Everything starts with technique, but tech. isn't everything

[bushido_man96]

I love working technique, and I love teaching the importance of technique in basics. Everything we do, not just in the Martial Arts, but in every athletic endeavor, and some not athletic, begin with a technical aspect in learning. Learn the technique, and then things start flowing better. Performance improves as technique improves. This is the foundation. But, I also think that there comes a time when other aspects have to added to the technique in order to improve. Strength training, speed training, things like this are important to improving us as athletes, and not just technique. I love technique, and its important. But its not the only thing to work on.

[lowereastside]

"But, I also think that there comes a time when other aspects have to added to the technique in order to improve. Strength training, speed training, things like this are important to improving us as athletes, and not just technique."

I Agree - take Boxing - its not just learning to Box - it's also the conditioning involved in the training - hitting the speed bag - running - hitting the heavy bag - the pushups............

[Wastelander]

I was actually talking with someone about this yesterday in regards to some people I know who train somewhere else. It brought to mind something that I read from someone on a martial arts forum--I can't remember which one, though it could have been here--that said something like "when you look back on your training 20 or 30 years down the road, will you be able to say that you were learning that whole time, or were you just practicing the first 3 years over and over again?"

Technique is obviously very important, as it gives us a foundation to build upon, and it should never be neglected. That said, I wholeheartedly agree that there is so much more out there to be learned and if we do nothing but perfect the foundation then we will never get our house built.

[lowereastside]

" That said, I wholeheartedly agree that there is so much more out there to be learned and if we do nothing but perfect the foundation then we will never get our house built."

Well said - The foundation is very important - the basic techniques must be developed - having said that - it comes a time when one must go - jeez its hard putting this into words - Let men give this example - When my daughter first started school she would do her A,B,C's following those little dots - how many of us write like that now - Just like writing - martial arts is a progression - your martial arts should be like writing in script. I'm not saying to forget the basics - Just like a teacher in primary school - you must teach the basics but not practice the basics on that basic level. Hope I'm making some sense out of this.

[Harkon72]

I have learnt that Spirit comes first and technique comes second. Do not fear a man who can do 1,000 techniques, fear the man that has done one technique 1,000 times.

[DWx]

I agree Brian. I look at it like any kind of physical activity or sport, if you want to be good you have to first have technique but then add in power and strength etc. Power and strength and speed can also to some extent make up for poor technique.

[ps1]

It’s very rare that I find myself disagreeing with Brian. But this is one case where I disagree nearly 100%. Technique is everything (assuming we leave the metaphysical out of this). Proper technique creates proper leverage. The better the lever, the more useful the move.

Strength, speed, agility, cardio…these are all athletic traits. And in a competition, they are important. If you have two people of equal skill in technique, the bigger/faster/stronger person is likely to win. However, outside of competition, there really aren’t weight divisions. So the usefulness of athletic traits (again, not talking about general living or being healthy here) becomes less important with larger disparity in size. A 135lb man facing me at 230lb is doomed if his technique is not spot on. Yet I’ve met boxers who can pick me apart with angles and set ups. Pedro Sauer (8th degree GJJ black belt) easily destroys me on the ground, and he’s 55 yrs old. He wins not because of his athleticism. He wins because his technique is near perfect. He connects to me in a way that everything I do amplifies or enhances his movement. Likewise, the boxer uses angles that make it so when I move, my movement takes me right into the next strike; not because he was faster, but because his mechanics were better.

As we get older, youth is stripped away, strength is stolen, and speed is lost. All we have left is technique. If a person hopes to have any kind of longevity in the arts, they must shed themselves of the need for physical power and embrace the proper body mechanics that will allow their body to endure the test of time. Doing martial arts this way allows you to avoid more injuries, experience success even at an older age, and train indefinitely.

[Kusotare]

It’s very rare that I find myself disagreeing with Brian. But this is one case where I disagree nearly 100%. Technique is everything (assuming we leave the metaphysical out of this). Proper technique creates proper leverage. The better the lever, the more useful the move.

Strength, speed, agility, cardio…these are all athletic traits. And in a competition, they are important. If you have two people of equal skill in technique, the bigger/faster/stronger person is likely to win. However, outside of competition, there really aren’t weight divisions. So the usefulness of athletic traits (again, not talking about general living or being healthy here) becomes less important with larger disparity in size. A 135lb man facing me at 230lb is doomed if his technique is not spot on. Yet I’ve met boxers who can pick me apart with angles and set ups. Pedro Sauer (8th degree GJJ black belt) easily destroys me on the ground, and he’s 55 yrs old. He wins not because of his athleticism. He wins because his technique is near perfect. He connects to me in a way that everything I do amplifies or enhances his movement. Likewise, the boxer uses angles that make it so when I move, my movement takes me right into the next strike; not because he was faster, but because his mechanics were better.

