Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Floyd Mayweather Analysis

 The guy that turned me on to most of the boxing clips that I post is, perhaps predictably, a fellow student of Sonny's. He's been boxing since he was a kid and has been studying the sweet science for a long, long, time.

He got together with a boxing friend to put together this compilation of Mayweather clips. The words are his.

I love it when someone can point stuff out to me that my own eyes cannot follow. What he sees because he understands the sport is way more than I will ever be able to, but once pointed out, the principles that underlie why you do what when, are as clear as day, and wonderful to appreciate in real time.

Like the Maestro said - "To hit is easy. To get hit even easier. To not get hit? this is where the art is."

The clip is over 20 minutes long, but spare yourself the time, it's worth it. AND the music is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtPVnc2lBqg

This link might work if the one above does not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3etY6uydE

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Same Same Not Same

Last night was the first Hsing-I workshop with Luo DeXiu. As per usual, and still following form, he turned up looking younger and more powerful as he always seems to do.

I too follow a yearly pattern. I see the schedule of what he will be teaching, and sometimes think 'Oh, he's teaching that again, maybe I'll miss that one'. Then remember that ever year I think this, I go to the first seminar, learn loads, and can't believe I had even contemplated not going.

So it was this year. The 5 Elements. How many times have I practiced this? How many workshops have I gone to on this material? Sigh. Just go.

So I go, and of course have a fabulous time, find new things to work on, get corrections, and notice a bunch of new stuff I had never noticed before. Now, I won't say it was not there .. only that this is the first time I actually heard or saw it.

This got me to thinking. Has he always said these things but I just did not notice? Has he changed his method? Or is it me?

I reckon it's a mixture of all of them. He teaches, sees what people don't understand, and modifies his approach, he also sees people are getting things on one level, and adds some subtleties to play with, and, probably, what I notice about how he moves and plays has become more sophisticated, so I now notices more stuff. Ah! look at that, he totally accelerated and stopped dead to accentuate the draw. Or - He sheared the line, and his foot is on the outside. Never saw that before .. Of course that's why it works!

They say the old masters practice the basics over and over. They don't stand in San Ti for an hour and do complex forms, they do maybe 20 reps of a basic half step drill and move on.

When you are fully engaged in your practice, improving and reaching for better performance, you can stay with the simplest of movements and still find new ways to build skill and understanding. Thing is, it's alot easier with a teacher who is doing the same.