408 - Autonomous Combative Excellence
Understanding the path to combative skill acquisition for the beginner and "non-beginner"...
Copyright © 2023 by Jeth Randolph
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Following on from a conversation from last Tuesday’s workshop, I wanted to record a couple of ideas here about the learning phase of a new tactic or technique.
Just like the tortoise and the hare, rather than a sprint to win a race there can be a rush to achieve mastery of a new skill when you are a beginner that actually sets you back rather than forward.
There can be a desire to rush on the part of new students and also more experienced people too.
“That’s cool! I wanna do that!!”
From the initial demonstration and explanation, there can sometimes be a rushed performance of what is perceived at that moment to be the tactic so as to, perhaps understandably, feel that the trainee is able to do it.
Learning stages - what to expect
There are multiple stages to the skill learning process and there is research and anecdotal experience aplenty about how long it takes.
A lot of this can revolve understandably, around the complexity of the new idea and even that is subjective to the individual.
So the “K.I.S.S.” advice is not relevant to all people within any group of individuals that may present for training.
Without touching upon specific instruction and learning methods, the following is a highly simplified breakdown of three of the stages that a trainee passes through when learning a new skill.
These also apply in part, to experienced trainees adding new learning.
1) Cognitive - The “how do I do this?” stage
During the first couple of sessions the new idea may require a lot of concentration and may be physically demanding due to lack of synergy in the trainee’s body movement and ability to draw on this.
There are multiple things going on in both the brain and body and this slows the desired progress.
Common problems
Along with rushing, and in part as a symptom of it, there is other stuff that typically slows progress at this stage:
Breathing - breath holding and inefficient breathing raises the tendency to gas out, this can then lead to muscle tension and a diminished mental state for learning.
Muscle tension - partly as a result of breathing and also sometimes from fear, this heightens the oxygen demand and we’re back to gas out and sometimes, injury either yourself and/or your training partners!
Read more on these last couple of ideas:
Two qualities to focus on
It’s like two cars in a race:
One fast one that represents speed and strength and another seemingly travelling slower that represents quality of movement and intention.
Despite speed, the faster car will lose the race every time during the learning phase to quality of movement and intention.
In actual performance (a real fight), yes there must be speed and strength. But the foundation and ability to deliver these with true skill is always found in excellent form and intention.
“Slow is smooth and smooth is fast”, should be branded into your mind if you truly desire to study and learn this subject.
Read more on intent, in this series of articles:
2) Associative - The “That’s how I do this!” stage
After a few more sessions of practice, the new idea takes less effort to perform as it is familiar and therefore takes less concentration.
There is also a decrease in physical effort as the movements are more coordinated and more efficient.
3) Autonomous - Towards the “I do this” mastery stage
Here the mental demands are much lower and the mind can now start to turn it’s attention to other related factors simultaneously.
“Flow state” can start to be experienced.
The new skill becomes automatic, the trainee can self correct mid - performance and mental and physical effort can be refocused on achieving increased excellence.
4) “Hey, I thought you said three stages!?”
I know, life can be like that. After you have a made a skill autonomous, it needs to be maintained.
That means regular practice of basics that you intend to rely on in the case of a fight for your life. These basics will be of your own choosing and built around what works for you not some hotshot on Ewetube.
Check out this article that expands upon this subject:
Remember as well that those individuals in the room considered “advanced” often continue also to find new learning in supposedly basic ideas. This process never truly ends.
How long does “Autonomous” take to get to?
Well that depends on the subjectively experienced complexity and demands of the new skill and also the actual training hours devoted to practice, but anywhere from days to months.
One workshop a week and no self directed practice, progress will be slower.
If training and practice is sporadic, progress will be limited. You will understand basic ideas but lack the synergy and recognition to perform at a mastery level.
One or more training sessions a week and multiple self directed practice sessions per week will enable good progression for most committed persons.
Yes, this can be an undertaking demanding not inconsiderable dedication, but this is a peregrination after all, a process rather than just a destination.
This is also the longevity, autonomy and honour of yourself and those you love that you are learning to defend.
What is that worth to you?
Perfect practice?
That old adage of “Practice makes perfect” is not really correct.
If you practice with poor quality then that is what you will get. So just putting in hours of random stuff and thinking that will do the job is erroneous.
Nearer to the truth then, is the slightly adapted “Perfect practice makes perfect”. The initial information was good quality and that is what is constantly reinforced and therefore, a quality result will be seen.
As humans however, we are not perfect.
Information can be updated with newer, better ideas and over time we physically experience different life demands as well as age related decline.
Potential martial arts and self defence customers are attracted to images of perfection and powerfully imagine themselves in place of the individual depicted in the video or advert.
But this perfection is marketed precisely because you can never achieve it, there will always be something that you lack.
This is what keeps fitness and martial companies rich by selling an impossible goal to the client and then placing the responsibility for failure on the client and then selling them a new product to solve it.
Around and round it goes.
A better and healthier outlook then, is rather than to be obsessed with the unobtainable notion of perfection, to be concerned with the pursuit of “excellence”.
A base line goal of “That works for me and is good and functional” coupled with an ongoing quest for excellence based on your own situation will take you far.
I’ll leave you with a quotation from Aristotle, supplied from Jim Keating, who’s kindly helped me along the “way”, one of the two individuals that have supported and shared my work on their own platforms to their readers and who continues to inspire me to try and obtain the habit of excellence. Thanks Jim.
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
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Jeth