The force of Spirit that perfects

Scott middleton sensei April 2019, Halmstad Sweden

  As some of my friends already know I attended a training camp with Scott Middleton sensei of the WTKO this weekend he is an awesome instructor, so knowledgable, crafted, detailed, intense and really knows how to draw a class out of themselves. Encouraging us to sincerely to do our best and step up to the challenges that he throws at us. When I trained with him last year I remember being greatly relieved that he unapologetically pushed the class to capacity in order to make people dig deep and shine. He does this with great skill and balance...and fun of course, at times this weekend I felt like a kid again.

This got me thinking about another aspect of martial arts that was heavily pushed in the '80s and '90s and it was pushed to such an extreme that I think it ultimately was a detriment to the health. By the age of 16 I was in continuous pain, couldn't sit down for more than 20 minutes, I was hungry all the time and obviouslöy dehydrated. One class I remember particularly, I was about 15 years old, we were working on kumite and the floor was dirty and grippy...bounce, bounce back and forth with various techniques we went. Up and down the floor, full on, full force all the way, all in... as it always was then, with no balance only fire. It was called 'budo spirit'. After about an hour of this session and I came to a final technique in a long line of techniques bam bam Kiai!! and I slipped up and landed on my butt. I slipped because the soles of my feet blistered off. AND then, what did I do? I carried on...Dumb, in many ways? Yes, did I feel proud that I persevered? Yes. Does this make it right? You decide.

Fast forward 20 years later to the south of Sweden, April 2019, where suddenly my level of understanding about the expression of spirit and what it meant deepened and went to the top of my list for emphasising in myself and those I coach, along with posture, feet, stance, intention, and breath. The total necessity of expression of spirit stood out and shone as I watched the black belt grading that happened during this weekend on Saturday. This is from my FB account of the mindblowing demonstration of the arising of spirit. 

On Saturday there was a black belt grading. There were 4 testing. There was obviously a lot of nerves and they had to get up and start there test with Kata...😲 it was VERY tough, their nerves completely inhibited them from 'shining' Scott Sensei kept on and on at them and wouldn't let them off. Asking questions and pushing them, demanding that they do better...well, as the test progressed the participants fighting spirit started to shine, more and more. As this process happened the techniques, stances, power got better and better...at the beginning of there was no way they looked ready for black belt by the end of the test they were black belts. Their level went through the roof.

Not in the extreme though.

As you have already read in my account of a typical class in the 80's and 90's it was seriously questionable and there is A LOT of very bad coaching practises out there (I suspect that there still is). Allowing ourselves to be subject to someone else's stupidity, ego and simply hurting people is a matter of self-esteem issues, setting up boundaries in ourselves and being brave enough to take a pause to stand up and say quite simply, 'No'. The problem is that this type of challenge often happens in front of a lot of people so it takes an extra push of bravery and commitment because we may, in our minds stand to lose a lot...but in reality we only gain and strengthen ourselves as well as giving others the opportunity and power to say no too. I understand that this would be almost impossible for a beginner to do, and as they become indoctrinated they too will accept 'bad' coaching. It's up to us as experienced adults to be clear about all this and develop a strong culture of good coaching practises and respect.

What I loved about Scott Sensei approach was his balance in this. There were moments when we were focusing on details, studying and moving with great care and consciousness, then were times to press all in and do the technique with 'Speed and power' as he would say, allowing the possibility of chaos and a deeper expression of ourselves to shine. And this chance was only available in very short bursts of 4-10 times before we moved on to the next subject.

From now on, at the appropriate time, I will ask for the techniques to be done with 'Spirit' and speed and power. On Monday I experimented with my class and explained what I had seen during the weekend. I set up the training so that we could work with the expression of spirit becoming the icing on the cake...the results were tremendous!! As soon as there was an understanding of spirit and letting it shine through one's movements everything that the students did went up a level, their stance, position, posture and passion shone. Osu!

Photo by Sourav Mishra from Pexels