You see, but you do not observe.

Nun, endlich habe ich einen meiner Pläne in Angriff genommen und begonnen mir die Sherlock Holmes Geschichten zuzulegen.

Und gestern habe ich dann die erste Erzählung gelesen: „A scandal in Bohemia„, dabei hat mich eine Passage doch nachhaltig beeindruckt. Denn ich finde sie passt wunderbar auch in die Welt der Kampfkünste.

In der Passage geht es darum, dass Dr. Watson Sherlock Holmes fragt, was der Unterschied zwischen den beiden ist, dass Holmes es immer schafft soviel über jemanden zu erfahren.

Hier einmal die Passage:

I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. „When I hear you give reasons,“ I remarked, „the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.“

„Quite so,“ he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. „You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.“

„Frequently.“

„How often?“

„Well, some hundreds of times.“

„Then how many are there?“

„How many? I don’t know.“

„Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. […]“

Wieso passt dies nun so schön? Nun, gerade bei uns im Aikido versucht uns unser Sensei immer genau das einzutrichtern, was Holmes hier auch Watson erklärt, nämlich nicht nur zu „sehen“, sondern auch zu „beobachten“.

So passiert es zum Beispiel auch mal, dass Sensei einfach eine sonst alltägliche Technik mal ganz anders vormacht und er dann schaut, wem das überhaupt aufgefallen ist. Denn er ist der Meinung, dass das beobachten das wichtigste ist und nicht einfach das zu hören. So auch bei neuen Techniken. Wer einfach genau beobachtet nimmt mehr aus einer Vorführung mit, als jemand der auf eine Erklärung wartet, welche sogar missverstanden werden kann.

Ein weiterer Aspekt: Was nutzen einem alle tollen und effektiven Techniken, wenn man nicht mit offenen Augen und einer Beobachtungsgabe durch die Welt geht und so von jedem Angriff überrascht wird?

Beobachten, statt nur sehen. Das gilt auch in der Selbstverteidigung(SV). Wer zum Beispiel in eine Disco geht und nun nicht beobachtet wie der Halbstarke an der Bar sich wieder einen Vodka-O reinkippt und vor seiner Freundin rumprahlt, welche ihr später zufällig auf der Tanzfläche beim Tanzen anstößt, dann kann es schnell dazu kommen, dass man evtl. von dem betrunkenen Heißsporn angepöbelt wird. Und je nachdem, kann es passieren das die Situation eskaliert.

Klar, das Bsp. ist nun weit hergeholt, aber ebenso kann man ein anderes heranziehen:

Man ist nach dem Discobesuch auf dem Heimweg. Nun hat man die Wahl: 1. der helle und von vielen Leuten benutzte, aber auch längere, Weg nach Hause oder 2. dieser dunkle kleine, fast nie benutzte und viel kürzere, Waldweg nach Hause. Wer hier ordentlich beobachtet, mag vielleicht feststellen, dass diese Gruppe dubioser Gestalten vorm Waldweg, vielleicht nicht unbedingt die idealen Begleiter sind. Und das es vielleicht klüger wäre, etwas weiter zu laufen, aber dafür vielleicht in der netten Gesellschaft dieses einen Paares, welche einem noch ein wenig was von ihrer Geschichte erzählen.

Auch wenn ich sicherlich meilenweit von der Beobachtungsgabe eines Sherlock Holmes entfernt bin, so habe ich doch festgestellt, dass das was mein Sensei versucht uns beizubringen eben Hand und Fuß hat. Als ich letztes Jahr in Paris war auf einem Lehrgang, konnte ich nix mit dem französischen Übersetzer anfangen, welcher die Erklärungen zu den Techniken übersetzte. Das brauchte ich auch nicht unbedingt, da durch das Beobachten des Lehrers ebenso gut, wenn nicht noch besser erklärt wurde, was zu tun ist.

Ein guter Kampfkünstler kann auch nur der sein, der gelernt hat zu beobachten, statt nur zu sehen!

In diesem Sinne: Siehst du noch oder beobachtest du schon? 😉

After a while, I finally started a project, I always wanted to do, but never got to: Reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories. I bought the book „The complete Sherlock Holmes“ and started it.

