Elite selection or elite training?

It is not long now until the 2008 Olympic games commence on 8/8/8. My feelings are mixed. I love the spectacle and the internationalism, but am disappointed by the over-emphasis on winning which leads to dangerous drug-taking (and other extreme measures). Perhaps nowadays the Paralympics which follow in September are more in line with Baron Pierre de Coubertin's vision:

Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic Games, was born in Paris in 1863 and was personally involved in fencing, rowing, boxing and cycling. His visits to British public schools resulted in a lifelong interest in trying to get the heavily academic French schools to take up more sports-oriented curricula. As an educational theorist, de Coubertin was convinced of the importance of sport for the development of the individual. He believed that the qualities of initiative, teamwork and fair play should be encouraged in young people through participation in school sports and competitive games.*

The modern Olympic games have become the poster-child for an elitist program for developing athletes:

1. Identify young people with exceptional potential in Olympic and other high-profile sports
   
2. Enroll them into national sports institutes for long periods
3. Train them full-time, often at the expense of other aspects of their education
   

In contrast to de Coubertin's amateur, generalist ideals this is a professional, specialist model, in which each country endeavors to create an elite for its greater glory. (As for the individual athletes, inclusion in such a training program is -- I guess -- a mixed blessing.)

* * *

In my martial arts experience I have enjoyed what may be termed "elite training" in the sense that it is of exceptional quality, and often demanding, but not restricted to a selected elite (thankfully!).

The overriding objective of the elite institutes is to develop athletes who can win in a narrow field of endeavor. By training in martial arts we can aspire to develop our potential fully and widely, and not just in a way which relies on the external benchmark of winning.

Remember, it is a win for you every time you overcome a limitation, learn a new skill, have an aha moment, or apply what you have learned in one area of your life somewhere else.

Learning a martial art can provide an avenue to train yourself to better meet the challenges of life.

What is Jiu-Jitsu good for?

Please don't assume that Jiu-jitsu is only useful for self-defence, improving your health, increasing strength, developing flexibility, sharpening mental focus, training an army, learning to learn, falling safely, reducing stress, restraining drunken Uncles, improving school grades, developing patience, refining negotiation skills, letting off steam, learning about another culture, getting to know people, avoiding conflict, becoming more reflective, sharpening your reflexes, eliminating back pain, conquering fears, increasing self-esteem, and enhancing your problem-solving abilities just because they are the only things that happened to be on the list.

[Modeled on a quote due to Kent Pitman.]

You can start at any time

When fielding enquiries about my jiu-jitsu club I am often asked,"When does the next beginners' class start?" So I explain, "There is no beginners' class; you can start at any time".

Many people seem to be under the impression that most -- all? -- formal learning follows a stratified model, where there are beginners' classes, and then corresponding classes for each "standard". This approach gets drummed in at school, but it is not the only way.

In the system that I teach, we learn from each other, and we learn by teaching. It is no coincidence that we are part of a "Federation of Instructors"; through our training we learn to teach.

It is an old saying that you never learn something as well as when you have to teach someone else, and we harness this truth through pair practice. After the instructor demonstrates a technique -- for example a throw-- on an assistant, pairs of students -- typically of mixed standards -- practice it. One throws; the other is thrown; then alternation ensues. The raw beginner tries to grasp the basic movements; a more experienced student refines the details; a seasoned practitioner figures out how to apply the technique to partners of all shapes and sizes. The more experienced partner may give the junior partner tips (occasionally vice versa), and they both pick up details from each other.

So it is neither necessary nor desirable to have everybody of uniform standard in our classes.  Variety is the spice of life ... and of training.

Remember: You can start any time. Next step: Keep practicing.

Jiu-Jitsu is Adaptable

The Adaptable Art
Jiu-jitsu is usually translated as the gentle art, but other translations are valid. I particularly like the flexible or adaptable art as alternatives which help to fill out the meaning.

Jiu-jitsu is adaptable because in just about any self-defence situation it offers a wide range of techniques to hopefully dispel the threat.

If you only have a hammer(e.g. hit 'em in the head) or maybe also a screwdriver (head or groin?) there will be a narrower range of threats that you can deal with, and in more ambiguous situations a nuanced response may be beyond you.

