The Progression Of Martial Arts Techniques
To learn a skill in the martial arts you have to let it progress through various stages of development. The first stage is the simple act of learning the technique. You cover how to stand in a balanced stance and how to move your arms and legs to perform whatever technique you are learning. For new students this can be a little difficult because most of the movements in the martial arts are not those that are done in everyday life.
When you have learned the new skill you practice it until you can keep your balance while doing the new technique and appear as though you know what you are doing. Great, this is the first part. Now practice some more. The practice at this point is developing strength and stamina in the muscles that help you do this technique while getting your brain more comfortable with this new movement. (Remember, you probably aren't getting much practice on these skills out of the dojo.)
The next stage of progression is to speed it up. A slow technique isn't be much help in sparring or combat. You again focus on balance and timing of the technique and you practice it over and over.
The next stage is to add power. Introduction of pads or bags allow you to hit an actual target to confirm that you are using the proper striking surface. This will increase the effectiveness of this new skill while decreasing you own risk of injury or loss of balance. Now, Practice! Again!
The next stage is when you introduce situations where the use of that technique is warranted. (You had to wait for this part because it usually involves some one step sparring with another student. For their safety you generally are now allowed to try "new" techniques out on a live dummy.) You are allowed to explore the proper time when you can use the skill through many repetitions. This means more practice. In this stage you typically go through the first few steps all over again where you begin to ad speed and then power.
The next stage in this long process is where you get to try it out in a live sparring situation. You take it for a test drive and see how it works at full speed. It will take many attempts at this to get it to a point where you can use the technique properly and actually hit the target you were aiming at. You still are trying to pick the proper time to use the technique and to see where it fits into your personal fighting style.
The final step in this mission, and the whole reason you have done so many repetitions of a technique you already knew, is when you simply perform this technique in combat without even thinking about it. Almost like magic your brain just knew the perfect time to use that technique the exact second that the target presented itself.
That is the reason for all the repetitions of a single technique.
When an expert fights in a sparring match (or for life or death on the streets) they are not thinking about all the techniques they have learned and when would be a good time to use them. They simply empty their minds, stare straight into their opponents soul and react to the moment. This takes thousands of hours of practice but is what makes a black belt really effective. For anyone who has seen that look knows better and will usually walk away rather than take their chances.
When I am sparring I will always let less experienced students know the rule that I will fight them the way that they fight me. If they come on hard and fast I will react in kind. (this usually ends bad for them) If they want to try their skill to see where they are trying to go I will give them just enough success to build them up while reminding them that they still have a ways to go,
This brings me to the philosophy of The Sage Institute and why I advocate for people to create their own systems of practice. As you can see, there is thousands of repetitions required to master a single technique. You could train in a system that is very hard for your body to perform and be very frustrated with techniques that really aren't a good fit for you. Or you could spend hundreds of hours learning way too many techniques that you will never have time to master without dedicating decades of your life.
I believe that you should choose techniques that fit your body type, age, fitness ability and personal code of ethics. There is so much information available on the internet today that it is quite possible to learn a dozen quality techniques and bring them to a level of mastery. Most of the practice could be done in the comfort of your own home. The later stages of training will require a partner but you can cross that bridge when you get to it. My intention is to create an online dojo that will have many techniques for you to choose from as well as many fellow students to help you along the way.
One technique mastered is better than a thousand learned.
There is an equal progression of your mind that takes place at the same time you are learning these techniques. It is this change that makes you a martial artist and now simply a fighter. Stick around and I will share that story with you as well.
Sensei Keith
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