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How to Get Rid of Bad Habits in Your Martial Arts Technique
by Keith Pascal
Let's start with what bad habits are. Defining a bad martial arts
habit is sometimes a subjective task. One practitioner's bad
habit may be someone else's best technique.
For example, I recently saw a martial arts school engaging in a
typical practice session. All of the students moved their back legs
past the front leg to come into a new front stance. As the, now
forward, leg stopped, each student fired off two rapid punches.
Everything was in unison. The bodies bounced forward
together; the legs moved together; the arms cocked back to
the students' sides together -- it was beautiful.
There were several bad habits from my system's perspective:
innefficient, but you get less power, and you telegraph. 2. They moved their legs first. This caused their bodies to move before their weapons (in this case, their hands). Another no-no in my system. More telegraphing. 3. they cocked their hands backwards, in the opposite direction of their imagined opponent. Even more telegraphing. Now, I'm sure they were executing proper technique, according to their school's guidelines. It just wouldn't work in my school. The reverse could also be true; one person's bad habit may be someone else's secret technique.
Can you Identify Your Own Bad Habits?It depends. How good are you? At the school where I trained, getting your instructor's certificate meant that you were ready to improve on your own. Most would think that meant you were ready to either invent or master new techniques. For me, it meant that I was competent enough to correct my own errors.Even if you can evaluate yourself (by mirror, video tape, or even a good memory), there are still some things that you may miss. Finding somoeone with a good perception in the arts may help; have this person analyze your technique. Work on improving one thing at a time. Then put indivdual movements back together. Practice for smoothness. Practice for precision. Practice for speed. Set goals.
The Secret to Super Fast ImprovementI wish I could take credit for this technique. But alas, as ususal, the idea came from my teacher, Steve Golden. I have generalized his original lesson, so the principle fits my needs, but the original idea came from him.It all started one night in the early 80's. We were working out in Steve Golden's garage in Junction City, Oregon. He kept telling us to take shorter stances. He told us to move with a purpose (Bruce Lee's philosophy). We were doing neither. He was getting in on us every time, due to our inefficient movements. All of a sudden, he was silent. He went to his workbench and cut lengths of rope. He tied one end of a piece around one of my ankles. He tied the other end to my other ankle. My ankles could only be about shoulder-width apart at their greatest distance. Boy, was it hard to move around. Steve moved on to the next student, and then the next. When we were all tied up, he just continued class.
a sudden, I was moving with a purpose. I took me about 20 minutes to get used to moving with the rope around my ankles. After about a half an hour, I was pretty fluid. After an hour, I didn't even remember that I had the rope on. Then, as if for no reason, he told us to remove the ropes. It was amazing! I mean really amazing. I was moving with incredible ease. I was turning off-line like there was no tomorrow; I passed punches and countered with my own. I could tell by my classmates' expressions that they were experiencing a similar effect.
What was going on?Steve Golden was getting rid of our bad habit. He was getting away from the intellectual level--sure, at first it was a conscious effort not to tug at the ends of the cord. But it quickly became automatic. We were retraining our brains and our bodies.When the ropes were removed, our brains (and bodies) operated as though still restrained. We were getting rid of our bad habit almost automatically.
Can you apply this to Other Habits?Sure, Of course. You could limit motion with rope, rope and stick/brace, an ace bandage, a wedge of some type, etc....What's your goal? Do you want to train your hand to stay in a certain area. Hmmm. How could you accomplish that? Are you dropping your head, when you shouldn't? Could you prop your head into a correct position for awhile? There are lots of application. If you come up with something good, let me know. If we use it on this site, you'll get full credit. .
Is It Possible to Learn Good habits?Sure. Either have a good teacher, and/or a good source of effective martial arts information. My book Wrist Locks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert is a great book for building good martial arts habits.In the book, I teach you how to watch for some dangerous points when applying wrist locks. Apply this information to all of your fighting technique, and you'll eliminate some nasty habits. The book takes you beyond technique (although there are lots of cool moves). You get principles that you can generalize to all sort of situations.
Readers who enjoyed the above article also enjoyed the following article: 
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