What's your opinion? When do you think you "understand" your art?

[Ender]

as Einstein once said "all you can ever understand is very little"...so based on that, I think you'll understand when you know that you don't know.

 

[James Kovacich]

Originally posted by Ender
as Einstein once said "all you can ever understand is very little"...so based on that, I think you'll understand when you know that you don't know.

I don't think that applies here.

 

[James Kovacich]

Originally posted by twinkletoes
akja,

I agree. You make some good points there.

How can we bridge the gap between "understanding" an art and having skill in it?

Certainly reaching advanced skill levels requires a strong understanding of it, but what happens when the opposite occurs? What about schools where everyone can "talk the talk" but can't "walk the walk?"

Can an emphasis on "understanding" be a bad thing?

~TT

I definately can talk the talk but you don't know me from squat and with that said, it would be very easy for someone to deceive the public and then yes the understanding could be a bad thing.

But the other side of that one is in some of those schools the instructor may just not train anymore for many differant possible reasons. But when needed on the spur of the moment life or death situation. His "understanding" will probably save his life.

:asian:

 

[Ken JP Stuczynski]

Originally posted by akja
I don't think that applies here.

I do.

With one exception, the only people who failed a test in my old school were the ones that "knew" they were ready.

 

[twinkletoes]

I was thinking of even less sinister circumstances. Something that happens a lot in particular with young martial artists (though it CERTAINLY happens with a lot of adults too) is that you get people who can explain the art, technique, correct response, etc. very well, but couldn't do it to save their life.

It's those guys who can tell you "Oh, I saw you having a hard time in the ring against that big guy. It's easy, you get in close and keep your hands like this, and you'll beat him." These are the same guys who when they get in the ring perform very poorly. Yet afterwards they can explain how they could have beaten their opponent "Oh yeah, he was keeping me off with his jab, but what you do against a guy like that is follow it in and crash...." not that they were able to pull it off.

We find that sometimes young students at our school go through something like this as they get older. They understand how to do a move, or how to deal with a scenario, but their ability ends with explaining. They can't get in there and do it.

"Oh yeah, well when he counters your hip throw like this, you reverse him like that."

Now, I have been to schools in person in which EVERY student is like this. They are probably more common than we want to know.

What I find with people (adults) like this is that it's almost always not their own fault: they aren't being a dick, or weird people, but it comes from their instruction. The instruction is not from a performance oriented setup, but from a knowledge set up. Tests focus on what they "know" and not what they can do.

(I know that I said students at our school do this. I know it also sounds like I'm criticizing that method a little. Well, it's true. I don't agree with this part of the instruction at the kenpo school where I teach.)

Our job as instructors is to impart skill, the way AKJA mentioned earlier. Otherwise, when our students get jumped, they will explain to their assailant(s) what they could have done to them to prevent it......

~TT

 

[Ken JP Stuczynski]

Originally posted by twinkletoes
I was thinking of even less sinister circumstances. Something that happens a lot in particular with young martial artists (though it CERTAINLY happens with a lot of adults too) is that you get people who can explain the art, technique, correct response, etc. very well, but couldn't do it to save their life. ...

Sinister?

What about the million-dollar boxing coach or olympic trainer?

Are we always so different from other arts?

Stephen Hawking can't even throw a ball -- should he be teaching physics?

 

[twinkletoes]

Ken,

I'm speaking of people who intend to be practitioners, not trainers. However, the best coaches in an athletic field are the ones with experience.

~TT

 

[sercuerdasfigther]

i believe you understand your art when you get the underlying concepts. when your thoughts become smaller instead of larger, when you can see how all the advanced moves are breed from the core basics. when your realize that the art is just concepts of movement and that the attribrute development is where it's at.

note that this is understanding your art, not master or knowing everything.

 

[James Kovacich]

Originally posted by sercuerdasfigther
i believe you understand your art when you get the underlying concepts. when your thoughts become smaller instead of larger, when you can see how all the advanced moves are breed from the core basics. when your realize that the art is just concepts of movement and that the attribrute development is where it's at.

note that this is understanding your art, not master or knowing everything.

Well Done!:asian: