Thanks to my previous post on the importance of learning and continuing to practice the basics, a few people have asked why I think it is that so many martial artists are quick to neglect the basic techniques when it comes to training, so I thought I would try and answer that question here in this post.
I have also posed the same question to some of the other martial arts bloggers out there in the blogosphere and you can read some of their answers by clicking on the links at the end of this article. I think you’ll find some of them quite interesting.
Why I Think The Basics Are Often Neglected In Martial Arts
First and foremost, if people are neglecting the basics in martial arts it is mainly for two reasons:
1. They have trained in the basics and are therefore put off for whatever reason from continuing to train in them.
2. They have had little training in the basics and are therefore unaware of their importance.
Let’s expand on that first reason and take a moment to discuss why people are put off from basics training.
Training in the basics is hard work, or at least it is hard work if you are doing them properly. To repetitively drill a technique over and over can be physically and mentally gruelling to do, which is kind of the point really. Demanding training of this sort is designed to tax and test the practitioner and work on building their capacity for physical and mental discomfort- in short, such training is designed to toughen you up, to condition your body and mind so that you may be able to withstand the many years of training ahead.
Everyone has to train in the basics when they start martial arts but for some reason there exists the attitude that the basic techniques just need to be brushed over, gotten out of the way before advancing to the “real” techniques, unaware that the basics are the real techniques because they are what all the other ones are built upon.
I realise that basics training, like any other kind of training, can be boring and repetitive but this is no reason to neglect their practice.
I’d also like o pick up on something that Chris from Martial Development stated in a comment he left here. The point of practice is to continually improve as you go along. Mindlessly repeating the same movements over and over without making the effort to improve upon them each time is pointless. An obvious point, you might say, but mindfulness is something else that is often neglected in martial arts and could be the subject for another article in the future. For now, it is enough to say that you should be aware of what you are doing all the time so you can pick up on mistakes and make corrections as you go.
The Western Way of Thinking
The Western mindset has a lot to do with why so many people dislike doing basic techniques. We in the West tend to think in a very shallow way at times, which makes us short-sighted and ignorant as to how things really are. When it comes to martial arts many of us tend to put all our focus on getting good for the sake of satisfying our insatiable egos, not for the sake of any deep and lasting benefit, especially of the spiritual kind.
If you look at the way the martial arts are trained in the East you can observe a real difference in attitude and practice. Eastern schools put most of their emphasis on thoroughly schooling students in the basics until the students know them inside out. They train them over and over again, sometimes to a ridiculous extent, but that is why they are so competent and why the standard of excellence is so high in these Eastern schools. Just watch the movie Budo: The Art of Killing
to see what I mean.
By comparison, Western schools are not so competent and the standard of excellence is not so high. There are exceptions of course, hardcore traditionalists who train and train until they become masters, but these people are rare in the West and most martial artists are average at best, compared to what they should be if they took things a little more seriously and left their ego out of the equation.
Ego is the real problem here. The ego, by definition, is always demanding more, it always wants new things to replace the old. In this case, basic techniques are not enough, the ego demands “better”, more flashy, more complicated techniques and when it gets them it just wants more and more. Consequently, many martial artists end up glossing over everything and internalizing nothing, mastering nothing.
This ego driven society has lead to kids with a few months training wanting (demanding!) to be put in the cage or ring to fight, even though they know nothing to speak off. They just want more, “new things” to play with and boast about. They don’t want to learn, they want to show off. They don’t want to grow at a steady pace; they want instant gratification without putting in any of the hard work.
So boring, repetitive training? No thanks. Too slow. What’s the point? Glory is better, even though it is based on false pretences. So the thinking goes.
Lazy And Insecure Instructors
Of course the schools themselves and the instructors within are as much to blame for fuelling this culture of instant gratification, hence the second reason for people not training in the basics enough. Instructors are wary of such training practices because they are afraid of loosing members by boring them too much, which is fair enough, but you can still strike a balance that maintains the students interest. You don’t have to forget the basic training to the point where you only teach it once a month at most.
I know some instructors who are themselves put off by basics training, making them just as bad, if not worse, than their students- victims of the same “right this minute” culture. They avoid the training and therefore deprive their students of much needed grounding in basic technique and the students are none the wiser because they don’t know any different.
How To Correct The Situation
This isn’t an easy situation to correct. If people don’t want to learn things properly then there isn’t much to be done. You can’t force people to do things they don’t want to do. If you are student and you feel you are not getting enough schooling in the basics, then take the initiative and ask your instructor to provide you with more training in this area. If they refuse, either take it upon yourself to do the training in your own time (as you really should be doing anyway) or join another club that does provide such training.
At the end of the day it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they are being given the proper training in the proper way. This means doing the research and taking responsibility for your own training. The buck stops with you and no one else.
So those are the main reasons why I think training in the basics are often neglected in many dojos. Below you will find the opinions of other martial artists on the subject. Please check out what they have to say as I’m sure you’ll find it interesting.
Striking Thoughts: Know Your Martial Arts Fundamentals
Dojo Rat: Fundamentals: Structure
The Martial Arts Reporter: Back To Basics
Marks Training: Basic Martial Arts Training
Martial Arts And Modern Life: A Solid Foundation
My Journey To Blackbelt: Basic Skills Are The Highest Skills
Wims Blog: Martial Arts Basics
Wims Blog: Martial Arts Basics Part 2
Memoirs of a Grasshopper: Training in the Honbu Dojo
But what do you think, loyal reader? Is basics training neglected in your club or is it a model of martial arts excellence? Let me and others know by leaving your comments below and then share this article with your friends on Twitter and Facebook. Spread the word and lets all get back to basics!
