Hello All,
Just back from some interesting exchanges with some hard-core Isshin-Ryu players - real fighters in the older style of the late Sensei John Overton in Buffalo area. Damn good stuff and I've only met one other Isshin-Ryu player like these guys in the area. This was old school stuff from some old school players who were very much in "student mode" in spite of 25 to 30 years of experience apiece
within that room. I liked the spirit and intensity within the room. No egos but lots of self confidence and pride. A very healthy mixture of attitudes, manners, courtesy, consideration and curiosity. I am looking forward to working with these people again in the very near future.
I have to say that I found a lot more interest and support in these folks than I have found in the Modern Arnis people with whom I actually share more in common in terms of system orientation and training. It has been my experience for quite some time that a good number of Modern Arnis instructors and school operators are too damn insular. They do not want to open their doors or minds to different ideas or people within the martial arts and particularly people who are not tied into their particular singular lineage. However, there are a few exceptions to that general rule and I appriciate being able to work and train with those folks.
I have generally had a much better reception wotking with Kenpo people and now this older set of Isshin-Ryu players. It is a situation that I have mulled over for quite some time, but there doesn't seem to be a good explaination for this lack of cooperation within Modern Arnis. Oh well... it is what it is and I'll just have to keep truckin' along.
Sincerely,
Jerome Barber, Ed. D.
Well said Doc. To push the envelope a little further, a lot of FMA is that way in opening dorrs unless money is involved, or is it lazyness?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kyud,
DeleteI am not sure exactly where the problem is rooted or why but I know that among Modern Arnis players there is a strong tendency to shut out one another and bicker about everything! For many people it is a situation of 'my group, my way or the highway.
I have had a long running e-mail dialogue with one Modern Arnis instructor and we seem to agree with one another on most of the major issues regarding the 'politics' within the system, but he steadfastly refuses to accept my invitations to do a seminar for me or host me for a seminar at his school. And he complains about being treated as an 'outsider' but he will not work with me or anyone else who is considered to be an 'independent' among the various Modern Arnis factions.
A second fellow that I have on again-off again communications with is determined to be averyone's friend and steadfastly refuses to acknowledge an negative behaviors from others even when they are directed at him. Nowadays, I just smile when I read his e-mails...
So I will continue to work with the people who are open to new or different ideas and wait to see who in this 'post-Remy Presas era is going to break out of the limited low level orbit of orthodoxy.
Money and laziness are certyinly factors in this situation but I also expect that FEAR is a major unspoken culprit in the refusal of some Modern Arnis people to work with others outside of their tight little 'we all think alike' groupings.
Thanks Kyud, for your comment and suggestions.
Sincerely,
Jerome
Doc,
ReplyDeleteI think you are dead on when you mention fear. In this day and age of the almighty dollar guiding so many teacher's actions, everyone is desperate to hold on to their piece of the pie. To invite outside thought is to invite students to think for themselves and seek out training opportunities away from the home dojo.
Beyond the fear of lost income, their is the fear of being "outshined". Heaven forbid an instructor admit they maybe they aren't an expert at everything! That's why we have so many people teaching half assed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and passing it off as "authentic filipino dumog"! It is an era of many schools attempting to be everything to everyone and a one stop shop for the casual student.
It sounds like these Isshin-ryu folks are of a bye-gone era where fighters didn't try to say they were something they aren't and are willing to admit they could still learn something from a different point of view.
v/r
Dan Murray