Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Uechi and Emeralds

Too much to fill in right now. Bill Giovannucci had me down to his dojo in Quincy a few nights ago (blog review here), and Jason Gould had me out to his Emerald Necklace Dojo last night.

Different styles, different men, but I'm again impressed at how similar good dojo feel. The only real way to tell a good instructor is by the students and at both of these training halls the students were enthusiastic, hard working, and not afraid to try. Both Bill and Jason knew their stuff. They were impressive, not just physically or stylistically, but in the way that Bill could talk about teaching methods and Jason could talk about poetry (Jason was fine on teaching method, of course, but poetry never came up with Bill.) They knew what they knew and they knew it well, and neither pretended that the knowledge extended beyond a certain point. Like the best operators, they knew what they didn't know.

So I had fun, getting into the brawl zone with a bigger, stronger guy in a corner with a water bottle as a found weapon... or practicing blindfolded infighting and targeting with a very flexible journalist. Listening to Jason use a kiai for what a kiai is for..and watching a dozen people flinch and freeze. Good times.

I'm too tired right now to sit and think about what I am learning on this journey. It's been a lot and as always the questions are a worthier path than the answers... but it will need some time to settle.

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