Order and Structure in PTK
Originally posted on January 17th, 2016 by Dustin B. Denson
Revisiting the Basics
For the past several classes, I have been teaching and reviewing Four Walls and Umbrellas. I don't seem to ever tire of coming back to these two methods (not that I would ever tire of exploring and re-exploring any method or any part of the system for that matter) to teach them to new students and reteach and review them with students who have been with me awhile. It reaffirms and validates the genius of the system and how it is structured. You learn everything that you need to learn and in the correct order.
Don't Try to Win the Drill
So, this brings me to my point, which is a pedagogical one. Much of the information below is well known by many of us; however, I wanted to see if I could articulate it in writing. When I teach these methods, I always emphasize the importance of establishing the correct range and timing for the Four Walls drill, as Tuhon Tim has always done. The range must be "true" and the timing must be "true". Definition: Four Walls are counter-offensive attacks versus diagonal and horizontal attacks. The attacker is on the offensive (ahead in timing) and the person executing Four Walls is on the counter-offensive (behind in timing). Of course, we don't want to be behind in timing, but the attributes that are developed in this drill by learning and executing the Four Walls behind in timing are significant and grow exponentially as one progresses through the system. Range sensitivity is being developed and sensitivity to timing is being developed on both the offensive and counter-offensive side of this drill. The ability to recognize how to equalize the timing, when to, where to, and why to is developed in this drill. The ability to equalize the timing is a prerequisite to understanding how to get ahead of timing if you are on the counter-offensive. Later, this ability is crucial to developing the ability to take the timing immediately, control the timing, and keep the timing. After all, we don't want to be behind in timing ever.
System Structure
The system is structured in such a way that the practitioner learns the attributes and skills necessary to learn the next thing in the system. Skill grows exponentially if trained in this manner because everything builds upon prior ability and knowledge.
There is a lot more that can be said of Four Walls and its importance, but these were just a few things on my mind as I was teaching tonight that I wanted to share.
