Courtesy of Mike Hammer
After training today I was thinking on my training journey and those who train with me. One thing I think that is important to point out is that when you are training you need to take time and do it right! Meaning you need to learn the technique correctly and in-grain it. This is a continuing process in that you need to regularly check yourself when you are training and make sure that you are doing it right. Train, check, train, re-check and make sure that you are in-graining proper technique into your individual framework. If you cannot do the technique right then you may add muscle to make it work. Using muscle is fine but….. not at the expense of your technique. So when doing a drill if you cannot go slow then move to faster speed and you find yourself resorting to utilizing too much muscle instead of your bodies natural framework then you need to go back to the basic technique and train it more and then slowly build up your speed. The best martial practitioners that I personally know typically have flawless technique in their training. That does not mean that they are always flawless just that when they do some thing that does not feel right for their body framework then readjust and find the right angle, etc. to make it work without bringing too much muscle to bear. When training you should place yourself into situations where technique will be essential. I cannot tell you how many times I have trained at less than optimal physical conditions. Whether it was weather related or that I was feeling ill, injured, etc. Each time when training like this it was important that my technique be really sharp to make things work in their easiest manner. If I found myself using too much muscle I would go back and rework the angle, frame, etc. so that I could then do the technique effortlessly. Taking the time to do it right has paid off for me in a moment of violence. (work related) If you train correctly you will find that over time your technique will hopefully be able to withstand that day when you are ill, injured, etc. and still come through for you if you need it in a moment of violence! Take your time and do it right!
Thanks for using the pic! Something my piano teacher told me that I think sums up what youre saying here is, “practice doesnt make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect”
Interestingly I was in a great hurry to get back to training CMA after not being able to train correctly or at all after an extended time off due to injury and last week I decided I was not doing it right, not right at all. I was reading “Fundamentals of Pa Kua Chang Vol. 1 by Park Bok Nam” where it discusses the way Park Bok Nam was trained by his sifu and the way that Park Bok Nam trains his students, why he trains then that way and why he feels it is beneficial and I realized I needed to work on basics in Baguazhang (Pa Kua Chang) if I was going to return to training it and not just start working on the form like I was. That lead me to thinking about taijiquan and how I did not feel I understood the 13 postures as much as I use to or the qigong of it like I should so I am going to focus on them for a while and not do the form. This then lead me to revisit my Xingyiquan but there I discovered I worked basics every time I trained, which is probably why I feel I have a better understanding of Xingyiquan than taijiquan at the moment even though I have been training taijiquan a considerably longer than Xingyiquan. But even in Xingyi there are even things I need to work on that I am not so that is changing too.
And even though all of these styles are considered *Internal styles” I also realized I need to work a lot more on my physical fitness as well. My overall fitness has taken a real hit due to the injuries and suspected that before I was reading Park Bok Nam’s book after the first few chapters discussing training it was evidently clear I needed to train things other than Chinese Martial arts forms to get to where I wanted to be. I could say to train the forms and technique at this point would be at the expense of my overall health and my martial art, even though muscle does not have as big a role in IMA styles, you still need to be in good shape to do the styles properly, especially when it counts in a real confrontation.
And that is a long wordy way of saying I completely agree, you have to take your time and do it right…even after you have been doing it for years…maybe even more so after years of training because it is real easy to get complacent and assume you have it because you have been doing it for years
Nice post Tim,
I think if you have been training for a long time that complacency can be one of your biggest pitfalls. Way to often have I met the complacent long time martial practitioner and been stunned that they have allowed themselves to not grow or be challenges in a long time. Great post!!!.