It really took me in, and so I read the „A scandal in Bohemia“ story, in which one part really struck me. Because it really said something, which also applies for the martial arts.

It is the part in the story, where Dr. Watson asks Holmes, how he is able to tell so many things about a person, just by looking at them.

For a better reference, here is that passage:

I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. „When I hear you give reasons,“ I remarked, „the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.“

„Quite so,“ he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. „You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.“

„Frequently.“

„How often?“

„Well, some hundreds of times.“

„Then how many are there?“

„How many? I don’t know.“

„Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. […]“

This concept of ’seeing‘ and ‚observing‘ is pretty much, what makes, beside a good detective, also a good martial artist. I, for myself, am practicing Aikido and also some MMA right now. Most of my martial arts experience is from Aikido, because I do this the longest period of time. My sensei in Aikido also tries to teach us this concept of ‚observing‘. In his view, it is most important to observe your opponent and your surroundings, because it is only then, that we can act accordingly.

As an example, he will often announce a certain technique, which we do all the time, but then to add a little twist to it, he will show it in a slightly different way, just to see, how many of us are doing it like we always do, and how many had observed the difference in his performance. If you are a teacher, why don’t you try this once in a while with your students and see how observing they are?

Sometimes explanations can be misinterpreted or, on an international seminar, just plain not understood, that’s what happened to me in France. So if you are observing, you might not need much explanation, if any at all. Keep in mind, that observing can be more important than listening.

Let us come once more back to Sherlock Holmes. There is the movie out, which by the way, I love. It’s a good movie, with some nice martial arts scenes in it. Just this one scene I wanna take as an example for the conceopt of observing and martial arts.

Sherlock Holmes Fight Scene

Here, Holmes is using his observing to his advantage in a fight. Not only, did he observed Irene Adler, who he wants to follow, he also can build up a strategy, due to observations he made about his opponent.

And that is something you have to do also. Be it in combat sports as judo, taekwondo, mma, muay thai, a.s.o. or in self-defense situations. What use do you have of all the fancy techniques you learned in training, if you will be suprised by an attack?

Imagine walking home at night from a club or a party, you could take the shorter way home, through some backalleys, but with some observation you might notice, that there might some untrustworthy folks there and no one who could help or witness anything. Therefore it might be better to take a slightly longer way, but which is better lit and also has some people who also walk there.

If you are observing your surroundings, you might identify a possible threat way ahead and therefore avoid it, like for example a group of aggressive looking guys at the next street corner.  An avoided fight is a fight won.

In competition you might observe habits of your opponent, you can use for your advantage, like he’s dropping his guard, while performing a hook?

If you want to be a good martial artist, keep in mind, that you need more than flashy moves and muscles. A good eye and the skill of observation are also needed.

In this spirit: stop just seeing and start observing! 😉

Comments (1)

BahatiDezember 14th, 2012 at 4:48

OK, I’m going to talk about Aikido. Aikido is one of the best martial arts ever ctreaed. It doesn’t use unnecessary physical strength like other martial arts. Aikido uses ki, internal energy, and that surpasses physical strength infinitely. That’s why Aikido is made up of 3 words, ai, ki, and do. Ai= harmony, ki= internal energy or spirit, and do=path. That basically means the way of harmonious spirit . Aikido uses techniques that makes the opponent(s) lose their balance and use their strength/momentum against them, which is very good in combat. Aikido also helps with flexibility by doing the Aikido excercises. This art also helps with health, by using the techinque of misogi, breathing with the hara, the foundation of ki. That is what makes Aikido so good. You could combine it with Muay Thai if you wish, because soft and hard martial arts make the best combination. An example of that is Karate and Tai Chi. But if that can’t fit your schedule, I recommend practicing Aikido. Aikido might be the PEACE art, and that is the thing you want to strive for. But Aikido can be very devastating, because it includes defense against weapons and disarming the opponent. Hope I helped and good luck on your path on martial arts!Remember, self-defense is a last resort, use it if you REALLY need it. That’s when people start attacking you. I thought this was a very interesting question. Thanks for letting me push out all my knowledge for Aikido. :]

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