Following is the third part of a series of interviews with Ben Sensei. Here, he comments on the controversial subject of the exodus of senior GBI students, the elusive question of a syllabus and his desire to learn foot massage.
1. What would you say the biggest challenge facing GBI in the next six months? How about the next year ?
I say the biggest challenge for GBI is to find someone who could take care of the instructions of the Club in case I am physically unable to do it. For example, if somehow I can manage to get enough cash to go to Japan or USA to continue my own training, I will have to leave the GBI for a while, and it will be tough to find someone to fulfill my role. So far I am yet to find any of my students who has all the "right stuff", both technically, mentally and spiritually. But I don't lose hope. I believe one day one or some of my students will be able to help me run GBI, and at that day, I will be able to focus myself in other things, such as learning foot massage, shiatsu, etc.
2. What role does fitness and conditioning have in the GBI system ? Some clubs put a lot of emphasis on training the body for the martial arts. GBI, whilst including some joint warm-ups and stretching for safety, doesn't seem to do much conditioning aside from actual performance of techniques...
yes, and that's one of the major weaknesses of our training method. We don't put enough time to train conditioning. In my case, that's because we have only so much training time, so in that severely limited time, I prefer to teach the techniques right away. Students can learn their conditioning somewhere else, even at home. That's why I encourage them to take up other arts which emphasize conditioning, such as Tennis, Tai Chi, Yoga, fitness, aerobic, TaeBo etc. Because with such limited training time we have, I just don't have enough time to spare for conditioning.
For myself though, I do Karate KATA daily, about 10 Katas everyday. Believe it or not, it keep me from being a flabby fat slob. My eating habits can be described as "Excessive". Let's say I am a glutton. Karate KATA saved me from being a fatso. :)
3. * You mentioned in the last conversation that you "had a roomful of senior students who quit." What do you think motivates a person to train to a certain belt level and then quit (aside from factors out of their control such as work) ? To what extent is it the individual's motivation and to what extent the club's influence in their decision ?
I think work and marriage are the key factors of seniors leaving. Because I can see the pattern since 1998, people usually become A.W.O.L straight after marriage, or after getting a demanding job. Other than that, I think it's a matter of taste. Some people dislikes the soft training method we have in the GBI. Some people prefer to have more full-contact fighting, more intense grappling, more MMA-ish training method. Some people got turned off by the fact that we don't have competitions. So, people have their own reasons. I think it's normal, to each their own. There are so many martial arts styles in the world, so I am sure everybody will find something more fit to their liking, be it GBI or something else.
4. On tradition, which tradition is the GBI group following ? It seems you have the Ishihara influence, Wado-Ryu or Taman-Sensei influence, then Brosius Sensei & the modern Jujutsu strain. All of these schools come with their own set of traditions and values. So which founder does GBI follow ? If GBI is following all of them, filtered through the sensei, doesn't it become the sensei's personal creation ?
You got a point there, because my students often asked the same questions. Because, so many times it happened, that I will teach a technique, then my mind drifted off and suddenly I am teaching variations of the same technique which came from different styles. It's like.. "..this is how we do it in Wado. Then this is how the Hakko-ryu people are doing it. But Mr. Brosious does it this way...". I think, the GBI is pretty much in danger, in a sense, to become a Ben Haryo personal creation. In order not to making it purely a Ben Haryo personal creation, so I make a rule for myself. In addition to teach a "mix" of methods for self-defense, I discipline myself to also teach the arts in their "pure" way, according to the syllabus. For example, I can still teach Wado-ryu on its entirety, nothing diluted. If you want straight Wado-ryu, I can teach that. The same goes to Hakko-ryu and other arts which I taught. You can go for the original, you can go for the mixed version, or you can do both. In the end, the student will get the most benefit.
5. Related to the question above, GBI would then seem to have quite a vast curriculum. Is there a challenge in getting each of the above Senseis to approve the curriculum ? Also, how do you physically show them the"encyclopaedia" of techniques -- book, e-book, e-mail ? Is there in fact, a written record of GBI's syllabus and curriculum ?
