Intellectual Integrity

This isn’t working is it! (Note this is a statement not a question.) One of my knife students and I were struggling with the filipino “rolling pattern” we had adapted for knife on knife. There was one section where the technique just did not work. Originally designed to teach machete techniques, when the moves were scaled down to fit a medium sized fighting knife there was a disconnect right in the middle of the flow drill. With some effort we finally figured out how to fix it. Keep in mind that the flow is only important to allow a student to learn smooth transitions. The purpose is not to create a dance.

I am not sure how many instructors will stop in the middle of teaching a technique and admit to a student that its not working, for that student. Intellectual honesty is not rampant in today’s martial arts. It is far easier to take the money and continue on teaching useless techniques just as if everything was copacetic . As I have said before everything works in the dojo. That is not good enough if your student is in a business where people’s lives depend upon his skills, skills he learned from you or I. Repeating a bad technique a thousand times does not make it a good technique, it just ingrains bad muscle memory. Stop lying to yourself and your students, if it does not work in the dojo it will not work on the streets! Fix it.

Rote memorization is only worthwhile if the techniques are worthwhile to begin with. There are several facets to learning a martial art from anyone. Here is my simple prescription.

1. learn to discriminate

2. perfect what works

3. practice it endlessly

4. modify/discard that which does not work

Regarding item number four, you must always practice intellectual honesty and not be afraid of change. One final precautionary note: change nothing that does not need changed, and do not become addicted to innovation for innovation’s sake, always seek simplicity in your moves.