Hardcore Basics

[vincefuess]

I started my martial arts career at the tender age of seven years old. Luckily, the folks who exposed me to the arts were some of the great pioneers- mainly Allen Steen, Demetrius Havanas, and Skipper Mullins with whom my brother trained.

My family moved from Dallas to a little po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere, where there was no martial arts instruction to be had except when my brother came to visit. My brother taught me something that I try to pass on today- hammer your basics! All the techniques in the world won't help you if you cannot punch or kick effectively. I had a heavy bag, a couple of books written by Sosai Mas Oyama, and a home-made makiwara- which I punched and kicked until I could punch and kick no more.

When I graduated college and was able to actually train in a well founded school, I soon discovered that all those years spent training myself to punch and kick effectively were the key to excellence in my techniques, not to mention sparring. I could strike more effectively and more powerfully than most of my instructors- all they had to do was teach me when and where to direct that power.

All of the fancy, intricate techniques in the world do you no good whatsoever if you do not have the basic ability to deliver the decisive blow at the moment you create.

Hammer, hammer, hammer those basics. They are your life blood.

:soapbox:

 

[tonbo]

There's an old saying: "Every day, it's the same old thing: breathe, breathe, breathe".

Basics, basics, basics........that's what it's all about. Thanks for the reminder, vince......we gotta crawl before we walk, walk before we run, and run before we can fly.

:asian:

Peace--

 

[Wertle]

I would agree!

I tend to notice the importance of this when helping lower ranks learn their new techniques. Throwing, for example, when showing a new hip throw, I always find the first thing I say to be "it's kinda like ogoshi (the first hip throw they're taught) only..."

So I definately think it's important, in strikes, throws, counterjoints, or whatever you're learning ^_^

 

[Jay Bell]

Excellent posts, folks. Fundamentals are something skated over far too often. A lot of people that I see are so stuck in the, "Neat...so what's next" frame of mine that they never get a strong foundation.

It shows even years later

 

[Chiduce]

The basics transform into intermediate and intermediate transfom into advanced analogies within the practitioner's physical expressive motion!
Sincerely, In Humility;
Chiduce!

 

[jkn75]

I completely agree that basics are important. I always watch a person's feet and stances. If their footwork and stances are good, they have spent some time working hard in the martial arts. As I progress in martial arts I tend to focus on these basics more and more especially in my own training.

:asian:

 

[MartialArtist]

Sometimes, students in McDojos and in special cases, military-version schools don't even understand why the basics are important. They get into a situation, thinking they can do a triple back spin kick but if you can't do the basic moves or even grasp basic things like timing or footwork, you will practically be hopeless.

Power, speed, practicality... All come with proper technique.

 

[MartialArtist]

Some techniques leave more room for error than others, but the basics are what makes things work.

Now, you can't learn the basics and think you are all set. Until the basics are burned into your CNS and are "written" as instinct, you have a long ways to go.

 

[bscastro]

My instructor gave me part of his philosophy on basics:
"I keep things pretty basic...but as you get better, I put you in situations where you are putting the basics to use in tougher situations."
For example, use a basic pak sao from JKD or Wing Chun
1. First, you do it stationary with a partner. Many, many times.
2. Then you move around a little.
3. Then put it in with some sensitivity drills. More resistance.
4. and so on until you are pulling it off in sparring. Your opponent doesn't want you to pull this off!

Burton Richardson wrote an interesting article on basics or fundamentals. Here's the link: http://www.jkdunlimited.com/off6.htm

In any case, it's good to see that many people here are of similar thoughts as to the importance of the basics.

Bryan

 

[KennethKu]

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace once said,' When you are 250lb, you really don't need to know a lot of techniques." lol True for the most part.

 

[TaoBoy]

My instructor is always telling us that no-one should be getting bored in class. That even when we are going over the basics for the 1000th time that we should find something new in it to focus on.

Works for me.

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by KennethKu

Bill "Superfoot" Wallace once said,' When you are 250lb, you really don't need to know a lot of techniques." lol True for the most part.

Not really. My brother is about 6'7" 295, even at his age. He's fast for his size, good reaction and reflexes, but he can't fight. And he almost went through the same training I did. 250 matters if you're a NFL player, yes, but it hardly determines the winner of a fight.

 

[theneuhauser]

like tonbo said, everyday is about the fundamentals, and life is built up upon those basic functions like breathing.
its not even just about winning fights, either. why do some people that seem to have everything you could ever want become bored and depressed with their lives? while others find joy in the smallest things? the little things are so often taken for granted. smell the roses.

 

[Shinzu]

when i first began the MA i thought basics were very boring. now as i am older i realise that they are the foundation of my art. you can never get enough of good balance, strikes, punches, kicks etc..

 

[Nightingale]

I don't mind basics. there's always something new to work on... the only thing I hate is foot maneuvers. That's the one thing about kenpo I don't like. I understand the necessity, but just plain don't like em... lol.

 

[tonbo]

I read a great article once about how basics are often misused.

The general theme of the article was that the author studied at a school where they would do something like 50 of each block and strike during warmups. People grew used to having to do multiple sets of blocks and punches, and began to grow lazy, counting number instead of quality.

One evening, the instructor started out with the overhead block, and counted out "One!". As soon as everyone had done the block, the instructor bowed the class out, saying class was done for the night.

Before he let everyone go, however, he told the class to think about the one block that they did that night. He told them to consider that the one block they did might have been the only one they would have had a chance to use on the street. Would the one they did in class have been effective, or were they being lazy, anticipating 49 other blocks?

I thought that was a great thing to keep in mind, and now I try to execute each block, strike, or kick as if it were the "only one".

Ah, martial arts stories.....they warm the soul, no?

Peace--

 

[bscastro]

Originally posted by tonbo

One evening, the instructor started out with the overhead block, and counted out "One!". As soon as everyone had done the block, the instructor bowed the class out, saying class was done for the night.

Before he let everyone go, however, he told the class to think about the one block that they did that night. He told them to consider that the one block they did might have been the only one they would have had a chance to use on the street. Would the one they did in class have been effective, or were they being lazy, anticipating 49 other blocks?

I thought that was a great thing to keep in mind, and now I try to execute each block, strike, or kick as if it were the "only one".

I like this. Also, it fits in well with my current training situation. Being recently married and starting a new job, I've had little time for training outside of my twice-a-week JKD class. However, I've been taking advantage of 30-45 minutes breaks in my time to get a productive little workout in. Once a week, my training partner comes over and we work on one or two things for an hour. What I've found is that I've been very focused during the workouts and the intensity is usually much higher. It's been great!

Bryan