Training

A Dancing Dragon training session follows the same basic pattern of all martial arts or sports training: warmup, drills, sparring, and cooldown. Students are welcome to perform whatever warmup and cooldown exercises with which they are comfortable; overconditioning is not a prerequisite to muscle memory, nor is injury an aid to learning.

Drills should, whenever possible, involve both partners and contact. Muscle memory trained in a solo context with no contact is difficult to sustain in the chaos of battle. When teaching strikes, the sensei must allow the student to strike him directly, and with power; if the student lands a blow, the sensei must take responsibility, and indeed congratulate the student on penetrating his defenses.

Sparring is the most important aspect of training, as it provides the student the best approximation to actual combat. Sufficient protective gear should be worn to prevent injury, but not necessarily pain. It is vital that the student learns to control his fear in the face of pain, though this must be a gradual process. The student should at all times decide with what level of pain he is comfortable, and the sensei must never go beyond this.

Training sessions are held at Sutro Heights Park in the outer Richmond district of San Francisco. Here's a google map with markers for both training locations within the park:

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