I've been a school teacher for many years.
Imagine the frustration a teacher feels when reading assignments in which the student...
1. Cannot spell
2. Cannot use proper grammar
3. Cannot formulate their ideas and put them on to paper.
4. Does not have even basic penmanship.
Such is the case when students of the martial arts have teachers who rush into waza (techniques) without having a foundation in the basics.
Spelling, grammar, writing ability and penmanship all develop together slowly over time.
I've used this analogy to make a point about martial arts training.
It takes time to develop martial arts skills from the ground up.
Many people these days are not aware of the time and effort involved in what it takes to learn martial arts and have unrealistic ideas about them.
In training, spelling corresponds to kamae (foundational structure of the body).
Grammar corresponds to tai sabaki (how one moves the body evasively from place to place and transitions through different positions).
Waza (techniques) are put together once one understands how to stand and how to move.
Kihon (basics) help to instill could habits through repetition.
Kata (forms) are sequences of movements and techniques strung together to develop a model of correct continuity.
Bunkai (analysis) refers to multiple applications of the movements of a form when broken down into its constituent parts.
Kumite (sparring) tests the student's ability to creatively put together what they've learned on the spot.
Have you ever learned a foreign language?
Would you be fluent if you only memorized long lists of nouns, verbs and adjectives?
Would you be fluent if your pronunciation was so bad that no native speaker could understand you?
Would you be fluent if you just memorized applicable phrases?
A lot of people who take the initial step of learning martial arts drop out because they want to be fluent and the steps to get there take too long.
For many it's easier to pick a martial art they've seen on television and opine about it on social media.
Sadly, for many these days, it's easier to play a video game of martial arts than to put forth the effort to learn them.
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