tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post4004110136565758475..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: MasterySteve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-17867667089844535222010-03-17T10:06:08.876-07:002010-03-17T10:06:08.876-07:00We have a saying in Wing Chun – “Less is More”. W...We have a saying in Wing Chun – “Less is More”. When I taught, my students would be boggled by my saying that when they first began training. We concentrate on very few techniques, preferring to use them adaptively. I remember the day I was teaching and explained that the most important techniques that they would learn in the system – they were already being taught. A few who came to me from other styles/systems were confused at that until I gave them my/our explanation. I heard the rhetoric that you don’t really learn the true system until you are black belt, etc. and I replied that was hogwash. What you begin doing on day 1 sets the tone for what you do from that day on. <br /> <br />Assume that it takes 100 hours to ingrain a ‘technique’ into your reflexes, then double that for each side (left hand / right hand). Now divide the hours you are in class and or train at home into that number. If you train in class 1 hour a day and 1 hour at home for about 5 days a week, you are looking at almost 6 months to ingrain a technique. That is 1 technique. Now say a system has 100 techniques – 600 months or 50 years to master each technique while the one before slowly atrophies from lack of training. Now you are a Black Belt and they are going to teach you the real thing? Really? After all that time you just spent making all those techniques actually work? You are going to deprogram yourself and learn the real thing? Nonsense! What they do is teach you how to APPLY those techniques more adaptively.<br /><br />So how did the masters get so good? They lived and breathed training. Most of us cannot do that. So our answer is – “Less is more”. Train a few techniques – drill them until they are reflexive – learn to apply them adaptively and aggressively. Basically learn to use them first and use them constantly. With that in mind the first thing you are taught is the thing you will work the most during your training. The thing you work the most is the one you will have the most mastery of and thus needs to be the most important in the system.<br /><br />There are those who know and art – and then there are those who KNOW an art. I have seen guys who can do dozens of forms almost flawlessly, can quote mantras, etc. but could not fight their way out of a wet paper bag. Then there are the guys who may only have a couple of forms, some drills, etc. and they can clean out a bar without working up a sweat. Less is more.<br /> <br />An interesting note: Can you really master an art? Every teacher/master I have trained under, no matter how awesome they seemed to me have always said – “I’m not that good, but MY Teacher …” <br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06744849149883129036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-86876753524170804242010-03-16T12:26:07.056-07:002010-03-16T12:26:07.056-07:00My son studied a family form of Kung Fu for 7 year...My son studied a family form of Kung Fu for 7 years, starting at age 6. Near the end, he was getting into some pretty advanced stuff, and even managed to compete in a few demonstration tournaments.<br /><br />But, as you describe, the main focus of the art, the teacher, and the school was not giving him a set of weapons to brandish at an opponent, but giving him the ability to "take care of himself." I never had to worry when he walked into a new situation with kids his age -- even when he was the shortest kid in class, he had a certain level of confidence that didn't allow for kids to pick on him.<br /><br />If you or anyone you know is in the Fairfield county, Connecticut area, make sure to check out http://www.vincentlyn.com/academy_schedule.html . I can't recommend it high enough.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00549409155692573124noreply@blogger.com