Adaptation and Martial Arts

Adaptation and Marital Arts

 

One of the benefits to the explosion of MMA is the widespread acceptance of cross training in multiple Martial Arts. As a JKD Instructor and student cross training is something that both of my Instructors Sifu Dave Hatch (www.attributivemartialarts.com) and Sifu Paul Vunak (www.fighting.net) have advocated for years. It is well known that Sijo Bruce Lee was one of the early proponents of this type of training in the modern era of Martial Arts.

Typically is one decides they are going to train more than one style they will have to seek out multiple Instructors. Not only will they have to familiarize themselves with more than one Art they have to adapt to the teaching styles and methods of multiple Instructors.

Here is an example of this in my training. I began training with Sifu Dave Hatch here in Michigan in 1995 and began training with Sifu Paul Vunak in 2002. While they both are certified by Guro Dan Inosanto (www.inosanto.com) and teach JKD and Kali they have quite a different emphasis in their teaching styles and curriculum. I feel that this difference has made me adapt to new situations and new surroundings and as a result their differences has made me a better Martial Artist and Instructor.

I feel that confusion and the need to adapt to that confusion is a very valuable tool for any athlete, especially for Martial Artists. It is one of the most underappreciated and underused teaching methods available to Instructors. It can be used with both beginning and advanced students to test their foundation and retention of proper technique and mechanics.  At first this will be very frustrating for the student but if they are reassured they will adapt to it as a training method and look forward to it.

Here is an example of how I use confusion in training my students using basic boxing footwork and combination with the focus mitts. One of the things that I stress in long range punching is proper covering before, during and after the punch. The biggest area that I see many students have trouble with is covering the chin with the shoulder throughout the punch. This is a training method that Sifu Dave has instilled in me since I began training with him.

When the student has the basic combinations and footwork down I will begin to test their retention of the material with the focus mitt. At first hitting the mitt maybe enough to change the stimulus to bring about the challenge and cause confusion, usually due to the student wanting to hit the mitts to hard without proper form.

Next we add in some foot work, then combinations and then combinations with footwork. It is not my intention to add more techniques or fancy techniques in the training. The addition of these things and the students increased skill level is a byproduct of the need to adapt to new things and accept that frustration and confusion is part of the learning process. For me this was method was really evident the first time I trained with Sifu Paul. He said that he was not going to teach us any new techniques but different ways to train them. Since 2002 I have been out to train with him 5 times and I don’t learn new techniques, I learn more efficient ways to train the techniques that I already know.

Again the beauty of this training method is that it can be done with beginning and advanced students. Want to frustrate and “advanced” Martial Artist? Confuse them with odd combinations and then watch their basics go right out the window. They will believe that this is new material and think that the Instructor is a genius. When in reality the Instructor is just testing their retention of the basics.

In closing I feel that the best thing for an Instructor to do is to progressively challenge their students by forcing them to adapt. This cannot be done over night but with a consistent change in stimulus it won’t take long until the students really have to be tested to rattle them.

Happy Headbutting,

Shawn