Drilling Vs Doing

How does one become proficient at doing something? Should you drill or perform the activity real time. For me personally, I prefer to just do it. When I played soccer as a youth, we would scrimmage to prepare for the game. When I boxed,sparring was the main method of preparation (same for kickboxing, judo, etc.). I never really did a lot of drills because I felt that after a certain point they created a pattern to how one moves and reacts. I always wanted to be adaptable, so I would just do. This may not work for all, but it is my believe. I want to be like water and be adaptable.

Discipline & Consistent Training

They way people learn in martial arts is very different than it was years ago. People tend to want to learn flash and flare over basics and they try skip on to what they see as advanced before perfecting the basics. It isn't fun to run, skip rope, shadow box, hit the bag, do push ups, etc. day in and day out. It is exciting to work on one or 2 things for one training session. People get bored easily and want to move on to the next hottest thing (not just in the gym, but in other aspects of life). Well, the basics are most important and when all else fails, you can fall back on them. The discipline of training day in and day out for the sake of training is what we must do. This is how you build a foundation. Take your time and build your house strong. Don't throw it up quickly (like a lot of the new subdivisions these days). Make it last.

Be In The Moment

People like to plan out strategies to prepare for fights. The work on drills based on what they think their opponent is going to do. They work on some special weapon that they will need to defeat their opponent. I never took that approach. I don't pre-plan. I live in the moment. What this means is that I go with no expectations. I flow with the situation. In the moment, I find my way to victory. When I train I work on strong basics. I believe that the basics are what positions for success. So, don't look at what someone did yesterday and assume that it will be the same today. You are not his or her last opponent. You don't move, think or look like their last opponent. Be yourself and be in the moment.

Judo And Taekwondo Are The Most Popular Martial Arts

Have you wondered what the most popular martial arts are? They are Judo and Taekwondo. Both are Olympic sports and are practiced worldwide. For male sports, the sport must have 75 countries and 4 continents and for female sports, 40 countries and 3 continents. Both have a governing body and recognized world championships. Every time I've visited a another country and turned on a sports channel, I've seen some Judo on TV. Now of course sports like boxing and wrestling are popular too, but I'm referring to traditional arts. Karate is very popular, but there a thousands of styles that don't associated with each other for political reasons and what not. Tai Chi is probably the most practiced non sport martial art. In the U.S. many think Kickboxing and MMA are more popular. In the U.S. Judo has never been really popular. I would say Taekwondo has been and still is. In my home state, I see more Taekwondo schools than any other type of martial art.

Tway Ma Shaung Highlight (Bare Knuckle Lethwei)

This is a great video showing Lethwei fighting. It is a bare knuckle style of fighting wear the fighters only wrap their hands. Very much like Muay Thai (with head butts, standing chokes, etc. included. You have to knock the opponent out to win. No point system. Once you get past the brutality of it, you can appreciate seeing what skilled fighting looks for real. Imagine these skills on the street. It is pure and practical. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y3K84cCoIU

You Have To Spar

The most important training tool in learning a martial art is sparring. You can do all the drills, exercises, etc., but you have to spar. When we look at athletes in any sport, we see all the training and sport science philosophies put out in the magazines. We want the same supplements and training equipment they use to take them to the next level. All that is cool, but nothing is more important than doing the activity that you aspire to be good at. Everything is supplemental. Professional sports team scrimmage to prepare for games. Fighters have to spar to prepare for fights.

Can You Teach Without Ever Competing?

In martial arts businesses there are a lot of coaches who teach boxing and kickboxing. There are black belt instructors who teach, but have never competed. Are these coaches credible? For the most part no. When I was 12, my Dad coached my soccer team. He never played soccer. He got a book and coached as best he could. Having started playing soccer in Ft. Bragg, NC at a young age I acquired a good level of skill. My family moved back to Atlanta GA and when I started playing soccer, I was a Pele as the development was low in Atlanta during this time. My team had great success, but it was not because my Pops was an awesome coach. He had me as a good center forward who scored a lot of goals and my brother, the goalie who prevented others from scoring. I give this story as an example of how I see a lot of gyms run by guys who don't know a right cross from a kick in the butt, but through marketing or getting decent athletes to work for them, they can fool the public. So, if you really want to learn a martial art, research the instructors credentials to make sure that they are valid. Would you let a surgeon who has never operated on anyone operate on you?