Bring Together & Separate If I understand correctly, you have spent the last 6 months mastering the whole system of Arnis with Master X. And now you are now ready to move on to the next system? I summarized this young MA conversation with me at a demo. He nodded and asked me So what is your whole system about, and how much time will I need to get all those techniques under my belt? The young master in his early 30s was deadly serious with his question. I pondered a minute and said I am probably not the right teacher for you. My system and approach are rather old school. We have 1/2 a dozen locks and about 10 throws. They have atleast 4 henka/variations each. And that is just the Aiki In Yo Ho Syllabus. I have invested 2 decades with this system and continue the quest. Why dont you just show me all the locks and throws, and I am sure I will figure our what works and what does not. And will incorporate the best of your art into my new system. he said hopefully. I wanted out of this conversation. But here we were sitting next to each other during a demo. So I declined again and tried to get him to focus on the demo. He persisted why cant I just learn the whole thing. Of course I will pay you the dues for the lessons and the certification. That did it. I told him I would sign off any certificate he wants if in 6months he can even show me he can remember the correct form of the techniques, leave alone mastery. He looked shocked. He was NOT arrogant, just misinformed. I walked away after giving him my number. And it got me on the thread of combining and separating. Its no secret that I train in different arts, even though teach KAR almost exclusively ( I sometimes share other arts privately with a few friends, but have never taught it at the MVAK dojo). This sometimes does not go to well with so called purists. In the past few days have had questions from a few well meaning friends about what is it that I am doing? and more importantly why? And how is it different from the young Master you walked out on? I responded to a friend saying I teach KAR, and workout also in Filipino Martial Arts(FMA) & Chinese Internal Martial Arts (CIMA). Am not teaching FMA/CIMA nor am I mixing things up. He persisted on asking why? And after some thought I responded that it all depends what you are searching for and what the aim of the art in your life. KAR, a war art, is the base of what speaks most deeply to me and forms my martial foundation. It has some of the best applications of the leverage and the principle of Aiki In Yo Ho. FMA communicates the language of angulation and speed, and is designed for Urban Combat. FMA uses whatever works with sticks, knives and translates into empty hand in a down & dirty manner. Finally CIMA to me is all about Internal Energetics. CIMA does you, not the other way around - it is hard to communicate about it. In short they are three different metaphors, aimed at different results. They are like speaking different languages. Yet they all enhance each other, enriching my appreciation of martial arts and life. When it comes to teaching, I stick with one metaphor. Much like teaching a language, say Spanish. You cannot truly be effective learning say the verbs in Spanish, and adverbs in Chinese and syntax say in English. They are separate languages and metaphors, and all have their uses. They can call communicate similar truths, yet handle interaction very differently. So when I teach, the immersion is exclusively into one langauge or art. Sure the other arts help me understand some things deeper, and may make their way into explaining certain things. Yet its not about mixing randomly when it comes to teaching or sharing an art. But when it comes to actual fighting that is a whole different ball game. There the urban combat tactics, mix freely with war strategy and managing internal structure. The combination of the three will fluidly change, as it should - adn the expression at that moment is pure me-ness. To me this is the foundation of Bring Together & Seprate. Seperate the arts and teach them exclusively, perhaps borrwing certain understandings when it makes sense. Combine everything towards your personal truth when it comes to combat and pursuit of common principles. Thats how I combine and seperate, its not the pursuit of yet another greatest system in the world but rather the pursuit of my expression of effortless power and motion. So what each language does is gives a window into a different world, much like the arts. They all enlage the world we can see. And the ability to speak different languages helps find common ground to build bridges. Learning a new language or art, does not dilute what you do. It provides you the possibility to expand into new worlds. Thats ultimately what I am looking to do, to enlarge the worlds one can belong to. Like always I remain open to your thoughts and constructive criticism Mahipal Lunia Sensei MountainViewAiki TheRenaissancePath RadicalChangeGroup
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:41:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015