This is an interesting post on Steve Morris's blog. His idea is rather than start with movement patterns, light sparring/push hands and progressing to all out fighting- he thinks it should be the other way around! I can see his point but there is something about it that seems a little disturbing...
I'd be interested on the opinion of Tim and some of you guys ;)
http://stevemorris.livejournal.com/21547.html

I didnt have to read the blog to know that this article is full of B.B.Q. I just had to watch the videos.

It just looks like another violence prop to designed to shock the audience. Well i have shocking news too... its not that shocking...

The reason forms and movement are always supposed to be taught first? It is for the benefit, and protection of the student. You have to learn how to crawl, before you walk.

Its just a money making scheme filled with b.b.q, nothing more. imo. thats my opinion.

I think you should read the article, it actually makes a lot of sense.

As far as I can tell, he's not saying we should train by just beating the crap out of each other. He's saying that we should look at examples of real fighting and make sure our training is preparing us for that and not an idealized version of what we think a fight should be.

His argument seems to me to be that we can spend to much time trying to perfect a style or look but go to bits when actually in a physical confrontation.

I count myself as guilty of that in the past and it is quite a wake up call.

if your every action in training isn't framed (literally/physically/chronologically) by the context of sparring then you are probably fooling yourself, even in the beginning.

You must fight in order to get better at fighting.

For the most part, I agree with Morris' idea. One real fight is often more valuable (when it comes to actual fighting ability) than oftentimes years of training that doesn't include realistic sparring.

In addition to only practicing skills you can use at or near full force when sparring, participating in intense combat sports competition is the best way to acquire realistic fighting skills, with mindset and the experience of actually being hit, thrown, joint locked etc. providing the most valuable feedback to one's personal level of skill save an actual life or death fight in the street. Combat sports competition, although necessarily restricted by some rules for safety purposes, will elicit exactly the same chemical cascade as a real confrontation in the street, providing an opportunity to see how you really react and perform under intense stress.

Students should start sparring early, spar with resistance every training session, and, if possible, fight against other trained combat athletes under the intensity of full-contact competition.

People who claim they are developing realistic fighting skills, and yet deny the need to engage in regular contact sparring against fully resisting opponents are, in my opinion, training in the confines of a delusion, or are simply not brave enough to be real martial artists.

P"eople who claim they are developing realistic fighting skills, and yet deny the need to engage in regular contact sparring against fully resisting opponents are, in my opinion, training in the confines of a delusion, or are simply not brave enough to be real martial artists"

thweet quote.I am Willis and I wholeheartdly endorse this message.

Thanks for your responses. I think that much comes down to our reason for training. If our priority is honestly developing self defence ability, then we must test ourselves somehow. Most of us learn by gradually increasing the resistance. I think if we start by very aggressively sparring- most students would quit! By gradually making the sparring more realistic (increasing the resistance) we can increase skill and confidence.
Where do you guys draw the line?
Is the ultimate fighter some kind of a super aggressive animal with no conscience?
I have seen videos of you guys sparring and I see a lot of skill but also control and respect. My feeling from Morris's blog is that we should be developing a kind of psychotic aggressiveness and I am concerned that this may be the inevitable result of the modern trend to discard all of the traditions and cultural trappings of martial arts and concentrate purely on the 'functional'.
Are we in danger of becoming 'functional fighters' but fundamentally more like animals than humans because we only concentrate on fighting?
If not, how do we avoid this?

The intensity of non-cooperative training must increase gradually over time in training.

It is most often counterproductive to throw a new student into too intense a situation too soon, they become "gun shy" and it will often slow their progress, sometimes for the rest of their martial careers.

For example throwing a new student not yet accustomed to correctly and safely breaking his fall will only increase his anxiety over being thrown, resulting in harder and harder falls and more tension in general; counterproductive.

Experienced teachers should have progressive methods of sparring that gradually and consistently add to the intensity of the practice. And students must work up to an intesity that elicits an adrenaline response, maybe not every class or even every week, but often enough to acclimate to the stress.

Students must also be careful with and respectful of their partners, if for no other reason than there is always someone better, and •••• rolls downhill.

I believe the discipline of training naturally instils a sense of responsibility. I've trained a lot of men who became very good fighters, and the time, effort, sacrifice and self discipline required caused none of them to become more animal-like. Traditions and cultural trappings are empty and will do nothing to temper a student's personality and level of compassion without facing the hard work and sometimes fear of intense training.

"...Traditions and cultural trappings are empty and will do nothing to temper a student's personality and level of compassion without facing the hard work and sometimes fear of intense training."

Great words!!!

Read the article?

Why would i do that when there are fun videos to watch?

Well put Tim. Articulate as always!
Jake

for more, please see Matt Thornton.

http://www.straightblastgym.com/newbook.htm

Michael Babin has written on this topic on his blog:

http://www.angelfire.com/mb/taiji/taichistudioblog/

Michael Babin the Medical Examiner on television?

No, that's Michael Baden.

Michael Babin is the martial artist who writes books and articles.

who just plays a medical examiner on TV?

exactly

i like Matt's essays on 'aliveness' and why to train 'sporting' MA's. I think he's very articulate.