Perfection vs Functionality
Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this posting, please have a look at the following link first (I know that this is not RBSD training, but it does effectively demonstrate a very important RBSD principal)
http://neurology.med.upenn.edu/~jason/fights/Challenge-Kyokushin.vs.KungFu.mpg
It is interesting to see that those who are highly “skilled” in “technique” (all of the kung fu guys were high level practitioners) have great difficulty in making such “technique” transition to an open environment external to their style of fighting, usually because their techniques were learned via rote, and never pressure tested outside of their own style/system.
It is my belief that there are two forms of “technique”
1. “Perfect” Technique
2. “Functional” Technique
“Perfect” technique is what is usually needed for grading or acceleration in some martial arts and amateur/professional sports through demonstration performance abilities.
“Functional” technique is often not necessarily attractive or pleasing to the eye, but is needed for real world self-protection.
The Drunken style kung fu guys probably had “perfect” technique in their “closed” style of fighting, but “functionality” proved less desirable against the Kyokushin Fighters who were more focused, goal oriented, and functional in their application of technique.
A good example that draws a correlation difference between the two is police academy academia. Once one graduates from the police academy you learn “perfect” police science skills, but once the new recruit hits the streets, they quickly learn to make these skills “functional” via direct application.
It is important to have a strong and validated combative foundation based on technique, but one needs to ensure that the technique is functional for it to be of practical application on the street. Maybe this is another difference between the “art” and “martial” of martial arts in today’s modern world. IMO, many martial arts stress perfect technique (art) and in the process have forgotten about functionality of technique (martial) that is needed for true survival in today’s real world. It is because of this fact that many (not all) cannot transition or have great difficulty in applying their superior skill and perfect technique to either scenario based replication training (when combined with Survival Stress Reaction) or an actual street encounter.
To me “functionality” of technique is far more important than “perfect” technique for what it is that I do and teach. To me, it’s a difference in priorities, outcomes, attitude and emphasis in what it is I train for in my opinion. Too many in this field however, fail to recognize this very important distinction due to their lack of real world experience, at times ignorance, and even outright willful blindness.
Darren
January 18, 2009 at 6:18 pm | Uncategorized | No comment