Physical prerequisites for grades
Our Wu-Wei Dao syllabus at the Academy of Traditional Fighting Arts contains physical prerequisites for grading. The first reaction I tend to get from more mature students is one of horror. I guess that is understandable: the older I get, the less I like the idea of having keep up with 20-somethings. I guess I feel a bit like some ancient police sergeant having to do an obstacle course in under a certain time. There are the usual arguments I face - like "I'm learning martial arts skills - not training to be an MMA fighter, a law enforcement officer or soldier. Why the heck do I need some kind of physical test?" And the answer is: "You don't." We have plenty of students who train in our non-grading classes - in particular my Chinese arts class. There we don't have any gradings at all. I teach certain techniques and coach students in developing their skill in these techniques. And all of this is done without any reference to a particular p...