Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
I am a stoic kind of guy with a large influence from my introversion to where I take being serious to a high level. I did that a lot in my day in the dojo both as the ‘student’ and later as the ‘sensei’. I do feel that a certain amount of seriousness in necessary along with attitude, character, and personality BECAUSE learning a martial art, especially for self-protection, is a very serous subject, discipline and matter overall as to safety, security and influenced by social realities.
It wasn’t till to long ago that a person, a professional in the violence disciplines, made a comment to me about having fun. After some small exchanges and research I came to realize that taking things serious although a necessary trait to really learn, encode and achieve efficient and appropriate results you really do have to make the seriousness a fun-seriousness.
There is research out there that speaks to this having fun as it relates to changing the parts of our brains so that we develop and encode triggers and actions that provide us faster and “funner” processes. Yes, it comes from children research and in my beliefs it applies to adults as well. To see this research:
Playful Interaction by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross outlining the importance of playful interaction dealing with research under the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development's Hope Connection Camp
Play puts the fun in fundamental – central to a child’s well-being now and in the future. Playful Interaction, featuring Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross, along with other child development experts, outlines the importance of play and provides practical examples of playful interaction from The Institute of Child Development’s Hope Connection Camp. 96 minutes.
In a recent posting to my wall shared in my group and in the Isshinryu group “Rory Miller’s Chiron Training” provided a quote from Dr. Karyn Purvis as follows:
“Scientists have recently determined that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain - unless it is done with play, in which case, it takes between 10 and 20 repetitions!” - Dr. Karyn Purvis
This goes along with what the professionals, like Rory Miller, say about playing and having fun. Mr. M is know to say something like “Go Play” in his training sessions and seminars. His efforts, along with others like him, are what opened my eye and mind to the concept of having fun in training and practice.
You see, I always felt having fun led to a less effective ability and mind-state and found it through the efforts of those professionals that I had it wrong and I needed to adjust my paradigm on having fun in the dojo.
I do believe having fun is not just about playing games, etc., but taking the seriousness of what, when, where, how and WHY of self-protection of aggressions and violences and put it into a context of fun and having fun and playing with the material, lessons and principled-concepts, etc. It did make a difference in my training and practices, it did make a difference in how I train/trained others and it will make your efforts not just fun but effective and efficient and FUN!
It is alright to be serious and stoic and it is alright to to have and be and relate to this seriousness in a fun and playful way. When you see faces light up, the light in their head goes off and the expressions on their faces during and after training and practice you kinda know that fun, serious-fun and appropriate reality-based fun training and practice is awesome.
For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)
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