Language Through the Lens of Martial Arts – Burton Richardson | Hancock Symposium 2023
2023 Hancock Symposium plenary session #2 by Burton Richardson, President/Head Instructor of JKD Unlimited Ultimate Fighting Championship and Film Fight Scene Trainer, on "Language Through the Lens of Martial Arts." September 19, 2023, at 1:30 pm in Champ Auditorium.
For the last 40 years Burton has traveled the world learning and then teaching a variety of martial arts. He has made several training trips to the Philippines, Japan, KwaZulu Natal South Africa, Brazil, Réunion Island, and singular voyages to other countries. Burton will discuss his interactions with various cultures and how the limitations of the spoken word were often overcome by the unspoken language of martial movement and a spirit of good will. There were also times when unintentional miscommunication created either very dangerous situations or hilarious gaffes.
Martial artist Burton Richardson is the author of 5 books and has been elected self-defense instructor of the year by Black Belt Magazine and inducted into their hall of fame. He is a full instructor under Dan Inosanto, in Bruce Lee’s JKD Concepts and Filipino Kali as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga. He was also an original member of the Dog Brothers, has trained UFC fighters, and has choreographed fight scenes in movies such as The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo DiCaprio.
The theme of the 2023 Hancock Symposium was "The Languages of Life": the words we speak, the movement of our bodies, the patterns of our DNA, and the characters that are eloquently drawn on pages for us to read are all examples of languages that we live and breathe daily. However, there’s more. How do the trees speak to one another to warn of a coming storm? How do companies persuade you to buy their product? How do politicians use phrasing to earn your vote? How do computers communicate with only zeros and ones and yet form a foundation for society? How does the shared experience of a culture or subculture create a vernacular only understood by its members? How can we foster better communication, by being inclusive and equitable with our words and our actions? This Symposium will engage experts who will help us understand the languages of our lives, and spur us to think carefully about how we choose to communicate with those around us. It will highlight the importance of values, character, lifelong learning, and problem-solving — all key components of a liberal arts education.
2023 symposium: https://www.wcmo.edu/symposium/archiv...
Westminster College: https://www.wcmo.edu