Is there a "trick" to unlearning bad technique?

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by matveimediaarts, May 10, 2013.

  1. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    As many of you know, my last school was pretty bad. My new sempai were showing me some useful block/counter technique against tsuki, and my body kept wanting to revert to the (less effective) way my old teachers taught it. Is there a "trick" to unlearning poor info/habits? I'd like to speed up my progress if possible.

    Domo arigato
    !
     
  2. Kave

    Kave Lunatic

    There are very few shortcuts in Martial Arts. Your style will adapt, but it will take time. Just keep training hard. I do find visualisation helps to ingrain some movements, so you could give that a try.
     
  3. matveimediaarts

    matveimediaarts Underappreciated genius

    Thank you! That's just what I thought. Visualizing helps me-that's how I got what I already know stuck in my brain. I'll just keep reviewing and going to every practice I can. (sadly, only once/week because my dojo only offers class at night except for Saturday kobudo)
     
  4. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    As well as visualization, practice the movements slowly - slow enough so you can't get it wrong.
     
  5. Pretty In Pink

    Pretty In Pink Moved on MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Low level resistance. You can drill it so your partner throws slow punches and you can block them slowly and in a safe manner.
     
  6. righty

    righty Valued Member

    Just do more reps of the 'good' techniques than you ever did with the 'bad' ones.
     
  7. Saved_in_Blood

    Saved_in_Blood Valued Member

    All good advice IMO... I know i've had some bad habits.. not even in MA's, but in just other hobbies and it takes quite a while to break them. I once was told it takes 90 days to make or break a habit... don't know how true that one is though.
     
  8. PlumDragon

    PlumDragon "I am your evil stimulus"

    Im sorry, Im going to have to disagree with most of the comments made thus far. Visualizations, doing movements slow, repetitions at home, none of this is going to make any real substantial difference when youre in a pressurized situation. Its only going to make a difference when youre at home and theres nobody in front of you making you work for it. Those who feel that this is really helpful have not isolated it from the rest of their training for a really fair perspective.

    In order to override the past things that you did, you need to have an instructor put you under pressure in training. And once youre under pressure, he needs to be *very* consistent about stopping when you get it wrong, giving you specific feedback about what you did and what youre supposed to do, followed by a quick minute to take it in, and try again...Initially, the pressure will need to be fairly low, but as soon as you get it, he needs to up the pressure. This is the only way to really truly install it, and if you do it in this way, it really wont take very long to accomplish...
     
  9. YouKnowWho

    YouKnowWho Valued Member

    This is easy. Just find a training partner and spar/wrestle 15 rounds daily. In 3 months, you will only remember what you have experienced from your sparring/wrestling, you won't remember what you had learned before.
     
  10. Kave

    Kave Lunatic

    Visualisation is a standard accepted part of any top level athletic endeavour. Many olympic teams utilise visualisation as a part of their training regimens. I don't know why you wouldn't think it would be useful for martial arts, personally I believe I have gained substantial benefits from introducing visualisation into my training (benefits such as being punched in the face less often due to improved head movement). No one is saying that pressure testing isn't important, but it is not the only tool.

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  11. righty

    righty Valued Member

    I'm sorry, I'm going to have to disagree with everything you just said.

    Regarding this technique the original poster is coming from a perspective of being a newbie. Inexperienced and learning something new.

    In your experience does putting a newbie straight into a pressured situation to learn a new technique actually work? If that how new techniques are usually taught by you or at your school? If this is done, how much time do you think you or your coach dedicate to one student in a class to train like this?

    I can tell you now from my experience that it doesn't work as well as giving something the chance to go through the techniques more slowly without pressure. Yes you can add pressure later but people need to get it right in their head first for best results otherwise none or very little progress will be made. In addition with a typical class there isn't going to be a lot of time for everyone to have a go at this with a partner under the constant attention of the coach. There are better and more efficient ways to initially learn the new technique.

    In my opinion if you put this person in a situation under pressure they go back to their instinct which in this case is going back to the original (bad) technique.

    Visualisation does work and there are studies to prove it. While it's going to be better to practise things in class when you have a partner, you can't always do this at home due to the lack of partner. This is where the visalisation can really come in handy.
     
  12. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    i'm with righty and chadderz.

    drill correctly (ie do what you intend to do, rather than what your body wants to do, which is what would happen if you just go with the 'get punched->try to defend' approach), until you reinforce the correct motor pattern, then increase the resistance until you can work it properly.
     
  13. GaryRomel

    GaryRomel Valued Member

    I think you are all right in part. The above being necessary for it to stick.

    Do the movements very slow, use visualizations, and practice countless repetitions of the movement at varying paces. This will help ingrain the motion, and after all you do need to learn the method correctly before you put pressure to it--otherwise it's going to fall apart anyhow.

    Then pressure test it as stated above.

    It takes a long time to overcome bad habits, repetition is key, and then learning under pressure is key (it's a different kind of learning physiologically).

    G
     
  14. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Just create your own style and declare all those 'bad habits' to be super deadly techniques in the syllabus.

    I just wanted to say that, I didn't start posting with any intent to post something useful : P. But I will! I find getting in front of a mirror to watch myself develop new technique with boxing (or practicing old) helps me to really focus mentally on what I'm doing. I also catch myself when I'm doing things like reaching or leaning back and every time I do it I'll repeat correct form 20 or 30 times immediately.

    Another thing that I do is go into sparring to work on it, intentionally putting yourself into bad positions where the bad habit occurs and making sure you don't do it. Other then that it's just constant practice and awareness, eventually it goes away.
     

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