I heard a guy talking about one of his professors at college who complained to the students that their papers where full of fluff. That the students spent too much effort in just filling the mandated pages.
The human mind loves complexity, but is complexity necessary? Nature builds diversity from a series of simple commands – in fact what appears to be complex is really just a compounding of simple commands.
As you may already know from reading other posts I am not the biggest fan of complexity, and especially in the martial arts. I am pretty sure that much of the martial arts is just machinations designed to titillate the mind much like a bright fishing lure to a tout.
Frankly, simplicity and efficiency go hand-in-hand (see nature once again) and I am not incline to back off from that position. Complexity breaks down and I don’t need a fragile martial arts technique, I need a simple, vigorous, dependable, go to technique.
Now here is a proof point in the world of martial arts. World famous judo champion Yamashita was famous for using O-soto gari one of the first learned and most basic throws of Judo to win:
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85 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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84 Olympic Games (Open) – Los Angles, CA, USA
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84 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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83 World Championships (+95kg) – Moscow, Russia
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83 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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82 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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81 World Championships (+95kg & Open) – Maastricht, Holland
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81 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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80 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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79 World Championships (+95kg) – Paris, France
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79 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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78 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
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77 All-Japan Championships – Tokyo, Japan
Thanks to Neil Ohlenkamp at http://judoinfo.com/yamashita.htm for the list of championships.
Simplicity, and efficiency, that is a great mantra. So here is your challenge until the new year, some 45 days. Choose a part of your art and dive down into that aspect and find the simple core.
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Your good words are the best endorsement, period.
Thanks and be well.
K+
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We tend to take the simple and make it complex, Americanization if you will.
Tatsuo never meant for Isshinryu to be this now complex system but wanted it to be simple and effective.
We tend to go complex to achieve validation and some mystical view that strokes our ego's…sigh
Charles –
That is well said, "Achieve validation."
Just read a post from another blog about what makes a good teacher -they said,"Great instructors are those who take complicated ideas and make them simple"
Brandon –
Yes, taking a complicated idea and making it simple is a key to great instruction. It means the teacher has digested the concept and is able to deconstruct and construct at will.
Hi Kris
I think this is one of the most important posts that you've written yet. And the beauty of it is in the simplicity of what you wrote. Simple, short, sharp and direct techniques to rely on and drill constantly.
Why make a very complex subject matter more complicated and inefficient with unreliable technique?
Jonny –
Well, the admiration goes both ways here. the comment that you made, "Why make a very complex subject matter more complicated and inefficient with unreliable technique?" is a strike to the core of the issue. Well said.
I work in higher education and I see this all-too often. Sometimes complexity is needed but there are other times when it's totally tied to a given professors inflated ego.
The problem is that the tenure process creates–and sometimes damages–a given professor and his or her ego.
Long ago I used to work in the prison system. I've noted that higher education has the same mentality as prison gangs: You have leaders who build gangs and take out rivals, etc. The only difference is that they do it with the pen and not the sword.