social aspects in class

So it's the holidays, time to go see people I don't see much. It gets me thinking about connectedness with folks, and social interaction.

MArtial arts, the way we do it, is pretty social. Sure, we spend some time doing the same thing in a group without interacting, like with some of our warm-up exercises, most of the stretching, and of course much time spent in lines doing basic moves again and again.

But, much of what we do is interactive as well. We do some exercises and stretches together, such as when we warm up by wrestling or doing technique lines (a way of having the whole class take turns playing bad guys and defenders). But the real interaction comes when we start learning self-defense techniques. We interact on a very physical level. There are some questions and very brief discussion, like I've described in previous posts, but mostly we interact with bodies, with encouraging each other, and trying to help each other.

There is a strong component of students teaching or helping each other, usually when person A is trying to punch person B, B has problems dealing with it, and A and B work together to figure out what the problem is. For the last part of class, my role as instructor is wandering among the pairs as they practice on each other, looking for ways to help them or help them help each other.

There is a sense of interconnectedness, of shared effort, and of giving and taking freely. This is one aspect of the sense of brotherhood martial artists share.

-- SGB