I found a longer clip of Merlin. The reason I am posting it here is because I find the first half (the second half is my previously posted clip) pretty interesting. It shows Merlins bullfighting training. An assistant is shown chasing the horse around with a wheelbarrow-type contraption..with horns attached, so that Merlin can practice his “moves”. It also shows the horse going through some dressage practice which is reminiscent of shadowboxing.
The training sequence reveals something very interesting about the relationship between training and “real life”. When a person watches the bullfighting sequence it looks like the relationship between the bull and the rider is entirely random and the horse’s movements are “free-flow”. But when one watches the training he can see that almost all of the horses movements are “techniques”. As a matter of fact you can find almost all of Merlins “moves” in both the training and fighting sequences. It brings to mind such things as kata, technique practice, scenario training and rehearsal/dry runs. While one can never anticipate an opponents every move, if you know the basic elements or framework of the activity you are training for you can concentrate on the patterns/techniques that comprise the bulk of what you need to know to to win.
It makes me think about MMA as an example. While to the uninitiated it may lo0k like an undisciplined brawl, to those “in the know” the patterns of mount, guard, posturing, passing etc are obvious. From there one can begin to see how training in these “techniques” enter into the equation.
the things worth believing in 