While I am not permitted to blog about this experience in detail because of a confidentiality head-nod (yes, she had us nod our heads in agreement that we would not record or transmit our experiences at this workshop in any public way because things said and done in the workshop could be seen as horrible when taken out of context), I am going to say that I believe the instructor training with Kidpower is my next big step here in Oakland. The skills I learned and gained at this workshop go deeper than just "personal safety"; they were human skills; skills that spoke to the conduct and behavior we need to practice as personally responsible human beings in order to evolve past the "victim-mentality" that so many of us, including me, have.
This is a big next step for me because it will require a courage in me that I don't know I have to be able to eventually one day, stand up in front of a group of people (young and old) and effectively help them to practice and understand these skills. As I said before in my blogs, this is a field that I believe is one aspect of the holistic nature of karate training. I think if the Okinawan masters were right and this art should be one about "peace" (as I believe it should be), then it is imperative that this kind of training (or something similar) be integrated into a dojo curriculum. Having the skill to hurt someone or even seriously maim, injure or kill them (which is essentially what martial arts teaches) is not sufficient enough to be able to evolve the human being from the inside-out (which is what the stereotype of martial arts is). I don't believe transforming yourself internally as a human being through the martial arts has anything to do with some mystical mumbo-jumbo jumping-around-in-trees-smashing-wood-blocks-sitting-under-waterfalls type of training (although that last one might be a good way to wake yourself up in the morning!). I think it obviously has more to do with gaining real, down-to-earth, easy-to-learn-hard-to-practice human interaction skills (and not just with others, but how you interact with yourself!).
Anyways, all this blahging about my personal belief in the importance of integrating "personal safety" training in the karate dojo is just to be redundant and say:
"No matter how you may excel in the art of te*, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life." - Teijunsoku (Okinawan scholar, b. 1663)And I'm definitely still working on that one.
Elbow SMASH!
- Hiji Até
* "The Okinawans developed their own unique art of self-defense; te literally means hands...The art of te antedated that of karate...te developed as it absorbed aspects of the martial arts from other countries, particularly China." (pg. 20, The Essence of Okinawan Karate-do)
“No
matter how you may excel in the art of fighting [te], and in your
scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and
your humanity as observed in daily life.”
- Teijunsoku (b. 1663), Okinawan scholar
- See more at: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/choosing-the-right-path-towards-the-ultimate-aim-of-karate/#sthash.GYZ3a8Yc.dpuf
- Teijunsoku (b. 1663), Okinawan scholar
- See more at: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/choosing-the-right-path-towards-the-ultimate-aim-of-karate/#sthash.GYZ3a8Yc.dpuf
“No
matter how you may excel in the art of fighting [te], and in your
scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and
your humanity as observed in daily life.”
- Teijunsoku (b. 1663), Okinawan scholar
- See more at: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/choosing-the-right-path-towards-the-ultimate-aim-of-karate/#sthash.GYZ3a8Yc.dpu
- Teijunsoku (b. 1663), Okinawan scholar
- See more at: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/choosing-the-right-path-towards-the-ultimate-aim-of-karate/#sthash.GYZ3a8Yc.dpu
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