I never realized how difficult it is for people to except RMAX until now.

[HereBeADragon]

I was showing my teacher the Hardwork series yesterday and we ended up getting into a 2 hour discussion about it. :) he did not like what he was seeing and felt that this approach wasnt a good one. He felt that this is a shortcut, in the bad sense, and not a way to perfect your art. Anyway long story short after 2 hours and a sore throat he now better understands and is not so much against RMAX ideas but wow did it open my eyes! I think I came to rmax easily because I already had the spark of understanding about what its trying to accomplish. Many people from a traditional martial arts background are of the understanding that perfection of their art means to perfect their technique. While my understanding of perfection is in your effectiveness and your efficienty. I'm bringing this up because some of the points I argued I found very interesting and wanted to see some other ideas and points of view about them.

One of the first points I argued with my teacher was against the old, "this has been passed down and perfected generation after generation etc." I argued that it is impossible for an art to be perfected one generation after another by only immitating what the founder of that art showed his students. I stated that by the laws of entropy it is impossible for something to be repeatedly copied and get better at the same time. So it would stand to reason that the only way to improve would be through grows not regugitation(sp).

Next point was about the nature of mastery. The traditional view that mastery is a matter of perfection of technique. While I argued that mastery is a perfection of your effientcy and your effectiveness at accessing your skills not techniques.

Lastly was that as coach Jones said in RMAX powered internal martial arts "it should not take 20 years to get good at something." My teacher again sided with the old ways of constant repetition to gain perfection. I argued that in those days repetition was the prefered practice because conditioning and sparring were built into the life style. Fighting was common and hardwork was constant. Also today with the gifts of sports psychology we better understand how to train and teach in more effective manners than people had available 1000 or even 50 years ago.

I also noticed a fear that I had not considered before. The idea that you could have waisted years in your training when there was a better way. Many people who have been in the arts for a substantial time I would think might have that type of fear. I do recall the exact moment when I think he understood what I was saying. I asked him how much more he feels he could accomplish if he was at the level he is at now five years earlier than it took him to get there. I saw that spark when he thought about that.

It was a great discussion and it shows one of the reasons I like learning from him so much. He can dislike an idea but is willing to discuss it and consider the possiblities. Even open up to them. There was much more discussed and a lot of ideas exchanged but these were the key points that stuck with me and I hope that they will be of interest to others here.

[Scott Sonnon]

Resistance is only the ego dying, not the experience.

Have you ever tried to forcibly get a bull in a pen? You can't push them. You can't lead them. You can't put food in front of them to entice them. You can only keep the gate open, because eventually, they'll just stroll in themselves. Otherwise, it's just our own ego resisting dying as well.

[Coach Flanagan]

I also noticed a fear that I had not considered before. The idea that you could have waisted years in your training when there was a better way. Many people who have been in the arts for a substantial time I would think might have that type of fear.

Thats a really interesting point regarding the nature of internal resistance to embrace a new set of ideas. Its extremely tough to admit to yourself that what you've been doing all along wasnt the most effective and efficient path.

In my training, with several years of Bodybuilding type workouts under my belt, I can look back at those years and say without a doubt that that was not the most effecient and effective path. Does that mean those years were wasted? Absolutely not, I learned a lot about mental toughness and diligence, and I learned a lot about what doesnt provide tangible physical results:D .

Its good that we can discuss the internal patterns of resistance that people have that prevent them from taking the steps they need to step closer to mastery.

[KD Jones]

We've talked about this a lot at the MA club at which I train.

It's relatively common for guys to walk in and want to try their artillery on Sibok, who is the "head" of the style and owner of the club. He's managed to shut everyone who's done this down quite handily.

The funny thing is, everything appears to be friendly and happy and in the interest of "seeing what works" and learning something, until the opponent - usually a black belt of some kind with years and years invested - doesn't "win."

Then, suddenly, they backpedal, the walls go up. Beforehand, they usually profess interest in following whatever works, the learning process, etc. But now they just slip out and disappear, and none of them has managed to show back up to learn what didn't "work" for them.

As Sibok says, it's sad, because anyone who's spent that much time and gathered that much energy and discipline is in the best position to take advantage of whatever lessons they might incorporate for such a thing, but they appear to be in the worst position (in their own minds) to take advantage of the opportunity.

It's sad. I've seen musicians do the same thing. I imagine it's universal, as is the ego, because I know there are circumstances in which I've acted similarly, not being cofortable playing the part of one who "knows naught."

And yes, CST is fertile ground for such resistance. For that reason, some of us have taken to answering questions about "what we're doing" with "it's basically a martial / physical training disicpline," or something like that, until the questions become more earnest. (Which is to say, when the bull wanders of his own accord.)

[Rayford_P]

A friend of mine practices 7 star praying mantis kung fu and he has made it to the advanced level now. Hasn't quite made it to his black belt yet but his head is bigger than his style. He constantly likes to start little spur of the moment sparring sessions with me and I constantly take him with some simple foot work and western style boxing. I'm a fan of quick jabs and it works on him everytime. I am no great fighter but I know that simplicity works, he does not believe this at all. He absolutely refuses to learn anything outside of his style and I can see the confusion in his face whenever we tag each other. It really is a lot of fun however. I like to confuse him by switching stances a lot (which I like to practice much of during my sessions at the gym I go to). However I confused myself last week by doing this and learned a hard lesson with a hook to the jaw by my dad. LOL