Jiu-jitsu instead offers a wider range of responses via a huge collection of techniques, and limitless combinations. For example, in our system there are around 80 distinct restraint and control techniques, not counting variations. And restraint and control accounts for about 30% of our training.

Decision-making
Of course more techniques means more complex decisions. In a self-defence situation one does not have the luxury of planning! The art must be internalized to the extent that response flows from the situation with minimal thought. This requires long practice and regular training. The techniques must become literally second nature.

One useful exercise is to practice against common attacks. A partner attacks in a pre-arranged way and you respond. At first students of jiu-jitsu learn standard responses, but are encouraged to move on to a more reflexive form of practice in which initially the response (and later the attack) is not pre-determined.

Once someone has a couple years of training and has a reasonable grasp of a range of techniques, a great exercise is to take a pre-determined attack and not plan a full response to the attack, but just try some initial movement and see what flows from there. For example: If someone grabs my wrist, it does not matter whether I twist to the left or the right, I can continue to turn and apply an effective jiu-jitsu technique.

Over time the better initial responses should become ingrained through such training.

Principles
The syllabus is not just a bag of tricks, but rather embodies a set of principles in myriad ways.

In a real attack the situation will not exactly match what has been practiced, but the practitioner must nevertheless respond to the threat. In doing so (s)he will invariably deviate to a degree from classic technique, but will apply the principles nevertheless.

Application to every-day life
If I only have a hammer everything looks like a nail.

We all face difficult situations, often when dealing with others. If we only have one or two habituated responses we are very limited in how we deal with these situations, and will find ourselves with little or no choice. With no choice one inevitably feels disempowered.

By acquiring more options through learning, and becoming more adept at when and how to apply them, we give ourselves more options.

So even in the toughest situation, you can exercise choice. The more options that you can find, the better the chance that you will deal gracefully and effectively with the situation, rather than resigning yourself to endure it.

Now that's empowering!

Developing Social Qualities 2: Cooperation

To develop your martial arts skills, you will need more than willingness and instruction:

You need training partners.

There are -- at least -- three good reasons for this:

1. You need someone to execute the techniques on you so that you can feel how they work.
   
2. You need someone to execute the techniques on so that you can learn and refine them.
3. You need practice executing the techniques on lots of different people, so that you can make them work on anyone regardless of shape, size, strength or speed.
   

What is more, your training partners need you for the same reasons. So learning a martial art is a shared enterprise, and requires cooperation.

Assailants, Opponents and Training Partners
A person who attacks you with the intent of causing you harm is an assailant. To survive you will need awareness, presence of mind, physical conditioning and self-defence skills.

A person who is trying to defeat you in a competition is an opponent. To win you will need competitive spirit, knowledge of the rules of the game, and relevant skills and physical conditioning.

A person who is paired with you in a class is a training partner. To learn and develop you will need to work cooperatively (and also apply your patience, perception and intelligence) to get the most out of any class.

Working effectively with training partners will help you build the skills and qualities needed to face opponents and to survive attack.

Becoming a Great Training Partner
Want to get better at martial arts? Become a great receiver of techniques Then the best martial artists will want to practice with -- or demonstrate on! -- you and you will feel how the techniques should be done. You will learn by osmosis.

Being a great receiver means giving the appropriate degree of resistance or energy to allow your partner to execute the technique that the two of you are practicing as well as (s)he can. This will vary depending on the experience and skill of your partner. For example: If a beginner is trying to throw you, you will need to guide her into placing you into the correct position to be thrown. Do that with a black-belt and she will be insulted!

Working as a Team of Two
You can think of your and your training partner as a team of two, working together to make the technique work as well as possible, and figuring out all the details that make it work. Once you have the basic idea of the technique you can try little variations to see what effect they have, and how the technique can work against particular resistances or under varied circumstances.

Remember: Your training partner is not your opponent. Your partner will often play the role of an opponent or assailant -- as will you for your partner -- but you are both on the same side.

Your real opponents are ignorance and ineptitude. Your instructor can provide guidance, but it is up to you and your "team" to do the hard work.

By working constructively with partners with different personalities and levels of experience you will obtain many benefits, and become increasingly adept at the art of cooperation.