April 15 | 2022
Read Part 1, on range gluttony in the martial arts, here.
Read Part 2, on technique or attribute greed, here.
Read Part 3, on E3 pride, here.
Read Part 4, on game-plan wrath, here.
It’s happened to us all. We get seduced by a cool martial arts move we see at a grappling tournament, a flashy knife disarm we witness at a self-defense seminar or a computer-generated flying kick-punch we watch in an action movie.
And that’s fine — as long as we don’t take it a step further and start to overload ourselves with such things.
In the martial arts, it’s all too easy to think “more is better” and “more will make me smarter.” This is when lust takes over.
Force-feeding yourself 48 new blocks, 96 new guard escapes and 31 new knife disarms results only in confusion. It also slows your response time and reduces your ability to recall “old” information that used to be your bread and butter.
Redemption: Refer to the advice that accompanies the third sin and use E3 as a filter. Then make sure you have all the ranges covered.
(To be continued.)
Text and photos by Matt Numrich, M.A.
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