Soliciting seminar input

[draconis]

As I've mentioned elseJournal, I'm going to be conducting a martial arts seminar on pressure points and extracting combat-applicable techniques from katas (forms), for a group of people who have no clue that forms are anything but complicated dances, and whose idea of pressure points are the eyes/throat/solar plexus/groin. I've got one day to give them the basics -- tall order!

I've been doing this particular brand of martial arts for 11 years now, and various other styles for 10 years before that. I am confident in my own knowledge of the material, and in my ability to teach. The one thing that I don't do very often is work with complete newbies, and even then it's with newbies that I know I will probably see again at the next class, or next week, or whenever, so if I overlook something I can "catch them up" then. I realize that there is a lot of stuff that I know on a subconscious level... and there lies the trap I'm trying to be sure I avoid. This is going to be the equivalent of taking a bunch of Jr. High School students who've had basic arithmetic, and introducing them to algebra and geometry... done by someone who is working on the level of Calculus.

I've already talked this over with my beloved gryphonrhi and with alysswolf, and they made some good points. Now I'd like to throw it open to you.

The basic framework I'm planning is to concentrate only on one very simple kata that they already know. The morning session will focus on what to do and how to do it, then the afternoon session will get into the more advanced topics, like why to do it that way.

If you were to attend such a seminar, what things can you think of that you would want/need to see covered in order to help you understand the material?

Comments

[jcbdragon.livejournal.com]

Good point...

and there are times when "kick 'em in the knee" *is* the best response. But it seems to me that if they're going to be practicing these forms anyway, they might as well be able to get a greater benefit from that training time/effort than just a physical workout, and learning to coordinate body movements, breathing, etc.

In the very early stages, that is the main benefit of forms -- coordination, exercise, and practicing the individual movements. However, once you've gotten those things "under your belt" (so to speak ::G::), practicing those same physical movements with the right mental imagery allows you to add a huge number of options you can use if/when confronted by an attacker.

For example, let's say you're one of my students. Every day, we do a training exercise where I throw a particular attack at you ten times, and you give a particular response. We do this every day for a month. If you're walking down the street and someone throws that same type of attack, you're going to *automatically* give that response.

Well, obviously I can't get together with every student every day. However, if I can give them the right information, they can practice that same thing when I'm not there, or any time they want. That's what the forms are for -- practicing things even when you can't get with a partner (because you're using an imaginary opponent), and/or practicing things at an intensity that you couldn't use with a partner if you wanted them to be able to come back and do it again the next day -- such as kicking them in the knee! ::G::