Jo staff - Roku no jo kata 

Thanks a lot for your thorough observation, explanation and appreciation. Its nice to have constructive comments like that. Feel free to subscribe as I’ll post more similar contents in the future and it would be nice to have your comments again on similar matters 🙏🏾

It would the maximum achievement to move like a Japanese martial artist but the fact is I believe each one must adapt those principles based on his environment and cultural setting just like the model (principle) of a car is adapted to obtain different types of vehicles. It should be done always paying homage and respect to where those principles are coming from. Thanks a lot for the appreciation and for noticing that detail 😉🙏🏾

@@friendly-martial-artist I agree with what you said , like Bruce Lee said be like water 💧 shapeless formless . No set patterns...ectra I wish I could move like you ,if I was that athletic I would try the same movement , I personally train in kentjutsu and several other martial arts ,not only Japanese. And Japanese footwork is not bad ,in general they believe in not using to much energy. So real athletic moves they see as unnecessary. But each their own strategy . While back I was sparring training ,and trading techniques with a pukulan instructor ( kind of like a silat style ) designed by indo,s . In Indonesia 🇮🇩 not to confuse with silat from the native Indonesians, but pukulan is the version the mixed ethnical groups of those places used . Anyway I noticed my classical kentjutsu footwork wasn't enough to counter attack him . Like you said you musy adapt it to a way that fits you best 👌 In my experience, I have noticed the more diverse movement the better the fighter .

Indeed the best approach to be free in your movements is to find your own way. It is a difficult thing to do specially when you train in a “didactic way” where you have to perform aesthetically correctly the technics. This makes you mechanic in a long run and could be a real hindrance to your self development as a martial artist. My approach is to train “didactic way” first and then “practical way” alternating. In the “practical way” a lot of what you learn in “didactical way” is discarded or even completely useless. This is where sparring is very very useful and eventually even some MMA practice (for the sake of study only to improve your practical combat skills). You can also train this way if you want in order to reach your objective faster: imagine being on a battlefield with thousands of enemies in front of you armed with all kind of cruel weapons that will sooner or later ends someones life (including yours). How do you apply your martial arts skills then? Are you going to pay attention to the “didactic details” for the sake of being a good practitioner on the battlefield? Or are you going to be extremely practical by all means necessary? I think the answer is in the middle. The samurai, knights or any great warriors of the past when faced with the practicality of their art had to adapt to the situation at hand and not the other way around. The situation won’t let you perform any technique unless you force it too but even there, when you’ll force it to, you’ll be lucky if you can apply 50% of your skills the way you want it. Your fluidity will come to life based on how you’ll adapt the martial arts principles of your style to who you are physically, mentally and spiritually

@@friendly-martial-artist I do have to say that the fundamentals in movement and stances , for example with katana techniques are something to be solid about . You can do them in a different way , actually in the past every ryu used to have his own style of movement, they did hold a fundamental basic theory one should always use. Because when wielding a real sword it's important to have the proper balance and stances ,because other wise you won't be able to execute a good cut ectra . In short with a real life katana you can't, play around to much because one mistake and your death .

I absolutely agree with you, there are some technical aspects on which you cannot compromise in terms of the proper application in order to get the final result properly. The thing to consider tho is that unfortunately in a real situation no one will let you apply perfectly your skills. This is where I like kickboxing, MMA or Jujutsu fighting system. These arts (or any art that allows some intense sparring) allow you to clearly see how much room you have to be “perfect” in your execution of the techniques and how much does not depend on you, leaving you with no choice but to improvise. When I say improvise I intend moving around 30% to 40% away from the precision you would like to apply because just like you wouldn’t like to be cut or strike the same goes for your opponent and in a battlefield there are no other rules than the ones one set for himself in terms of ethic and honour. Your set of values may differ tremendously compared to those of your opponent For you for example, cutting someone from behind could be a disgrace worthy only of the worst kind of coward but for your opponent, in terms of his values, that is on the contrary the kind of skills a true warrior should adopt. This is why being flexible is very important in order to don’t be blocked and utterly killed by your own principles One perfect example is the roundhouse kick. When you train in the dojo there is one specific way in which this kicking technique must be applied in order to be functional which is horizontally. When you instead look at how you apply it or even great fighters apply it in order to be functional is the diagonal way which technically speaking is wrong but functionally speaking extremely useful. I made a video where I explain it which is called “roundhouse kick: Dojo vs Combat”. Feel free to check it out. Its the same problem you have with many other techniques Rehearsing and training to achieve perfection is a must as long as it doesn’t become an hindrance that stops you from being flexible.