Apathy or concentration

[red5angel]

I noticed something the other day while checking out a school here in town. Actually I had noticed back when I was studying wingchun, and have noticed it especially with styles that do sensitivity training, or a lot of drilling.
I was watching this class go through some sensitivity drills, and they all began to get glassy eyed and bored looking. Heads began sort of tilting to the side, eyes glass over, jaw slackens, start to look like the guy standing at the register your ordering your Whopper from ;)

Anyway, do you experience this yourself when your training? Is this the mind wandering to other things, a loss of concentration or is it concentration and relaxation? I was taught to stay focused on the task at hand. Good posture, head kneck and spine should be aligned generally speaking. The body should be relaxed but in a state of awareness and readiness.

[SaMantis]

sounds like the teacher either (a) wasn't enforcing the same standards of discipline in that segment that your school did, or (b) he/she wasn't challenging the students enough during the drills.

I experienced something similar a few years ago when studying push hands (different school than now). As n00bs we did sensitivity drills ad nauseum, very repetitive & virtually no explanation beyond "you stand here, you stand there, maintain contact, make circles." By lesson 2 we were all glassy-eyed zombies. At the end of the drills we would pair up with advanced students to practice push hands, and that was more exciting.

Ideally we were supposed to make the connection, over time, between the soft circles of the drills and the active strategies of the sparring matches. Unfortunately I was transferred to another state before the "connection" happened for me so I can't tell you if the zombie drills worked or not.

[yenhoi]

Im sure some results and progress can be made while daydreaming, but your best results and progress will come from things you enjoy and are fully engaged in.

This applies to everything, from strength training to sensitivity drills.

"Alive" training is generally more challenging, more engaging, and more enjoyable then entirely "dead" drilling.

:eek:

[ShaolinTiger00]

Sometimes when I'm grappling, I won't even look at my partner. but I'm concentrating very hard on "feeling" him. it's just that my eyes will just look out at some object, while I'm focusing on my other senses.

maybe the wing chun guys were doing the same with the sensitivity drills?

[rubthebuddha]

st00 -- for some, it could be loosening of the focus to let the sensitivity take over, for others, it could be a loss of focus altogether while they just go through the motions. i've been guilty of both. :o

the best way to figure out the difference is to have them work with someone you know is awake.

[WinterPalm]

This could very well be a relaxing of the eyes for your contact is solely on the physical and you are feeling the person for what they are going to do next. If the person is falling asleep, slap him and tell him to pay attention!:D

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

I encourage my students to use a relaxed gaze, to "see" more.. a focused intensity tends to block-out peripheral vision in favor of the "focus".. it is worthwhile to see more.. more movement, more general physical intent, more of those pesky sneaky diversions.. frequently we push with our eyes closed to enhance the sensitivity, advanced students even spar lightly with closed eyes (beginning in the classic push-hands position).. Then, when "needed" the focused combat vision is greatly enhanced by the subtle training practices..

Just another perspective, Be well..

[red5angel]

maybe the wing chun guys were doing the same with the sensitivity drills?

I've heard of people who say they "listen" to their training partners touch. I've even see people who go so far as to sort of lean their head in towards their arms like they really are listening! I've also heard that this habit is a bad one, both mentally and physically because it breaks your structure, for those arts that require it.

[small]

I've seen Wing Chun'ers like that.

[red5angel]

how do you battle this sort of apathy yourselves? If you teach, how do you help students get rid of this or avoid it?

[yenhoi]

Kick them if their hands go down below the elbows, and punch them if they touch you. Try to break most peoples noses during beggining stages to make sure you have quality students left around at the advanced stages.

:eek:

[red5angel]

LOL! I can't wait till you open a school Yenhoi!