Why we fight
Considering how long we are dead for I think there is often a danger of forgetting one of the outcomes of doing martial arts i.e. it should be something that one enjoys and gets something out of. I guess last night's practise revealed to me how much that had been missing of late as it was, almost by accident, a very enjoyable practise.
We had a very full dojo, I was in charge, we had the whole evening ahead of us. As usual I got everyone to go through Seitei together, twice each form, in an abstract order and with a focus to deal with each kata as a "mini project". This gave me a little bit of time to slow things down and work on posture and in seconds of spare time spot the faults that I had identified with my own performance in others. I find that immensely enlightening and realise that often it is good to do the reverse i.e. to spot faults in others as a means of evaluating if you are doing it wrong yourself. Quite often these are unconscious human responses to particular technical challenges, like for example, performing noto without twitching the thumb to lightly grip the mune.
We went on to split the groups up with some guys doing seated Oku, a bit of Shoden and the rest working on Seitei. I spent most of the time working with the seated Oku group. This in itself can be quite hard work even showing the forms once or twice at a reasonable level of intensity.
Anyway, we got through them all and finished the practice. I don't know quite why but I somehow felt the practise very enjoyable. I am sure part of it was doing some light exercise and stretching before the training to get the endorphins flowing and feeling physically well. Anyway, a gentle reminder of a good reason to train and one not to be forgotten.
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