Power and Control

[drop bear107]

If that's the training from day 1, then you need that weeding. I wouldn't have lasted, so weeding me out day 1 would have been a good thing. (For me, it wouldn't have been so much the bruising, as the frustration of being asked to defend myself against someone that much better, and taking a beating for not having been trained first.)

Martial arts and the frustration of someone being better pretty much go hand in hand.

 

[JR 137]

If that's the training from day 1, then you need that weeding. I wouldn't have lasted, so weeding me out day 1 would have been a good thing. (For me, it wouldn't have been so much the bruising, as the frustration of being asked to defend myself against someone that much better, and taking a beating for not having been trained first.)

I had a different view of the world at 18 years old (and I recovered significantly quicker)...

I thought taking a beating meant I had a lot of catching up to do. Especially when they weren't going as hard as I saw them go with each other.

I thought the more beatings in the dojo = far less beatings on the streets.

I thought if they were that good, and I worked just as hard, if not harder, I'd be just as good, if not better by the time I reached their rank.

I had that never give up and keep going forward mentality from wrestling, from which I was only a few months removed.

Bare knuckle sparring with my girlfriend at the time was interesting. She only lasted about 3 months.

Ah, to be young and crazy. To be able to get pounded on and laugh to your training friends in the locker room afterwards and say "did you see what sensei hit me with today?" That's not an exaggeration; we said that regularly. I honestly don't regret a second of it. It builds character.

And the training wasn't THAT harsh.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Martial arts and the frustration of someone being better pretty much go hand in hand.

Oh, I'm more than okay with someone being better. But I'm not okay with getting bruised up because I haven't been trained in something. That'd be like walking into a Judo class, being paired up with a brown belt who steps in and gives a full leg sweep, and the new student gets banged up because he doesn't know how to take the fall or prevent the throw. It would feel too much like punishment for not learning something I've not been offered.

Now, frustrate me by simply being better than me (with some fairness to whatever exposure I've had), and I'm ready to learn to get past that frustration.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I had a different view of the world at 18 years old (and I recovered significantly quicker)...

I thought taking a beating meant I had a lot of catching up to do. Especially when they weren't going as hard as I saw them go with each other.

I thought the more beatings in the dojo = far less beatings on the streets.

I thought if they were that good, and I worked just as hard, if not harder, I'd be just as good, if not better by the time I reached their rank.

I had that never give up and keep going forward mentality from wrestling, from which I was only a few months removed.

Bare knuckle sparring with my girlfriend at the time was interesting. She only lasted about 3 months.

Ah, to be young and crazy. To be able to get pounded on and laugh to your training friends in the locker room afterwards and say "did you see what sensei hit me with today?" That's not an exaggeration; we said that regularly. I honestly don't regret a second of it. It builds character.

And the training wasn't THAT harsh.

And I'm not sure any of that is wrong, JR. I just know myself well enough to know that I'd bristle at that approach, and not in any useful way.

 

[drop bear107]

Oh, I'm more than okay with someone being better. But I'm not okay with getting bruised up because I haven't been trained in something. That'd be like walking into a Judo class, being paired up with a brown belt who steps in and gives a full leg sweep, and the new student gets banged up because he doesn't know how to take the fall or prevent the throw. It would feel too much like punishment for not learning something I've not been offered.

Now, frustrate me by simply being better than me (with some fairness to whatever exposure I've had), and I'm ready to learn to get past that frustration.

Exept you are being punched in the body and legs in this particular instance.

 

[JR 137]

And I'm not sure any of that is wrong, JR. I just know myself well enough to know that I'd bristle at that approach, and not in any useful way.

I returned to karate when I was 38 (I was 25 when I left). There was a local Kyokushin dojo that I was interested in joining when I was looking around. By all accounts it was a good dojo. Then I came to my senses and I had the been there, done that mentality towards bare knuckle. I know I wouldn't have lasted more than a year or two.

It was a great thing for me to do when I was 18-25. Now, not so much. I wanted something I could do for the long haul. I found exactly that in my current dojo. It's not a perfect dojo for everyone, but it's the perfect place for me.

As an added bonus, I would've had to look for a new dojo after a year if I joined that Kyokushin dojo. The CI and his wife (co-owners) had to close it because they were relocated by their full-time employer.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Exept you are being punched in the body and legs in this particular instance.

??

 

[drop bear107]

??

You can eat some hefty shots bare knuckle to the body. And KK gets points for being staunch. It is kind of a requirement.

Do don't so much get points for strikes. You get points for strikes that make people flinch.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

You can eat some hefty shots bare knuckle to the body. And KK gets points for being staunch. It is kind of a requirement.

Do don't so much get points for strikes. You get points for strikes that make people flinch.

Yes, and hard throws are pretty rough, too. In either case, I don't see much value (from my POV) in dealing that kind of punishment to a student before they are trained to deal with it.