As we get older, youth is stripped away, strength is stolen, and speed is lost. All we have left is technique. If a person hopes to have any kind of longevity in the arts, they must shed themselves of the need for physical power and embrace the proper body mechanics that will allow their body to endure the test of time. Doing martial arts this way allows you to avoid more injuries, experience success even at an older age, and train indefinitely.

Spot on imo

[Tempest]

It’s very rare that I find myself disagreeing with Brian. But this is one case where I disagree nearly 100%. Technique is everything (assuming we leave the metaphysical out of this). Proper technique creates proper leverage. The better the lever, the more useful the move.

Strength, speed, agility, cardio…these are all athletic traits. And in a competition, they are important. If you have two people of equal skill in technique, the bigger/faster/stronger person is likely to win. However, outside of competition, there really aren’t weight divisions. So the usefulness of athletic traits (again, not talking about general living or being healthy here) becomes less important with larger disparity in size. A 135lb man facing me at 230lb is doomed if his technique is not spot on. Yet I’ve met boxers who can pick me apart with angles and set ups. Pedro Sauer (8th degree GJJ black belt) easily destroys me on the ground, and he’s 55 yrs old. He wins not because of his athleticism. He wins because his technique is near perfect. He connects to me in a way that everything I do amplifies or enhances his movement. Likewise, the boxer uses angles that make it so when I move, my movement takes me right into the next strike; not because he was faster, but because his mechanics were better.

As we get older, youth is stripped away, strength is stolen, and speed is lost. All we have left is technique. If a person hopes to have any kind of longevity in the arts, they must shed themselves of the need for physical power and embrace the proper body mechanics that will allow their body to endure the test of time. Doing martial arts this way allows you to avoid more injuries, experience success even at an older age, and train indefinitely.

Got to agree with this. Particularly in the area of aging. One of the BBs I roll with is in his 70s and I am 25 and outweigh him by 20+ pounds. No amount of speed or strength training is going to help him. But with technique, knowledge, and experience he is able to make things VERY difficult for me on a regular basis.

[bushido_man96]

It’s very rare that I find myself disagreeing with Brian. But this is one case where I disagree nearly 100%. Technique is everything (assuming we leave the metaphysical out of this). Proper technique creates proper leverage. The better the lever, the more useful the move.

Strength, speed, agility, cardio…these are all athletic traits. And in a competition, they are important. If you have two people of equal skill in technique, the bigger/faster/stronger person is likely to win. However, outside of competition, there really aren’t weight divisions. So the usefulness of athletic traits (again, not talking about general living or being healthy here) becomes less important with larger disparity in size. A 135lb man facing me at 230lb is doomed if his technique is not spot on. Yet I’ve met boxers who can pick me apart with angles and set ups. Pedro Sauer (8th degree GJJ black belt) easily destroys me on the ground, and he’s 55 yrs old. He wins not because of his athleticism. He wins because his technique is near perfect. He connects to me in a way that everything I do amplifies or enhances his movement. Likewise, the boxer uses angles that make it so when I move, my movement takes me right into the next strike; not because he was faster, but because his mechanics were better.

As we get older, youth is stripped away, strength is stolen, and speed is lost. All we have left is technique. If a person hopes to have any kind of longevity in the arts, they must shed themselves of the need for physical power and embrace the proper body mechanics that will allow their body to endure the test of time. Doing martial arts this way allows you to avoid more injuries, experience success even at an older age, and train indefinitely.

Got to agree with this. Particularly in the area of aging. One of the BBs I roll with is in his 70s and I am 25 and outweigh him by 20+ pounds. No amount of speed or strength training is going to help him. But with technique, knowledge, and experience he is able to make things VERY difficult for me on a regular basis.

I agree that technique is important, and I don't think it should ever by forgone. But, I also think that strength and speed, although they do fade with time, a surprising amount of it can be retained through training. Not all of it, but some of it.

I also think its important that we not forget that the experience that comes with time and training also add to one's ability. Your armbar technique can be spot on, but without the experience to make it work in various situations, using setups, etc, it likely isn't worth much.

It all works together. And it all starts with technique. Adding in strength, experience, speed, etc, make it all better.