Saturday, November 3, 2012

Forms Seminar


Today was the forms seminar, which I participated in as an instructor, judge and commentator.  Instructing a form and passing down to another student what had been taught to me was a rewarding experience, not to mention the review and form breakdown for four hours...always a great way to see the micro steps and meaning to all that goes into a form.

The forms seminar consisted of a room full of martial artists who challenged and pushed themselves to be better at what they love. Throughout this event I also faced challenges of growth and personal betterment through the instructing, judging and feedback portion.

Instructing has an added benefit, which I never realized until I started to assist as a Sihing. For me instructing turned out to be a way of learning, it allowed me to see my form errors through others and also assisted in translation. In translation, I refer to reading the students and their mental and physical mechanics, in turn finding the most appropriate way to instill me teachings.  It wasn’t until being a part of SRKF that I realized how much I enjoyed instructing and helping others, so for me, being there today was a privilege.

Judging....this was the second most difficult challenge that I put myself through today. I very much enjoyed it and felt more confident in this position that I did in the past. The thing about judging that makes it a challenge for me is that I play a part in a decision making process which places values on the performance of others. The process is not a difficult one if you understand the detail which you are seeking. However, for me when it comes to martial arts, I see a very broad spectrum of characteristics which are to be judged. Today may have been a “forms seminar”, but forms are not just about the technique, they are about the personality that delivers them, they are about translation, they are about heart and soul.

My first most difficult challenge today was giving feedback to the form seminar students. It is always easy to give feedback on the positive, but a bit more difficult to relay the things which require attention. When the intent of the comments is perceived for what they were meant to be, which is only for correction and the betterment of that which was be judged, then that is great but if the translation goes bad then the intention has failed and becomes very awkward.

During this seminar I saw and mentioned a couple things that had an impact on me as a judge, nothing that would have altered a score performance, but things that set the tone for me as a judge.  What I mentioned was not directly about the techniques but that which impacts them.

There are many things which can be taken home when studying the martial arts, other than physical defence and offense. My interpretation is that we are more about not fighting than fighting – we teach the children about recognizing bullies and how to react against bullying without violence; we teach respect and discipline; we teach honour and integrity; we teach honesty; we teach the importance of punctuality; we work on building character and responsible individuals; we focus on control and remaining calm through everyday situations; we teach not to judge; we teach empathy; we invite and participate in community activity and help people in need. The curriculum enforces memorization and learning history. The school offers academic support, through a scholarship program. This partial list of what I see as a big part of our school is the building structure of our character; this is what will dictate the rest. All of this to say, when there is evidence of extraordinary respect and disciple and all the above it deserves recognition as does the rest our training. I see such value in this because of what I see happening through a good portion of the world today. The first step to change is within! I really beat up the point that I wanted to get across with this post, but I see such value in the mental building that takes place in our kwoon and wanted to make mention of it today. I realize that it may have come at an awkward time, during the “forms seminar”, but the relevance is very strong for me.

There are many interpretations of the martial arts and there are many different journeys through the channels of martial arts. My journey is my journey, I say that because it does something for me that is unique and individual to just me.

One last thing, there were varying levels of participants at the seminar today, all of which did very good. I know that there are some who were/are disappointed in their final performances, but really shouldn’t be. This is an event of growth, it is an event of challenge, which is not easy and isn't intended to be. It can take its toll on your nerves and really mess with your focus and mind control. For those of you that committed yourself to this event I know that no matter what level you were at that there was an overwhelming amount of information, some of you went through two new forms today. Hats off to all of you! What you all experienced today is normal, the mind blocks and stammering through the forms... all normal. The important thing to take home is that there was a massive amount of growth in all of you....so much to be proud of.

 

Darcy Regier
http://darcyregier.blogspot.com/

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