.

 

My point here, is KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF FOUNDATION. Doesn't matter if you know 50 forms or routines....if you can't understand how to do all of them well, or if you can't understand the different core skills that each form teaches you, then you're just a "forms collector".

 

But....why do people want to rush forward and learn the next form right after they learn a new one? Why is it that people don't care to wait? Don't get me wrong....I am happy to teach new forms to people that show sincerity in their training, and show that they're not afraid to "earn what they learn". But, its the attitude that goes with their training that determines whether or not they get a new form.  Are they working only to appear that they're working so that they can jump to the next form? Or, are they working *genuinly* hard to improve themselves and their skill? "Improvement" is not gauged by how many forms you have..... I can *see* if they've improved on core skills, even by watching their basics. If the basics are substandard, then the forms will be as well.

 

"One shot, life ends". Maybe we can rephrase that as "One form, life ends", or "One stance, life ends", etc.

 

With that said, figure out this next saying. "In martial arts, always be dumb and stubborn. Never try to be smart and clever".