Enter the Dragon!

The following extended quote is from  Think Like a Commander , the US Army's guide to Adaptive Thinking.  It's a nice exploration of a big aspect of what kata can be -- deliberate practice -- arguably the most effective tool (although not the only one!) in the development of technical expertise. Train As You Fight versus Deliberate Practice The maxim "train as you fight" has risen to such a level of familiarity in the U.S. Army that the value of the notion goes almost unquestioned. Yet studies of the development of expertise clearly indicate that "as you fight" meaning performing in fully realistic simulated battles is neither the most effective nor efficient method of developing expertise. Such "performances" can help a novice become acquainted with applying military knowledge, and can reinforce existing knowledge in an experienced person, but will not in and of themselves lead to the development of expertise. In many fields where expertise has b...

Last night we assembled our new, industrial strength mat trolley, purchase from Bremco Metal Products :, to help us shuttle our mats between storage and the Aerobics room that we transform into our dojo: Newly assembled: Shiny! Loaded with mats The key advantage of the new trolley is that multi-directional castors let us steer round corners: For many years we made do with a couple of old hand-me-down trolleys that we had to lug around corners: Thanks to everyone for helping get it assembled, Carla at Bremco for answering all my questions, and Monash University for subsidy. Next step, more mats!