+1
Listen to Bap!
He's the first person to really address an important issue here, and that's what you put into the class and how much effort you apply on nailing the techniques.
I fence, and the following is a scenario I see CONSTANTLY at my Salle.
Maestro shows a group of beginning to intermediate students a particular sequence... Some students just halfheartedly imitate his motion, some goof off and make very little attempt, some are decent fencers, but simply put nothing more into the exercise but rote mimicry thinking they "have it down"
Without prior warning, Maestro will call someone forward after many MANY repetitions of the form. He then calls engarde, and even informs them the exact type of offense he is going to execute, and to counter with the technique they just practiced... Even with everything laid out and preannounced, the students are comically clumsy or even fall on their asses in the face of a determined attack.
He then returns the student to the line and says "Shall we continue?" The "YES!" that follows is quite a bit more serious than at the start.
You see the secret is not to just "breeze" by, but to perform with precision and confidence. If the excercise is "easy" to you at the MSF class, then do it faster. Or turn your head MORE, or brake smoother, or try to do the excercise with zero mistakes, or make the u turn in a smaller area etc etc...
I can guarantee you that, like in fencing, if you can perform the drill with PERFECTION on your own, then when faced with a real oppoent, or on the street with a motorcycle, your technique when faced with the unknown will probably only be "passing"... but that's better than someone who doesn't work on the foundations of skill and simply crashes, or is killed.
On the street, its never about "advanced" skill, its always about "basic" skills...
Stefan
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