Taking it slow

This year I had the fortune to take part in a seminar run by the BJJ Legend and UFCs original champion Royce Gracie.(check him out on youtube). We trained many ju jitsu drills, mma strategies and ground work, and it was all great. Royce is a very accomplished technician and his methodical breakdown of each technique made them easy to pick up. But for me, the most profound lesson i learnt was his insistance to drill slowly....real slowly. To be honest, i found it hard to slow myself down, as did all the other students taking part. We were hungry to learn. Every time we started racing throught the drills, Royce would stop the lesson and reprimand us for rushing the moves. After a while, i got the hang of it and i noticed that my brain was retaining the sequences without any trouble, and THAT was the lesson behind his repeated requests to slow down. I left Canberra with a new perspective on how i should approach my own classes. We all need to slow down and absorb new information and drill it over and over until we can repeat it with confidence. When students rush their techniques, kata, defence drills they will only pick up a superficial understanding of what they are learning. Learn to take time to break down the steps in a kata, get a feeling for techniques, take notice of your body's movements when sparring and then your learning will be deep and rich, and your understanding for your chosen art will be a rewarding experience. I always say in class that karate is a "study" and it should be treated as such. The more you delve, the more you find. Thank you Royce.
Sensei Frank