I was looking through threads, and while I know this is addressed in the rules of the forum, I felt that the topic deserved its own thread. I wasn't quite sure where to post this, but JSA culture seemed appropriate.
Let me start by saying that I do
not advocate self instruction in any way. What I hope to detail here are the reasons why. I would also like to give my background so that my words can be taken in context.
I have been training in the martial arts for 26 years. I started with empty handed arts, Tae Kwon Do and American Karate. I moved into Philippino Escrima under the Inayan system. Later I began training in Okinawan Kobudo. While in college, I was fortunate enough to meet my sword instructor. He trained me in Toyama Ryu and the Zen Nihon Batto Do Renmei core kata. After a few years of training, we decided to explore Mugai Ryu, and have been training in that ever since. I hold the rank of Shodan in Toyama Ryu and Nidan in Meishi Ha Mugai Ryu.
Let me start with the flood of videos and books available to anyone who can afford them. These instruments can be excellent reference tools for people who have received training from an instructor. They can help show an individual the way things are done in their style. Also, when put into the perspective of a trained student, you can see differences from the way you do things. Some good, some questionable, but you can learn a lot by watching them. Just because something is different than the way you've been trained doesn't make it bad, but at the same degree it gives you a context to why things are done a certain way in your given style. Now I have a little story about something that happened to me. When I was younger, I fell in love with 1970's Kung Fu movies. I wanted to learn Kung Fu really bad. While on vacation one year, I found a Kung Fu school that also sold books. While I was purchasing a couple of books laden with picutres of the forms along with step by step instructions, I asked the instructor of the school if these would help me learn Kung Fu. He smiled and answered my question with one of his own. That question was; "Can you learn the English language by reading a dictionary?" The lightbulb went on in my head and this has always stuck with me.
On to the deeper question at hand. What constitutes self instruction? To me, this is relatively simple and can be answered with this question; "have you ever received formal training?" If the answer is no, then you are teaching yourself. What constitutes formal training? Does a seminar count? Do I have to belong to a dojo? These are good questions. Preferably, you will be able to receive training under a qualified instructor on a regular basis. A little less ideally, you receive instruction at delayed intervals through seminars and practice on your own in between. Unfortunately, the latter situation is where I find myself currently. I can only hope that my years of training directly under my instructor have given me the fundimentals to keep myself safe and my practice on track. And hopefully I don't set any bad habits to my muscle memory.
That leads me to the next major flaw with self instruction, learned bad habits. In our eagerness to learn something that isn't easily accessible, we often go the route of trying to learn from books and videos. I'll admit, I did it too. Guess what, all it did was greatly hinder my training for the first few months. The reason is that I had teach my muscles the correct way of doing the movements that I had trained into them incorrectly. It takes
much longer to unlearn muscle memory then it does to learn it correctly the first time. Only under the watchful eye of an instructor can the minute details of what you are doing be brought to your attention.
The last point that I'm going to make at this time is in regard to safety. Japanese Sword Arts are a dangerous thing, even if proper precautions are taken. All it takes is a momentary lapse of concentration to cause fatal harm to yourself or others. With that being the case, I would much rather have someone with no experience swinging a bokken than an iaito or shinken, or worse yet a wall hanger.
Again, I'll admit guilt here as well. When I was younger, I didn't know about the safety issues that wall hangers have. I swung them around in my back yard dreaming of Highlander. I look back on that now and am very very
very grateful that I never hurt myself or anyone else. I have seen momentary lapses in judgement, and what they can do. Here is a link to a thread at Sword Forum International that details one person's experience in this area. I will warn you that there are some pretty ugly pictures included on the second page.
LINK. I also have a couple of experiences from our dojo that warrent sharing. I've seen both bokken and shinken fly across the room. I've been guilty of this as well. My hand was a little sweaty and I tried to do a drawing cut on a roll of tatami omote. I missed the mat and the sword slipped out of my hand. Gratefully nobody was hurt, but you better believe that was a very scary lesson for me to learn. The next one happened to one of the other students at my dojo. He was practicing iai tameshigiri from zagi, kiriage to be specific. His first cut was beautiful, as was his next. His third he rushed and didn't get the blade clear of the saya before initiating the cut. He cut through the saya and very deeply into his hand. He severed an artery and had to undergo surgery immediately. He has healed well, but this is a lesson that we've all taken to heart. The picture of the bloodstained sword sitting next to a pool of blood on the mat still resides in our dojo as a reminder of the consequences of rushing things. My point is that there are definite dangers to JSA practice. They can be mitigated with proper instruction, but we should always be mindful that we are holding a 30" blade that can cut a person in two. That should be reason enough to seek a place to learn how to use it properly.
Lastly, this is not to deter the eager from training, this is to deter them from trying to "teach" themselves. Use that energy to seek out a dojo. There are more of them out there then most people think. The thing to keep in mind is that the good ones often don't advertise much. Still, there are often decisions you have to make in regard to weighing the costs of travel and time to what you want to learn.
If you truely want to learn the JSA, you will do what it takes to do it properly."Always learn from the skillful. He who teaches himself hath a fool for a master." -Ben Franklin
My Best.
