Originally Posted by
pazman
Japanese martial arts seem to have a very balanced, yet logical, way of organizing their practice.
In both Judo and Kendo, you start your learning with practical, modern approaches that develop timing, distance, and technique, and you can practice against a resisting partner. More traditional and formal methods of training, paired kata, are introduced to supplement the training, not become the focus. If you happen to really like paired kata, there is plenty to explore, as you can join a koryu (ancient martial art) group. In fact, most koryu in Japan typically seek potential members who already have a black belt in a more modern art.
I'm not particularly tied to any one tradition, but if I were to envision a modern gongfu school, I would include a complete sanda program, a big spear sparring program (with associated basic skills), a collection of line drills (these are great for coordination), and maybe even a simple qigong routine to cap it off. This would be an initial 3-4 years program, after which the student would be well-equipped to make sense of more traditional material. He/She could then learn taolu, qigong, other weapons as they desire.
Not ALL JMA are like that.
Judo is and hard contact Karate systems are.
The Koryu systems teach pre-arranged kata, either paired or solo. The difference is that ( and this is not the case in all systems) the pre-arranged moves come in fast and hard, anyone that has done an old school style knows that one mistake and you pay for it, bigtime.
No one expects people to run before they walk or walk before they crawl BUT what is expected is running and jumping at a certain time.
We go from controlled sparring to free sparring.
We go from safe to less safe.
We must or there is no progress in terms of fighting.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !