Clining to pain

I've been watching something in and out of the dojo. People will cling to a way of doing things, or way of seeing things that hurts them and holds them back. In judo the guys learn to be stiff and push their way around the dojo. When we try to get them to learn subtlety, they resist. Advancing beyond the stage they've reached requires working on things they don't do well. They don't want to let go of what they have to grasp something of greater value. It's easier to keep going at a low level of mediocrity. Learning seems to require so much more effort than maintaining their current level that they don't want to risk the effort.

I see this outside the dojo nearly every day. People cling to anger or ways of looking at the world, regardless of the pain it causes them. If you suggest they change a little, they tell you "I can't change." What's sad is that we all change a little bit everyday. None of us are fossilized and unchanging. Life changes us a little each day. What these folks are really saying is "I have no control over how I change and develop." They choose to let life shape them without any effort to choose how they will change. If they choose, they can develop, but this requires taking responsibility for themselves and what they become. It's easier to just role along and say "This is what I am and I can't change it." I haven't figured out what drives this. My last post was "Pain is good." These folks seem to cling to their pain out of fear of letting it go.

Pain is good

I managed to get to judo twice in a 4 day period, the most judo I've done in that short a span in a while. WOW! I was sorer than after working out with the trainer at the gym. When I went again a week later, I trained even harder, but I didn't hurt as much afterwards. I guess my body is getting used to the abuse again.

Last Friday at judo was a little strange. Most of the guys there look to me for instruction. I don't mind this, since I have twice as much time on the mat as any of them, but their expectations of what to learn and my expectations of what to teach don't quite line up. The guys who have been doing judo for 5 or 6 years want to learn cool, new techniques, and I want to teach them principles that will improve the techniques they already know. They get disappointed sometimes when we practice principles. For my part, the real problem I have with teaching the techniques they don't know yet is that I've been focusing on principles for so long, that I've forgotten a lot of the secondary and tertiary level techniques and variations I used to do. I really need to get out the books and remind myself of what I used to know.

Irasshaimase!

I'm trying to work out what to do with one of these things. Should be interesting.

Right now in Judo I'm trying to remind myself to attach more and rely on counters less. Counters are great as long as you are always a little faster than the attack. Unfortunately, I'm not. Gerald Lafon had some interesting descriptions of how to train for tai otoshi the other day on Judo-L that I'm playing with. Now I'm trying to figure out when to apply the technique. Timing is nearly everything.

Jodo practice has been difficult lately because I don't have a regular partner. Even without a training partner, I've managed to get all of the Omote, Chudan, Ranai, and a chunk of the Kage stuck in my head.

Iai is a challenge to not backslide without a teacher around. I've been working to keep my posture upright without being stiff, and the muscle out of my cuts. Ugh! If I don't pay attention, muscling is so easy it's scary.