(no subject)
Practice last night was very good. There were seven of us, with two new people. We are drawing near the end of the new “bolognese introductory course” dry run, and I am very pleased with what we have accomplished. I have had some great feedback, and will be able to make the next run even better.
For me the day was physically challenging. I pushed really hard on my work out before class. It’s actually a really great combination for me; intense workout then class. Afterward I felt calm and relaxed. That being said, getting through the preparation drills for the Spadone was a challenge. (laugh)
Kettlebells kick your ass… I don’t care WHO you are….
Time is flying by. We are headed into the rapids of summer with a vengeance. I just remembered tomorrow night is Jana’s CPR class. I don’t want to miss that, for several reasons. It’s a skill that is really necessary I think, with my active lifestyle.
Last night, at class I was told that my movement was graceful. This was nice to hear, but I feel like I have so far to go… Trying to achieve that whole Sprezzatura thing can be a very great challenge. I tend to not think of myself as graceful in the least, but rather some kind of lumbering creature. Now, Tony Wolf is a graceful martial artist…. Quite frankly, I am not used to looking at men and being struck by the beauty of their motion, but he is an exception… http://tonywolfsystem.com/
That being said, I am very aware of the components of line and form when it comes to beauty. This is one of the reasons I am drawn to sculpture, I think. It’s a part of my sense of asthetic. In some ways it sets the parameters of what I personally find beautiful, both sacred and profane.
There are several sculpture a day sites and feeds out there. But one of my favorite sites is Art-or-porn.com (really really not safe for work) there are some very beautiful photographs that come up here every once in a while. The quality of using line and form in the human body as an expression of beauty can be very striking. (of course, some of it is just porn. But I love the “you decide” premise of the site (laugh))
Back to the topic… effective martial technique creates beauty out of lines and form, creating the most simple and effective way to reach an objective. It really isn’t about adding a huge number of techniques, and fancy tricks. It’s about reducing the decision points to binary decisions, and executing the solution to the given situation in the most efficient way possible.
Line and form give it structure, (physical, Fiore’s elephant) perceiving the emotional content gives it the feeling of “rightness of action” (Sentimento de Ferro, Fiore’s Tyger), the action is shaped and directed by understanding, measuring, and acknowledging the underlying principles expressed in line and form, (The intellectual, the strategic, Fiore’s Lynx), and the solution to the situation is executed with courage, and an expression of the underlying beauty of the individual. (The spirit, Fiore’s Lion)
To illustrate my point, I will mutate a famous Bruce Lee quote for my purposes….
"Before I studied the art, a cut to me was just like a cut, a thrust just like a thrust. After I learned the art, a cut was no longer a cut, a thrust no longer a thrust. Now that I've understood the art, a cut is just like a cut, a thrust just like a thrust. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum.
This is why a simple Mandritto or Riverso is a universal parry, capable of disrupting ANY fancy or tricky attack. The form and line of the body, as dictated by the art, makes the complex simple, and in doing so, creates beauty from complexity.
Sprezzatura
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