Sanshin No Kata...

[Satt]

Hey there everyone. I just recieved the Sanshin No Kata DVD from Richard Van Donk a couple days ago. I was impressed with the ease at which he explains things so simply. I am gonna order the Kihon Happo DVD next. I am really enjoying it so far though. So hopefully by the time I move back to Chattanooga, I will have a basic understanding so I don't look like a total retard. LOL. Anyway, just letting any new people like me know that this is a good DVD to get. It is at www.ninjutsu.com and is pretty inexpensive compared to other DVDs I have bought.

Be blessed in all you do,
Jason

 

[Tengu6]

It will be nice to get a head start on your movement, but never worry about looking bad.........that is what the Dojo is for, to look bad in there and not on the street. The dojo is where we work out all our bad habits and wobley movement. You know, funny thing is, once I get comfortable with one movement or a group of movements, it always seem the next ones make me feel like a beginner all over.......It is fun to always work through a challenge.

Have Fun!

Markk Bush

 

[Mountain Kusa]

Jason,

Markk alludes to something else, as our accomplishments increase, so do our challenges. There is no there with anything in this art, there is always more to learn. There is nothing to prove to anyone but yourself.

 

[Satt]

Thanks guys. I will take that to heart. :whip:

 

[Don Roley]

It will be nice to get a head start on your movement, but never worry about looking bad.........that is what the Dojo is for, to look bad in there and not on the street.

Listen to the above!!!!

Do not fear looking bad in front of a teacher. If you make a mistake and are corrected, you should feel happy. You now know something you did not before. You are now better than you were when you walked in the door with mistaken impresions.

Too many people try to impress their teacher with how much they know and love it when they get praise. Those types are in it for the ego.

Compare this with a conversation I had with a guy named Tim here in Japan just after Hatsumi praised him in class. He said, " I wish he had just pointed out something I needed work on instead of making me look good in front of others."

But I see many people try to show Hatsumi and other shihan their best techniques instead of the ones they are weakest in because they are eager for praise and rank. The serious guys look for ways that they can get corrections and advice. Be a serious guy and not one interested in praise.

My suggestion woudl be to only work on the tapes to the point where you kind of understand what is going on and then not practice much further. When you get to a teacher, you will probably find that you missed something. If you have not practiced it very much you will not develop strong habits to break later. But by seeing the information before you walk into class, you will have an advantage and be able to pick up on the lessons faster.

Good luck.

 

[DWeidman]

Anyway, just letting any new people like me know that this is a good DVD to get. It is at www.ninjutsu.com and is pretty inexpensive compared to other DVDs I have bought.

Be blessed in all you do,
Jason

Since the resident ogre passed this up (perhaps gunshy from his last encounter with you) - I guess I am left to hold on to the mean stick...

Jason - since you are brand new - perhaps you wouldn't know a good sanshin DVD from a bad one. I would take everything you get in VIDEO format with a grain of salt... most likely your teacher (you are planning on getting a REAL teacher someday - yes) will change a good deal of what you think you know. DVDs and Videos are "ok" reference material - and can help you get a step in the right direction... Just be EXTREMELY casual with your use of videos as a primary teaching aid.

Anyway - I hate to bring up the "video learning is waste of time" argument - but it seems appropriate. Sorry. You need mat time under a good, qualified, live instructor. There is no substitute - despite the marketing claims of those selling the DVDs.

As always -

-Daniel

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

I saw Van Donk perform a sakki test in Japan...his comments on it afterwards made me want to puke.

 

[Mountain Kusa]

Jason,

One other thing. My son is in the 2nd grade, and we had a get to know the teacher kindve meeting at the school one night and she said something that I thought very much applied to rank in the martial arts. She said that "these little people are not second graders yet, they are learning to be second graders." They have not been through nor fully learned the curricullum of the second Grade.

Martial arts. Just because you are given a rank, or belt color, etc. This does not mean that you are that rank yet. You are still learning that rank. Even today when I am training as opposed to ten years ago, I will be working on a thing, and either something will "fall into my lap", or I will get a feeling of having felt this before but it is different. Or it will be the same principle expressed a different way.

What I am getting at is this, I may have a yudanka rank, but I am still learning 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st kyus, and learning what it means to have been given the rank of shodan. It means from My teachers that they consider me to be a serious student and I emphasize student, because i am. Even Hatsumi Sensei will say from time to time that he is still learning from what Takamatsu gave him, thus in a way, even though he is the man, he is still a student of the art. You will always be constantly adding to what you know, or paring away. And if you have the right frame of mind, will accept change and advise to your techniques when pointed out to you as gifts from the buji.

 

[Satt]

Thanks again guys. I really do appreciate your comments. I do not consider any of you "ogres" or anything. Just men trying to help other men on their path. I am starting to see that now. I am also seeing that when I make a post I should try to say exactly what I mean. I think all I should've originally said was "I enjoyed the video and I am having fun learning." Simple as that. I just get excited about martial arts and I have a strong desire to share my feelings with others. Thank you Chris, Don, and R, and anyone else who has words of wisdom for me. I am all ears. Well, ok, I am a lot of mouth too. He he.


Be blessed everyone in all you do,
Jason

 

[Shizen Shigoku]

I know this was originally just a "I liked the sanshin video" thread, but while we're on the subject of sanshin and training in general, I wanted to comment on a couple things - for reinforcement value.



Tengu6: "...funny thing is, once I get comfortable with one movement or a group of movements, it always seem the next ones make me feel like a beginner all over..."

Sanshin no Kata do that to me every time. I must have practiced them thousands upon thousands upon thousands of times, but always find ways to improve them every time I try them.

Shrek (oops, I mean Don ): "Compare this with a conversation I had with a guy named Tim here in Japan just after Hatsumi praised him in class. He said, " I wish he had just pointed out something I needed work on instead of making me look good in front of others."

I feel that way a lot too in training. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist at times, and I'm always wondering how I could do something better. It feels good to receive praise - positive reinforcement is very useful - but sometimes I really expect to be corrected on something because it just doesn't feel quite right, but instead I'm told that I'm doing fine.

That's why I like to find the biggest, strongest, meanest, most-experienced person in the dojo to partner up with. I know that they won't let me get away with any half-hearted technique, and if there is any mistake or thing to improve, they'll let me know right away. I don't always like being their uke though. :btg: <--- [hey look it's Ku no Kata!]



"My suggestion woudl be to only work on the tapes to the point where you kind of understand what is going on and then not practice much further. When you get to a teacher, you will probably find that you missed something. If you have not practiced it very much you will not develop strong habits to break later. But by seeing the information before you walk into class, you will have an advantage and be able to pick up on the lessons faster."

DWeidman: "most likely your teacher ... will change a good deal of what you think you know. DVDs and Videos are "ok" reference material - and can help you get a step in the right direction... Just be EXTREMELY casual with your use of videos as a primary teaching aid."

The two gentlemen above (though not often gentle at times) gave probably the clearest admonitions on the use of video resources I've seen in a long time.

The main points are to not use them as a primary source, use them more for casual reference than a direct teaching tool, and don't replicate what you see too many times to avoid developing bad habits.

A couple years before I started training in a dojo (I still can't believe I didn't know that there was one just 30 mins. drive from where I used to live - gah! if only I knew sooner!) I got the whole RVD BB HSC (enough acronyms for ya?). I thought they were fine - maybe a little over-priced given the production quality - they showed a lot of techniques and touched on a lot of areas.

I never had the intention of trying to rank through video testing, or to actually train from video. I did use some of what I saw to practice taiso, ukemi and sanshin kata, but didn't attempt to try anything else (ok, maybe a couple gyaku's on my friend - and some shuriken throwing ideas, and some bo spinning).

When I did start training in a dojo, I found out that there was a lot of key principles that I was missing. For example, in the staff-twirling form, my angle of rotation was too wide and I was leaving big gaps in my defense. This doesn't necessarily mean that it was shown incorrectly on the video, just that when I tried it, no one was there to say "hey, tighten up the angle a little bit to protect your centerline more."



Nimravus: "I saw Van Donk perform a sakki test in Japan...his comments on it afterwards made me want to puke."

Nim, I'm getting a little irritated by all your posts that hint at something, but don't have enough information to clarify what you mean. Obviously what happened is you saw a thread in which sensei Van Donk was mentioned - you have a negative opinion about him - and you wanted to express your displeasure with your experience of him.

First of all, this thread is not about RVD specifically, but rather about a video he produced, so if you believe that what you feel about him reflects on that particular video, then say so, and give examples as to why you feel that way.

Secondly, discussing someone's sakkijutsu test is irrelevent to the conversation, and just saying that his comments made you feel nauseous is not enough to support your opinion.

Maybe if you were to share what those comments were (paraphrased is fine), the rest of us would understand why you feel the way you do. - I would recommend a new thread for that though, or find an existing thread that is about RVD specifically.

NB: I am not trying to defend Mr. Van Donk. In fact, I also feel a little nauseous hearing him speak as well, but only because I think he talks too much (I come from a school where the motto is "less yacking, more smacking"), and he uses a lot of malapropisms.

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

It would be hard for anyone with half a brain to take someone who said the things he said seriously - and I for one wouldn't want to buy something from such a person, let alone an instruction course of any kind.
I can't and won't comment on his technical expertise, however, since I never got the chance to watch him train.

And maybe it's just me, but if Hatsumi sensei designated me "the happiest person in the Bujinkan", I'd kill myself. It's kind of like being told by the Japanese that you're very good at using chopsticks.

 

[DWeidman]

Compare this with a conversation I had with a guy named Tim here in Japan just after Hatsumi praised him in class. He said, " I wish he had just pointed out something I needed work on instead of making me look good in front of others."

Good luck.

Ahhhh! But this is in direct contradiction to RULE #1!!!

RULE #1: Always look good.

-Daniel

PS. Getting your *** kicked never looks good...