How do you use books in your practice/instruction of MA?
Here's how I use them:
Books are great... books are wonderful - remember, my father is a librarian, and I firmly believe this. Without reference books, much knowledge would be lost.
However, when I teach TKD, I tend to avoid recommending books on applications to my students, because I would rather they experiment with techniques and discover uses for them themselves than rely on a book to tell them the "right" way to use a technique. There are quite a few books out there than do that - some good, some bad, some so-so - but many of them state, clearly or implicitly, that they have "the answer", the one and only meaning (or 2 meanings, or however many are given), and no other applications are possible but those given. IMHO, this limits and inhibits students.
I guide my students into discovering that the techniques they learn in patterns have applications for SD; I provide them examples and challenge them to find other applications, and then provide feedback when they attempt applications that may or may not be effective, so that they can find other applications for themselves. I pull techniques from their patterns and have my students modify them, play with them, and learn to experiment for themselves - because no matter what a book says, no matter which book it is - knowledge that students gain for themselves will often have a deeper meaning, and lead to deeper understanding, than knowledge that students have handed to them.
Nonetheless, I use TKD reference books myself - but I use them as a supplement, not a bible. Books have errors - typos, translation errors, misunderstandings, items that were considered so obvious and/or basic they weren't mentioned which leave gaps, etc. - and more than that, books are static. They do not keep up with changes in technique - which is why my reference books are all written in, because, like any text, I take notes, about what works or doesn't, what I have questions about, what I want to know, alternate applications, and so on.
Here's how I use them:
Books are great... books are wonderful - remember, my father is a librarian, and I firmly believe this. Without reference books, much knowledge would be lost.
However, when I teach TKD, I tend to avoid recommending books on applications to my students, because I would rather they experiment with techniques and discover uses for them themselves than rely on a book to tell them the "right" way to use a technique. There are quite a few books out there than do that - some good, some bad, some so-so - but many of them state, clearly or implicitly, that they have "the answer", the one and only meaning (or 2 meanings, or however many are given), and no other applications are possible but those given. IMHO, this limits and inhibits students.
I guide my students into discovering that the techniques they learn in patterns have applications for SD; I provide them examples and challenge them to find other applications, and then provide feedback when they attempt applications that may or may not be effective, so that they can find other applications for themselves. I pull techniques from their patterns and have my students modify them, play with them, and learn to experiment for themselves - because no matter what a book says, no matter which book it is - knowledge that students gain for themselves will often have a deeper meaning, and lead to deeper understanding, than knowledge that students have handed to them.
Nonetheless, I use TKD reference books myself - but I use them as a supplement, not a bible. Books have errors - typos, translation errors, misunderstandings, items that were considered so obvious and/or basic they weren't mentioned which leave gaps, etc. - and more than that, books are static. They do not keep up with changes in technique - which is why my reference books are all written in, because, like any text, I take notes, about what works or doesn't, what I have questions about, what I want to know, alternate applications, and so on.
