Learning Tools

[Eric Olson]

In a recent thread on 2-man forms David Jamieson posted the following:

"2 man forms = discovery for students.

They help to develop coordination and understanding of the style in use. Beyond that, they are for demonstrative purposes pretty much exclusively.

intermediate learning tool. "

I really like the term "learning tool" and this got me thinking about kung fu curriculums in general. A legit criticism of TCMA is that we've taken "learning tools" and made them the end goal.

Forms, sparring, push hands, etc. These are tools to teach you how to fight. This is why we should never see these things made into contests. They are simply a scaffolding we set up temporarily, so we can tear it down. At least, we should be.

But on the flip side, you can't put up a building without scaffolding, or at least it won't be very sturdy.

[Orion Paximus]

That assumes that learning Kung Fu should only ever be about one goal, learning to fight, but that isn't always the case. However, I was going to bring this up in the two man sets thread but those sets are about learning fighting skills because they are teaching reactions and reaction time.

If your goal in learning Kung Fu is ONLY to learn how to fight, then why settle on just Kung Fu? Why not just sample all martial arts because in reality, you only need about 2 years of solid training to learn how to defend yourself or fight. After that you are really just getting into minutia.

The reason to take a style like Kung Fu and to stick with it for years and years, in essence to "Master" a system, is not about fighting, it's about being a part of something that has been passed down for generations and wanting to continue that tradition.

[SPJ]

Shuai Jiao 2 man drills are short.

I throw you first.

You throw me next.

End of drills.

[Bacon]

That assumes that learning Kung Fu should only ever be about one goal, learning to fight, ...

That is the only goal in all martial arts otherwise it wouldjust be called arts.

[YouKnowWho]

The reason to take a style like Kung Fu and to stick with it for years and years, in essence to "Master" a system, is not about fighting, it's about being a part of something that has been passed down for generations and wanting to continue that tradition.

After you

- are as rich as Bill Gates, you can say, "Money is not important."
- can fight well, you can say, "Kung Fu is not about fighting".

A teacher always asks his students whether they want to be fighters, or they want to be teachers. The training pathes are complete different.

If you want to be a

- fighter, the teacher will only teach you 1 new move for 6 months.
- teacher, the teacher will teach you 6 new moves every day.

When you have known everything, you can't do anything. The reason is simple. You have divided your training time into too many different areas.

"learning tool"

This is why it make no sense for a 80 years old man to demonstrate his "learning tool" on the stage.