Dead Pattern Drills
Personally, I find this whole debate kind of confusing.
Virtually everybody uses a training
progression of one kind or another to prepare for a fight. On the other
hand, nobody (that I know) fights full-contact without armor all the
time. Anything short of a 'real' fight is practice, right? So I think
it's agreed that we all do practice 'drills' of some sort, with
sparring being just one.
I still find it funny how people argue the merit of weapons training
for attribute development. When someone spends an afternoon lifting
weights, no one tells them that, "lifting weights is a waste of time -
nobody fights like that!" because we all recognize that developing the
attribute of strength can make us a better fighter. We don't argue the
merit of weight training, however far removed from the battlefield,
because we know that it's one effective way to increase this attribute.
Yet, a simple drill like sumbrata, which develops all kinds of
attributes (timing, line familiarization, footwork, etc.) is somehow
too limited or unrealistic? I honestly don't understand this logic.
It is also clear that some people practice
very different variations of these drills than we do at my school. As
we practice sumbrata ('hubud, chi sao, etc.) we may start with a basic
frame work but then we continue to add variables and blend these drills
together, in such a way that it evolves naturally, until it becomes
unpredictable and eventually - sparring. Hardly a "dead pattern".
We use most of the conventional exercises:
Siniwali, Sumbrata. Higot Hubud Lubud, Chi Sao, Lop Sao Cycle, Pak Sao
Cycle, Push Hands, 'Low' bud and a few other variations we make up as
we go along! We practice all of our energy drills in a variety of
situations: with & without footwork, standing, sitting, kneeling,
prone (mount, guard, etc.), with boxing gloves on, jackets and coats,
with improvised weapons, blind-folded, whatever we can think of that is
combatively relevant. Unlike some of you, I have seen weapons of all
kinds used in combat, from baseball bats and canes to 2x4's, and a wild
assortment of blades: cleavers, box-cutters - even an axe once.
Sure, when I want to create a 'weekend
warrior' all they'll probably ever need is Sifu Vunak's R.A.T. or
something comparable. If I have 12 weeks to create a fighter, sumbrata
would likely boggle their minds. Now, for the real fighters' the elite
- that's a different story (think: new recruit / special forces). But
that takes time/patience/perseverance etc. It's not for everyone.
Can you learn the same lessons just by sparring alone? Hypothetically,
yes. But it may take you a lifetime to learn what you could in a couple
of years, that is, if you survive getting your block knocked off a
thousand times. And frankly those life or death, knock-down, drag-out
'real' fights are more often cluster-f*cks. Nothing at all like most
sparring scenarios - not even the 'Octagon'!
So, why do some people get it and others don't?
The difficulty is that even with the
finest Instructor(s), 2 separate students may each learn something
completely different, depending on their own experience. We've all seen
it in class: some people take away a fish, others learn how to fish.
I train these drills because they help
make me and my students better fighters - period. I want us to survive
where some of my other friends couldn't.
Am I doing something wrong? The proof is
in the pudding. Over the years, experience after experience continues
to prove the validity of our training methodology. In desperation or
daily life, our Jeet Kune Do Concepts work. I don't worry about what
any other 'expert' claims when I can see within a single class the
difference in attributes our "dead pattern" drills produce.
I give thanks to my Instructors every day.
With all due respect, these "aliveness" guys remind me of Christopher
Columbus - they keep discovering 'new worlds' where other people have
dwelled for generations.
self preservation / self perfection
yang / yin
art of war / art of peace
Peace,
Makoto
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