Alright, then. (In my Carl de Billy Bob Thornton voice)
So we have explored the issue of age and of character as they relate to martial arts training. Now, let's jump into the universe of technology. After all, it changes the training, the thinking behind the application of techniques, and even creates opportunities to get ahead of impending or potential dangers.
Primitive implementations such as sticks, blades and fisticuffs vary per culture. The mindsets are different, and the advancement of their applications came about as times changed. They gained in effectiveness until they gave way to tools that negated their impact on warfare. Yet, the limbs that wield them are global. The minds that fashioned them and fine-tuned them continue to grow.
The idea of exponential effect increased our reach and power, bringing about faster and more devastating weaponry. This could take our discussion so far as to include weapons of mass destruction, but we will stay on topic by limiting ourselves to that of armed combat on a one-to-one basis. That is not saying that one man cannot destroy or absolutely defend himself against multiple opponents. It does, however, speak to the fact that only one person can only truly battle one person at a time, even as he faces multiples.
Anyway, in this day and age, we learn martial arts in a school that teaches us the basics by drilling in the techniques. We learn to string them together in the form of step-sparring or forms, which leads us deeper into understanding of the concepts that make them effective. Then we stretch that understanding so that we can use our tools or weapons while applying those concepts and techniques even more efficiently.
Here, we see that the technology is closely aligned with the concept to extend the martial artist's abilities into the realm of mastery. But technology gets a bit more complex as we look at the various styles and arts that are available to the average person. Therefore, it stands to reason that one of the things that changes (as far as technology goes) is the method of teaching and learning.
Since the advent of video technology, we have seen a magnitude of instructional videos come onto the market. Of course, there is validity to it as a reference source, and just as there are many who have studied them to improve on skills and understanding, there are those who proclaim themselves to be learned based on the gleaned knowledge. I am not here to judge, one way or the other. In fact, as a young man, it was my desire to have a library of instructional martial arts books that would rival the Smithsonian collection. When video came along, I expanded my library (imaginary, though it was) to include them all.
When I matured, I realized that I would not have been able to study them all well enough to master much of it, at all. Even more importantly, I could not HOPE to afford all the videos that caught my attention as I planned for martial arts supremacy. I have videos that I collected much later in my life, and at a much higher level in my training that I still have not viewed. The fact is that I may never get around to it.
I bear this all in mind whenever I come across a younger martial artist who thinks they need to have all such knowledge that is available. It comes from the older me and the elders who spoke it into my understanding when I tell them it is better to study what you are learning, instead of digging higher. Did you catch that? Digging higher.. That's like taking your shovel and just shoveling the dirt that has already been displaced from the ground, hoping to get deeper. Not going to happen.
Again, there is a place for it. Knowledge is out there to be gained. But the right approach to learning information is to avoid the temptation to gain it all, yet understand very little of what you aspire to learn. The term the older masters often used to describe this is "Mile Wide, Inch Deep."
With this as the basis of my discussion of this subject, let us prepare go more into the speculative side of the matter. In my next entry, we will get to what I hope is the point of this discussion. After all, when we look at where we have been and where it is, currently, some things are evident about the future of martial arts. Right?
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