My body has traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Art that keeps growing


Something that i've been wondering about.
Is there a point in your training, say around about the GM level, that you stop learning from outside sources?
Where do you stop incorporating and instead flesh out your system, maybe consider is "complete"?
If you've inherited a system, cut and dry, well that's somewhat clear (or is it). What you've got is the system and you continue to refine it with your existing experiences.

But if you've eventually created your own system, when do you stop considering and using new external sources? When/or ever are you at the level where you no longer need to be influenced?

I've heard it said "Arnis - the art that never stops growing", just like the rattan plant.

But what if you take that plant and put it in a pot. Sure it will continue to grow. But if it isn't fertilized will it not eventually become weaker?
How's that for mystikal prose Bobbe? (And no, this is definitely not directed AT Bobbe).

1 comment:

Steve Perry said...

I think most of us realize that there is no such thing as a complete system, vis a vis martial arts. (One of my favorite examples is, what is your defense against a twelve-gauge shotgun at thirty feet? If you never thought about that, your system is lacking ...)

But I also have problems with the folks who say if you don't cross train in multiple systems, what you have is worthless. I'm going to do a post on this on my blog, but the essence is, sometimes deep and narrow beats wide and shallow all to hell and gone ...