We do have written records of the techniques of individual Ryuha within GBI, for example, Brosious sensei's Ketsugo Jujutsu, Wado-ryu and Hakko-ryu. However, we are yet to document the Henka (variation) and Ohyo (applications) of all those techniques.
I never had trouble to get the senseis to approve what I am doing, as long as I keep the originals intact and not giving my creation the same status as the originals. In fact, I am encouraged to do so. Mr. Hobbs said that all the 200++ plus techniques of Hakko-ryu are simply principles of movements, and we must discover the applications of the principles on our own. Taman sensei also said like wise. Prof. Brosious is even more liberal. He said "as long as the technique works, use it".
In any case, I show Taman sensei my creations everytime I got the chance to train with him, and so far he never objected. Although there were so many times I thought I "Came up with a New" technique, and showed him, and he will show an exact same technique. Which means that he had learned it like decades ago. So, we reinvent the wheel so many times :) But then again, it's a learning process. Same goes to with Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Brosious. I show them a technique by sending them VCDs or .WMV videoclips. If the technique is good, they will say "it's a good one use it". If it's not so good, they will give me suggestions for improvements. Then sometimes they will comment something like "..that's a Henka/an Ohyo of Sandan-Gi Kata number xxx.." or "That's a good technique, I teach them as part of our knife defense technique, it's number xxx.."... Like I said, reinventing the wheels. :)
Anyway, in a sense, we are standing in one foot on traditions (keeping the originals intact), but one foot in innovations (constantly looking for better ways to apply the original principles). So, either way, I am happy.
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4 comments:
Speaking of training methods.. I just witnessed a Krav Maga training session, courtesy of Tomas Makauliyah and Joey. I have two comments.. first, I think what I witnessed is not a Budo by any stretch of imagination. Second, I think Krav Maga is a GREAT training method to prepare combat-ready people in the shortest time possible. So, for soldier self-defense, it's VERY good!
An addendum.. I don't think Krav Maga training method appeals to me as much as it appeals Joey and Tom though.. at this stage of my training, I prefer to explore the not-so-street-effective, but ultimately more-exciting methods,such as Aiki Nage and other fun stuff :)
But still, I have only good things to say about Krav Maga. It's a wonderful training method!
Thanks for that, Sensei. Just a note, Pak Saleh Sensei and many others participated in the training.
But thank you for your kind and wise thoughts. In fact the history of KM has much in common with that of Te in Okinawa, that is an oppressed people learning how to defend themselves. Imi Lichenfield, the founder of KM first developed it to help Jewish youths defend themselves against Nazi gangs. I'm sure you'd support that goal.
But otherwise, KM is really a process and a training method. They don't really pretend to have invented any new techniques, just borrowed them from different arts, incuding JJ. (Moni Aizik, Imi's right-hand-man, trained at the Kodokan and learned Dutch JJ). KM can complement anything.
KM's just a way of preparing our nervous system for the adrenaline dump of terror. The brain undergoes various changes when you're terrified and it's better to learn about those on the mat than on the street. That's what the armor pummelling drill (that made some people turn up their nose in distaste), is about.
After all, if we're not even remotely interested in self-defense, we may as well perform the tea-ceremony, origami, or yoga. The Japanese issue black belts for many arts, including Bonsai, tofu-making, ice-sculpture, calligraphy and shiatsu.
Yep, I can see the connection between original Okinawa-te and Krav Maga, as the martial art of the oppressed society. They are not beautiful and flowery, because they need the survival. Japanese martial arts has the benefit of the 300 years peace under the Tokugawa regime, so they had the chance to evolve into current Budo forms. In any case, it's wonderful to see our Dojo at Saturday, with Krav Maga people doing ultra-hardcore methods on one side of the mat, and Jujutsu people doing ultra-softcore methods on the other side. In the end, the students will reap the benefit of both worlds.
Hup !
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