Theme of the Week: Harmony

I love the fact that the first class of the week is the 4 and 5’s class.  It means I get to take whatever the theme of the week is and try it first on my youngest students.  This is fabulous because it forces me to break down the theme into easily presentable pieces.

The most basic kind of harmony is a unison – the same note being played by two different voices.  In a martial context, I think that translates to being able to copy someone.  So we copied each other.  We played the mirror game (one person moves, the other pretends to be the mirror).  We took turns leading through our form.  We played drums together.  We harmonized.

So what does harmony have to do with martial arts?  If I can feel the way a person is moving – if I can “harmonize” with them – then I can do something to defuse them if they are being aggressive.