Putting Puzzle Pieces Together

Last year, at the height of lockdowns, I was starved for martial arts training. Much of my time as a martial artist is already cerebral – podcast, business, etc. – but pre-pandemic, I still had physical outlets.

Then… whoosh.

Gone.

And I was left only with the mental portion. Or, nearly.

I started to go mad. And I thought, a lot, about many things.

Which actually didn’t turn out to be a bad thing.

See, as I spent time thinking, I was looking at things differently. My techniques had to be applied in a very narrow way – against the wall, door frame, or a wave bag. There were no people to hit, nobody to hold pads. If it didn’t work on the wall, or door frame, or wave bag, it didn’t work.

But I don’t like when things don’t work, so I started unpacking those techniques. In many cases, I didn’t find anything of interest, but sometimes I found great stuff.

Finding Puzzle Pieces

For example, I started looking at why back kicks felt so… useless. I could kick the door frame with a strong side, front, round, even axe kick. And, yet, a mildly powerful back kick threw me out of balance… unless I kicked lower. Much lower. Below the waist.

Ooh, there’s something here.

It sent me on a journey, testing, trying, researching biomechanics, and much more. Until, finally, I found an answer that made sense to me: kick lower. Make it a stomp.

Now, notice a few things about the language I used – an answer. Not the answer. I’m not that arrogant.

I was on a journey, exploring my techniques to find a solution to a problem based on my own situation, values, and understanding. This is not to make any judgments about how you do these things, or why. Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me.

As martial artists, we spend a lot of time looking at what everyone else is doing and trying to reproduce it. But, when do we start figuring things out for ourselves? When do we start digging into techniques and building our own unique interpretations that both benefit and interest us?

Sadly, for many martial artists, the answer seems to be never. Which is a shame.

It’s a shame because I’ve found the last year to be one of the most educational martial arts experiences of my life. Plenty of my skills rusted, but my understanding of some of the most fundamental principles is greatly enhanced. I can say, unequivocally, I am a better martial artist now than I was, then. That is, I’ve taken more puzzle pieces from the box and put them on the table to consider.

Simply because I was forced into a position where I had to look at things from a different angle.

Try Looking From A Different Angle

While the example I am giving was with a particular technique, this wasn’t the only one. I looked at the way various techniques worked in different ways, and at a level I have never done before. Some of you may have done this – and that’s awesome. But I will guess most of you have not.

And I think you should. You should play with your techniques, in weird and different ways that defy what you were taught, simply to see what happens. Because, at some point along the journey, we have to sit with our knowledge and start to connect the pieces of the puzzle. Nobody can do it for us, and there’s no front of the box to compare to. The longer you wait, the more pieces you have that may connect. That’s fun. But also frustrating.

The picture is never finished, and you may not even recognize it. But it’s there, under the pile.

And in the last year, I think I was lucky to find another corner piece.

May you spend some time looking for your own puzzle pieces.