DC Batto Campu!
This past weekend was the Batto Camp that was hosted by Dave Drawdy sensei down in Virginia. Charles, Kevin, Rob, Sandra, Takeuchi san and I went down in a mini van so it felt like a legit road trip to Drawdy sensei's new home which is spacious to say the least.
One thing I always love about these camps for me is that I get to be a student again. When you're the teacher all the time, sometimes you miss being "selfish" in some ways. This is why I enjoy helping other styles for seminars etc, cause you should help the other dojo but at the same time you might get to learn something new.
Going over the Nakamura Ryu kata and Nakamura Ryu seitei kata for me is quite enjoyable because there are many shared ideas expressed in a different way at some points. Almost like the cousin of what we practice. So it's like learning a new perspective on what we usually work with. One of my favorite parts of Nakamura Ryu is that there are times when you step with your gyaku kesa. I really enjoy this movement and practice it for cutting as well as the kata, because I like to use this movement as well in gekken. Another is how seme is focused on and expressed. We express seme differently but is the same idea. The pressure and feeling you give off when you transition or about to strike is quite important so I really hope my students hearing the same thing from a different source reinforces that idea.
The main reason why I encourage my guys to try a different style is to give them that same feeling. Other people will enjoy other aspects of the other style and they'll bring it back to what they practice (hopefully!). I feel like this is what makes a students understanding of their art different in each way and makes it their own.
So it was great to be around such good people, have great food (those steaks....mmmmm), share what I know, but most of all, to feel like a student again. Also those smores were crazy!
One thing I always love about these camps for me is that I get to be a student again. When you're the teacher all the time, sometimes you miss being "selfish" in some ways. This is why I enjoy helping other styles for seminars etc, cause you should help the other dojo but at the same time you might get to learn something new.
Going over the Nakamura Ryu kata and Nakamura Ryu seitei kata for me is quite enjoyable because there are many shared ideas expressed in a different way at some points. Almost like the cousin of what we practice. So it's like learning a new perspective on what we usually work with. One of my favorite parts of Nakamura Ryu is that there are times when you step with your gyaku kesa. I really enjoy this movement and practice it for cutting as well as the kata, because I like to use this movement as well in gekken. Another is how seme is focused on and expressed. We express seme differently but is the same idea. The pressure and feeling you give off when you transition or about to strike is quite important so I really hope my students hearing the same thing from a different source reinforces that idea.
The main reason why I encourage my guys to try a different style is to give them that same feeling. Other people will enjoy other aspects of the other style and they'll bring it back to what they practice (hopefully!). I feel like this is what makes a students understanding of their art different in each way and makes it their own.
So it was great to be around such good people, have great food (those steaks....mmmmm), share what I know, but most of all, to feel like a student again. Also those smores were crazy!
Comments