So, I moved away from most of the other schools teaching Danzan Ryu. I have put together a small class and am teaching some people. However, my own study of Danzan Ryu has been modified. Not just because I am teaching, though that alone has helped me learn a lot. But, I don't have regular interaction with people that have more experience than I in DZR.
I was hoping to get some ideas from the folks here, on how you go about your personal study of your art. What have you done that has helped you dive deeper into your art? How have you found new applications? How have you found new principles or ideas in your art? How have you expanded your base knowledge?
I'll kick this off with a few examples of things I have done / am doing.
One thing I try, is to cross train with other arts and try my DZR in sparring / randori. (note I do not sandbag here, I let them know what I am doing... I also spend more time working on what they are teaching in the class that I am taking at the moment) When my tucus gets handed back to me, I take the opportunity to analyze what happened, and why I got thrashed. More often than not, the problem has been operator error, rather than a problem with the art. Many of these issues I have been able to fix... this has effected how I teach certain techniques. The light has come on many times, about why the kata has this funny bit in it... I guess I have to learn the hard way, to understand what is in the kata sometimes. (so far, I have sparred / trained with BJJ, Judo, Karate, MMA, TKD, Aikido, Kung Fu, Daito Ryu and a Systema guy... I learned a bunch from all of them)
Another thing I do is to look at each technique and/or Kata. At first each one seems to emphasize a different thing. One may focus on power, one on stance, one on off balancing, one on flow... I will then trade... Take the one focused on power and try to find where the off balancing is, in that same kata. Then I will look for the flow in the power kata... I keep finding all these "new" things in each technique / kata, that have really always been there. But, they are new to me.
What have/or do you guys do? I would like to try more things to get deeper into my art. Thanks in advance for the great ideas.
I was hoping to get some ideas from the folks here, on how you go about your personal study of your art. What have you done that has helped you dive deeper into your art? How have you found new applications? How have you found new principles or ideas in your art? How have you expanded your base knowledge?
I'll kick this off with a few examples of things I have done / am doing.
One thing I try, is to cross train with other arts and try my DZR in sparring / randori. (note I do not sandbag here, I let them know what I am doing... I also spend more time working on what they are teaching in the class that I am taking at the moment) When my tucus gets handed back to me, I take the opportunity to analyze what happened, and why I got thrashed. More often than not, the problem has been operator error, rather than a problem with the art. Many of these issues I have been able to fix... this has effected how I teach certain techniques. The light has come on many times, about why the kata has this funny bit in it... I guess I have to learn the hard way, to understand what is in the kata sometimes. (so far, I have sparred / trained with BJJ, Judo, Karate, MMA, TKD, Aikido, Kung Fu, Daito Ryu and a Systema guy... I learned a bunch from all of them)
Another thing I do is to look at each technique and/or Kata. At first each one seems to emphasize a different thing. One may focus on power, one on stance, one on off balancing, one on flow... I will then trade... Take the one focused on power and try to find where the off balancing is, in that same kata. Then I will look for the flow in the power kata... I keep finding all these "new" things in each technique / kata, that have really always been there. But, they are new to me.
What have/or do you guys do? I would like to try more things to get deeper into my art. Thanks in advance for the great ideas.