Based on some exchanges with different folks here, I thought it'd be interesting to discuss differences in how Bando is taught and trained.
For example, I've been training under one of the earliest students of Dr. Gyi here in the US for more than 20 years. His early training was brutal; they trained to fight, several hours a day, 6 days a week. The physical training was daunting -- to say the least -- and then they'd fight. My teacher is a master of ABA Bando's basics. (And has a lot of skill with all of the 9 animal systems, too.)
My early training was repitition. And more repitition. We might drill a single technique for the entire class... until we did some sparring. Over time, the training shifted, and we learned more in-depth elements and pieces of the basics. I still try to keep the emphasis on repitition as I teach today.
But training in the ABA has changed over the years, too. I remember when the Animal systems were rarely taught, and not the major emphasis that they've become over the last several years, for example. I've seen some of the forms change and change and change again... sometimes as a result of different points of emphasis from Dr. Gyi, other times, because someone failed to remember what they were taught. I remember when there was almost no emphasis on rank...
For example, I've been training under one of the earliest students of Dr. Gyi here in the US for more than 20 years. His early training was brutal; they trained to fight, several hours a day, 6 days a week. The physical training was daunting -- to say the least -- and then they'd fight. My teacher is a master of ABA Bando's basics. (And has a lot of skill with all of the 9 animal systems, too.)
My early training was repitition. And more repitition. We might drill a single technique for the entire class... until we did some sparring. Over time, the training shifted, and we learned more in-depth elements and pieces of the basics. I still try to keep the emphasis on repitition as I teach today.
But training in the ABA has changed over the years, too. I remember when the Animal systems were rarely taught, and not the major emphasis that they've become over the last several years, for example. I've seen some of the forms change and change and change again... sometimes as a result of different points of emphasis from Dr. Gyi, other times, because someone failed to remember what they were taught. I remember when there was almost no emphasis on rank...