Training Partners

Since I've been doing Wing Chun now I've realized a very important but perhaps overlooked factor in my training, i.e. the necessity for a good training partner. A good training partner, in my opinion, is someone who is just as sincere as you in wanting to train; someone who knows the benefit of pushing themselves; someone who shares a nerd-like excitement in the martial ways; someone who can push you to be better without worrying about you being better than they; someone who likes to feel the push and pull and tug and pain of training; someone who is quietly encouraging; someone with whom you can go hard and hang out later. I say that because, whereas in my karate training my Sensei did not incorporate 2-person functionality drilling, in Wing Chun there are lots of them. And it's hard to practice with someone who smirks every time they push you back a little because they think they are strong or who thinks they need to correct every little mistake without checking their own. And this is all just theoretical, but I think that maybe a good training partner (besides seeking one out for your self) is correlated to the kinds of people that the teacher/facilitators allows to walk through that dojo door? I'm not trying to imply nor do I believe that martial arts training needs to be about privilege or elitism. But I do believe strongly that a person's innate character is a good determining factor in who should be training. I mean, I'm not saying every person who walks into a dojo out of curiosity is an asshole (I was a walk-in myself; and actually some people might consider me an asshole). I'm just noticing that, in order to really excel at martial arts that are for developing functional fighting skill, you need people around you who are on the same page as far as conduct and intent. That doesn't necessarily guarantee a good training partner, but it increases the chance to work with others who are nerds like yourself and who could care less about trying to be like Bruce Lee. 

I'm re-reading what I wrote above and I'm not gonna change it. This blahg is about making mistakes and getting my opinion out there despite my fears. The fact is, I'm jut a beginner with all this martial arts business. Sometimes I think way too idealistically. It's good to just allow for change to change you. I recognize that every martial artist, whether student or teacher, is simply on a different leg of the martial journey. It's not necessary to judge others, nor is it necessary to judge yourself by them. Keepin' it real can be difficult when your ego wants to get in the way, but that's why you gotta keep on keepin' it real.

Elbow SMASH.
- Hiji Até