I haven't read the artle yet. I will read it later. Probably sometime after I finish my workout for today.
But I can say this just based upon the topic. It doesn't matter how hard you practice if you are not practicing correctly. The foundation start with doing it correctly.
This is why I have stopped saying practice makes perfect. If you are practicing wrong no matter how much practice you do it will never be perfect. It will be just as wrong as the 1st time. You must learn to practice to improve.
Edit:
I now have had the opportunity to read it. i agree with the writer. I can identify with what was written both from the piano and judo. I hated playing the scales and doing the finger drills when i was learning to play the piano. I didn't initially see the importance or value.
The same thing can be said in judo. I didn't like to work on certain throws. But I love harai ogoshi. My other throw was not tai otoshi . Mines was osoto maki komi. My imstructor had a fix for me and others in our school to make us work on using other techniques than our favorites. He didn't allow us to use our favorites. He forced us so to speak (verbally) to use techniques that we didn't have as much confidence in because we didn't put the effort into developing greater skill with them. He told me I could only use hane goshi and 2 other throws. I don't remember what they were. Hane goshi stood out the most because I never used it. I was glad he didn't say foot sweeps as I knew that was my weakness. But he probably seen me use them. But I only used them to set up a different throw. My sweeps were fakes. I never had any attention on throwing someone with it. After missing I changed to what I really wanted to do.
Also in karate I didn't want to learn kata or go over our basics all of the time. I wanted to do more fighting. I wanted to know how to fight. I didn't see the value. But now I'm much wiser and see the benefits. I enjoy unlocking what they contain. I know I must keep my basics as sharp tool in my tool box. I know the importance of working on my weakness more than working on my strengths. I know and teach now that randori or sparring is not about winning. It is supposed to be about learning and improving. But most people only see it as winning and losing. That is sad to me.
Well, generally correct, but no big revelations. Practicing fundamentals at low or zero intensity gets them correct. Adding intensity in a progressive manner is also important. Highest-intensity stuff is terrible for training "proper technique" but great for stress inoculation. Both are necessary. I've always spent a lot more time on the former than the latter, and I've spread that to the folks I teach. "Sparring is learning" and all that.
On the other hand, I recently came across this, from a guy who was referencing training for martial arts:
Why not practice well and practice hard?
But the article makes a good point. Some students, especially the younger ones, find training boring at first, bc the basics are boring. They want to start out with things they cannot handle without learning the basic fundamentals first.
Train well, train right, train hard, and fight harder.
Personally, I never understood what practice hard meant. The point of practice is to do something correctly and not just going through the motions. Just doing a move repeatedly will not magically make it perfect which is what many people seem to believe. You should practice diligently and each time you should focus on the correctness of what you are doing. The goal is to reach a point where you can execute the technique properly without thought because you have done it correctly so many times it has been ingrained in you.
I did not read the article you posted a link to. I doubt it necessary to answer what you asked. My students are taught early on than proper training is much more important than just busting your butt training haphazardly. I put it to them this way. If you do something incorrectly for 20 years, you get very good at doing it wrong. However, if you do something correctly, you get good at it in a shorter amount of time. We need to develop both muscle memory and proper technique. Those that are caught up in training lots of hours often tend to do lots of reps of something but do it so that they are not doing each rep correctly and consistently. If each rep is slightly different we are not building the muscle memory that is most effectient. Therefore we are working against ourselves. I would rather train a few minutes at a time and be very careful to do each thing as technically perfect as I can, than to work out for hours and do sloppy technique. The few students that I have been able to get this concept through to make vary good progress. The others end up being average and the keep asking what they can do to improve. When someone ask a question it should be because they are wanting an answer and they are willing to be open to something other than what they believe.
...
I read most of the article. I agree with what the author states wholeheartedly: training well is the only way to move forward. The only time purely training hard is worth anything is to burn off anger. But, depending on your style, there comes a time when you need to do both: is doesn't do well to have intellectual understanding of a technique but never having the capability to practice it real time. Boxers need to train hard to get that KO. Wrestlers need to muscle their way out of a lock or choke. Taekwondo-in need to get that kick. That is the "hard" I infer from the article, given the references to sweat and strength.
But one can train with just as much intensity - and still be relaxed. When you can focus on what you are supposed to do, and when, and how... that is (to further the author's music metaphors) like playing in between the notes.
The stylist who can flow through a sequence movements with. out. the. constant. stops. and. checkpoints.... will be the one who trains intently - just not relying purely on strength and endurance.
So I think an advanced practitioner must "train well" as well as "train hard", although I would rather say "intently" than "hard", which conjures up the wrong things the author mentions.
Another point the author mentions is the tendency to practice what we like to do rather than what we need to improve upon. This is why I like sparring drills where certain techniques - eg, front kick, or roundhouse kick - are subtracted, forcing students to think about another technique to use. So practicing hard here can injure you if you aren't comfortable with the technique. Your body needs to understand the mechanics of the movement so as to prevent other muscles from interfering with each other - sort of like the development of muscle memory. I think muscle memory is a bad example here because we're not trying to do a repetitive motion; rather, we're trying to get the body to practice what each part needs to do to support the motion.
For this reason, I like practicing the basic kata, or etudes. Besides... what kind of respect can you have for an instructor can't do the basic movements? Credibility is at stake here.
10,000 repetitions of incorrect technique at the end of the day is still an incorrect technique, but i must admit i fell into the trap of thinking it was all about being the fittest & hardest in my earlier days in training , then it clicked .....training smarter outweighs training harder in some way's, but don't pounce on me yet, im not saying dont train hard, just train hard correctly!
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
Training hard allows the use of exhaustion to mimic lack of muscle control in life or death situations. A specific application, no more.
The phrase 'Practise makes perfect' is false, as my dad used to say: 'Perfect practise makes perfect'. You can practise as hard as you want but if you are not doing it properly you'll never get better.
Train slow and work up to it
Any thoughts? http://budobum.blogspot.com/2014/07/training-hard-and-training-well-are-not.html?m=1
Both
If you really want to get good youl have to do both.
Youl get out what you put in if your talented.
practice smart
