Fun: Enjoyment, amusement, or lighthearted pleasure; Joke or tease; Amusing, entertaining, or enjoyable; amusement - joke - sport - jest - lark - entertainment; and this last part in particular - "Behavior or an activity that is intended purely for amusement and should not be interpreted as having serious or malicious purposes."
When I spoke of fun I was alluding to the general term defined above which is not conducive to true martial practice and training from my view. Martial Systems are "serious." They are not for fun which many tend to believe is necessary of the taking of classes is not worth it. In this instance they are practicing a sport that is consider a "club" where folks gather to amuses themselves with karate; to be entertained by kata, kumite and the competitive aspects; to joke around with their dojo buddies, to jest to have an enjoyable time.
Now, as to what may be the intent and context to Mr. Miller's book when he states something like, "have fun with it," I don't believe his context is what I am stating above. I do believe that my context as to what Mr. Miller is saying is allow yourself the latitude to ease off the intensity of the seriousness of violence, fighting and predatory threats and play with it being allow yourself to think and practice outside the box. Let your mind relax with the practice so what your learning can connect with the minds subconscious and find what really works for you as a martial artist. If your remain always "on" then your stressed. If your stressed then you are handicapped and if you don't allow your mind to let go, have fun with it, then you may not find your true application in a chaotic and conceivable stressful situation.
So, in one way yes, have fun with your training and practice but leave the "fun" for those who want to joke, tease, amuse, entertain, jest, and leave all serious stuff outside on the street. There is a difference and it may be fluid and thin but know the difference. Mr. Miller did also state the most egregious error most make is not knowing what it is and thus make a mistake that could be costly.
Once again, my view, my interpretation and not necessarily that of Rory Miller. I can express my views as to my leanings but I am not and never are speaking as if I were Rory Miller or any other author, etc.
Hey Charles. I use "have fun" and "play" a lot. I believe that the reason kids learn faster than adults is because kids play, and adults try to learn. If you give a kid a new video game, he'll get a few pointers from the first screens and then play with it, and in a couple of hours be functional and in a few days, better. How long would it take to 'teach' what the R1 and R2 and the little square and the triangle do? If the kids had a coach or a teacher explaining everything on a big white board and then slowly starting them with the 'basics' of R1 or thumb placement, the kids would never get good.
ReplyDeleteBrawling is a lot like that. It's deadly serious when you need it, but when you need it, you want it to just be the way that you naturally move. Adult style learning, in my opinion, puts the information in the wrong part of the brain. Just playing with the exact same skills makes them easier to use.
Plus it's more fun.
Excellent, thanks for chiming in and putting some clarity on your context to "fun." I do see your point and I believe, although I don't exactly convey that in my posts, that this is how I would like to approach it.
ReplyDeleteWriting is difficult when trying to convey so much that even face-to-face communications tend to need a lot of reciprocal work to fully understand, etc.
As I dig, the more I find that makes communications seem ..... important.