The Knowledge Barrier

[Bill Mattocks]

Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out. Everyone talks about being close-minded as if it were a bad thing. In general terms, it may be. But not every concept, notion, or idea deserves my full attention. I'm sorry, I'm not going to open my mind to the possibility that I could fly off the roof of my house if I tried Jo-Jo the Dogfaced Boy's technique I saw in Youtube.

I try to keep an open mind about martial arts techniques and love to learn new things. I'm not a master of anything, so I hardly consider myself to be in a position to judge. However, there are many things which I simply employ my experience, my intelligence, and my common sense on and say "No, I'm not going to try that." Maybe I'm missing out. Oh well. My remaining life is too short to go chasing after every crazy wild-*** martial arts technique I've seen demoed on Youtube. I'll just keep plugging along with Isshin-Ryu. So far, it doesn't seem to be missing anything I need, so I don't feel I need anything more.

 

[grumpywolfman]

Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out. Everyone talks about being close-minded as if it were a bad thing. In general terms, it may be. But not every concept, notion, or idea deserves my full attention. I'm sorry, I'm not going to open my mind to the possibility that I could fly off the roof of my house if I tried Jo-Jo the Dogfaced Boy's technique I saw in Youtube.

... My remaining life is too short to go chasing after every crazy wild-*** martial arts technique I've seen demoed on Youtube.

Do you honestly believe that this is what the original poster is trying to encourage? If not, then why write this?

 

[geezer]

No reason to jump all over Bill. He has a good point. Sometimes having a cautious and skeptical attitude is warranted. And not just regarding bogus crap on Youtube. I've been to a lot of seminars and workshops by recognized authorities. I have dutifully "emptied my cup" and given their stuff a fair shot ...trained it, examined it, ...then gone home and rejected it. Sometimes because I found it impractical and simply "not-so good", but more often simply because it was fundamentally incompatible with my core arts. The stuff may be totally legit and worthwhile to learn about, but if it's based on concepts or kinetic theories that conflict with the equally valid concepts you've trained for years, and drilled into automatic, reflexive responses, then you are better off without it. Sure learn about new and different stuff ...just don't try to internalize it. More isn't always better. You could well end up just messing up what you've got!

This same point was made earlier by Flying Crane, and then largely ignored as the conversation went in other directions. Maybe you guys should take another look:

There is another issue at play here as well. Often a method that works really really well needs to be adhered to strictly. If the method is mixed with other influences then it actually does lose its effectiveness. Another method that ALSO works really really well may simply be incompatible with the first method...

Personally, I believe in my method completely. I understand it, it makes tremendous sense to me, and I have embraced it. I would be unlikely to embrace a different method, even if someone can show me that it works well. To embrace the new method would mean to throw out all that I've worked on, all that I believe in, to start over for no good reason. In that case, it would be akin to chasing the flavor of the month. So I won't do it. I've found what is a good match for me. I know that other things out there also work well, but they aren't such a good match for me so there's no reason for me to chase after them.

 

[Christian Soldier]

 

[Christian Soldier]

Pride is a big issue with everyone and it can ruin pretty much anything.

"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Proverbs 11:2. Very applicable to martial arts.

For MA I'm willing to listen and see if I can learn something from it (which I usually can). Even if I tried, I couldn't change my fighting style completly, everything I learn will have a kenpo influence that's just the way I move and it's the only way I know how. It's like when you are writing someone else's signature, it still will have slight resemblances to yours. I often view 'new' martial arts things foriegn to my style with skeptism, but I'm willing to listen and learn. And that's good because there is some really cool stuff out there!

 

[DennisBreene]

All too often, we engage our egos before we engage our ability to reason. (In life and in MA) Training should be focused on mastering what you know and at some point of accomplishment, deconstructing what you "know" so that you can relearn. It requires an open mind and objectivity. If you are fortunate enough to discover new techniques that work for you or nuances that improve what you have "mastered" ; it seems to me that you are on a path forged by the Grand Masters. I don't mean to imply that we will all develop a new system, but we will be better able to personalize the effectiveness of whatever system we wish to follow.