Post by AngelaG on Aug 16, 2004 10:14:51 GMT
Right, here goes my second attempt at writing a review. Hopefully I won’t do something dim-witted like pressing Reset instead of Preview this time.
I think the most important question when reviewing something like a seminar is, did you enjoy it? Secondly, would be did you learn anything from it?
I was lucky enough to get out to Cyprus for a weeks training session in February so I had some idea of the kind of stuff we could be expecting to cover. This course was a good chance for me to refresh what I had previously learnt and hopefully pick up some new ideas.
Topics covered on the day included balance points, quadrant theory, opposites, BAR, chokes, holds, arm bars, face bars (ow!) and bases; amongst other subjects. There seemed a lot of information to cram into four hours but we were led into each topic bit by bit and there were plenty of people around to assist us in adapting each technique for the best possible effect. Everyone seemed eager to impart their knowledge and there was no jealous guarding of secrets. Every time I started a new technique there would be someone there to tell me how to tweak it to make it as affective as possible for me, and as painful as possible for the opponent
Once explained the principles seem so simple that you wonder why you never thought about it before; and why more people don’t study them. (Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?) There was nothing there that I could not do, there were one of techniques that were possibly not best for me, but then I would quickly be shown how to adapt them so that they were.
I suspect there will be two distinct camps of thinking about the seminar. I think that anyone going to one of Russell’s seminars expecting a traditional Karate style set-up could possibly go away disappointed. There was no marching up and down the dojo, there were no kata drills. I think it may court a certain amount of controversy because there will be people saying that what we did just wasn’t karate. Some people will have gone away scratching their heads, and will never touch on any of the subjects ever again. Other people may have been put off by the amount of contact required to experiment with the techniques. However, anyone that went along with an open mind, prepared to ‘step out of the box’, and learn some self-defence techniques that actually work will have gone away more than happy; with lots to think about and investigate further. Personally I was happy with what I was shown, but may have appreciated a few more technical references to Pressure Points etc… but there was a lot to cover in four hours so there would not really have been much time for explanations to people not familiar with that side of things. It’s something for me to look into in future training sessions.
So, yes I enjoyed it. That’s the first question answered. As for did I learn anything, I would say that I see it more as building on what I have already learnt rather than any massive earth-shattering revelations, but it did take old ideas a step further and refreshed some subjects I had started to forget, so yes I did learn something from it. It would be interesting to see if we can get any reviews from people that have not trained in this kind of stuff before to see what they feel!
Angela
I think the most important question when reviewing something like a seminar is, did you enjoy it? Secondly, would be did you learn anything from it?
I was lucky enough to get out to Cyprus for a weeks training session in February so I had some idea of the kind of stuff we could be expecting to cover. This course was a good chance for me to refresh what I had previously learnt and hopefully pick up some new ideas.
Topics covered on the day included balance points, quadrant theory, opposites, BAR, chokes, holds, arm bars, face bars (ow!) and bases; amongst other subjects. There seemed a lot of information to cram into four hours but we were led into each topic bit by bit and there were plenty of people around to assist us in adapting each technique for the best possible effect. Everyone seemed eager to impart their knowledge and there was no jealous guarding of secrets. Every time I started a new technique there would be someone there to tell me how to tweak it to make it as affective as possible for me, and as painful as possible for the opponent
Once explained the principles seem so simple that you wonder why you never thought about it before; and why more people don’t study them. (Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?) There was nothing there that I could not do, there were one of techniques that were possibly not best for me, but then I would quickly be shown how to adapt them so that they were.I suspect there will be two distinct camps of thinking about the seminar. I think that anyone going to one of Russell’s seminars expecting a traditional Karate style set-up could possibly go away disappointed. There was no marching up and down the dojo, there were no kata drills. I think it may court a certain amount of controversy because there will be people saying that what we did just wasn’t karate. Some people will have gone away scratching their heads, and will never touch on any of the subjects ever again. Other people may have been put off by the amount of contact required to experiment with the techniques. However, anyone that went along with an open mind, prepared to ‘step out of the box’, and learn some self-defence techniques that actually work will have gone away more than happy; with lots to think about and investigate further. Personally I was happy with what I was shown, but may have appreciated a few more technical references to Pressure Points etc… but there was a lot to cover in four hours so there would not really have been much time for explanations to people not familiar with that side of things. It’s something for me to look into in future training sessions.
So, yes I enjoyed it. That’s the first question answered. As for did I learn anything, I would say that I see it more as building on what I have already learnt rather than any massive earth-shattering revelations, but it did take old ideas a step further and refreshed some subjects I had started to forget, so yes I did learn something from it. It would be interesting to see if we can get any reviews from people that have not trained in this kind of stuff before to see what they feel!
Angela
