I was asked on several occasions if I had ever gone to coach a training session without knowing what I would do? In short, the answer is - no! Admittedly, I have appeared in sessions without previously planning the class, more than once. So, how come the answer to the question was negative? Quite simply, there is a super important aspect of training that you can always revisit without feeling guilty... As the matter of fact, if you are not training every day, and making it part of that daily training, you are probably in need of more. It is called - BASICS!
If a man of Virgil Hunter's caliber, coaching champions, stresses the importance of fundamental techniques and tactics, who am I to dispute it? After all, he works with champions and challengers in a tough world of professional boxing, where the failure to train properly is very costly in so many ways.
Now, some may argue that the entire technical arsenal of boxing is rather basic in general, and that other combative systems operate in a more diverse circumstances, hence demanding more variety in training, too. Say, weapon based methods would be like that, right? Well, not exactly. Namely, while the challenges that the practitioners of non-sportive approaches to combat may be of wider scope, effective responses to them are, nonetheless, based on a limited set of mechanical and tactical principles that are best adopted through the diligent practice of those system's basics.
Interestingly enough, most advanced practitioners, and particularly those good in actual fighting, enjoy the constant focus on fundamentals, because they tend to always find new applications and variations of those underlying principles. And it is exactly those novel expressions and applications that make "new and advanced" techniques, but are only possible owing to the incessant drilling of foundations. My main FMA instructor Roger Agbulos keeps repeating his mantra of "advanced techniques being fundamentals done really well", and when you get to spar him, the deep trueness of this sentiment becomes very obvious.
Besides, this attitude is not limited to martial endeavors either. Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi is famous for starting the 1961 season with Green Bay Packers by gathering the team and saying: "Gentlemen...this is a football!" Another legendary coach, this time from basketball, John Wooden, would even go so far to teach his players how to put on their socks and tie their shoes.
Finally, there is one important distinction we ought to have in mind. When I rant about fundamentals here, it does not mean the disciplinary methods, i.e. customs and protocols aimed at teaching the students proper etiquette and conduct during classes (not that this is unimportant), but rather the aforementioned tenets and principles that form the technical and tactical groundwork of any given system. And with that in mind, the best way to get to the advanced levels of training is to find joy and pleasure in working on the basics.
In the long term, it is not about how soon you can skip to the next phase, but rather how long you can stay at the same and find it beneficial.
If a man of Virgil Hunter's caliber, coaching champions, stresses the importance of fundamental techniques and tactics, who am I to dispute it? After all, he works with champions and challengers in a tough world of professional boxing, where the failure to train properly is very costly in so many ways.
Now, some may argue that the entire technical arsenal of boxing is rather basic in general, and that other combative systems operate in a more diverse circumstances, hence demanding more variety in training, too. Say, weapon based methods would be like that, right? Well, not exactly. Namely, while the challenges that the practitioners of non-sportive approaches to combat may be of wider scope, effective responses to them are, nonetheless, based on a limited set of mechanical and tactical principles that are best adopted through the diligent practice of those system's basics.
Interestingly enough, most advanced practitioners, and particularly those good in actual fighting, enjoy the constant focus on fundamentals, because they tend to always find new applications and variations of those underlying principles. And it is exactly those novel expressions and applications that make "new and advanced" techniques, but are only possible owing to the incessant drilling of foundations. My main FMA instructor Roger Agbulos keeps repeating his mantra of "advanced techniques being fundamentals done really well", and when you get to spar him, the deep trueness of this sentiment becomes very obvious.
Besides, this attitude is not limited to martial endeavors either. Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi is famous for starting the 1961 season with Green Bay Packers by gathering the team and saying: "Gentlemen...this is a football!" Another legendary coach, this time from basketball, John Wooden, would even go so far to teach his players how to put on their socks and tie their shoes.
Finally, there is one important distinction we ought to have in mind. When I rant about fundamentals here, it does not mean the disciplinary methods, i.e. customs and protocols aimed at teaching the students proper etiquette and conduct during classes (not that this is unimportant), but rather the aforementioned tenets and principles that form the technical and tactical groundwork of any given system. And with that in mind, the best way to get to the advanced levels of training is to find joy and pleasure in working on the basics.
In the long term, it is not about how soon you can skip to the next phase, but rather how long you can stay at the same and find it beneficial.
