Les Bubka of practical karate fame had me on his podcast to discuss the ecological approach to karate and traditional martial arts.
I interviewed Les several years ago in the early days of CLP on a curriculum structure I found interesting.
Since then, Les has taken an interest in the ecological approach for his own martial arts practice and karate program design—and he’s changing a lot as a result!
Here, Les has me on to ask his burning questions about the quagmire known as the ecological approach and clear up misconceptions.
Topics covered:
What is the ecological approach?
Representative learning design and aliveness
Transfer of learning (including examples involving TKD/karate)
Newell’s theory of constraints and how we develop movement skills
How to start testing the ecological approach yourself, gradually
Give it a listen!
Missed the original discussion we had way back when? We’ve both changed a lot since then, but the conversation is interesting and instructive nonetheless.
If you’re interested in some of my high level assessments and critiques of the practical/bunkai-focused karate movement, check these out, too.
And don’t forget some concrete examples of how to do CLA with karate and TKD:
