Depth, not breadth.

I saw this posted elsewhere (it is from sharpdefense.me), but found it very applicable to the shooting world. I see a lot of guys (and have been guilty myself) of looking for new gear to solve a training issue. In other words, looking for hardware to solve a software problem. I found this a good reminder that the fundamentals aren't complicated, however, executing them flawlessly every time is the goal. I don't need fancy or flashy, I need functional.

Depth, not breadth.

This is from something I posted in 2008. This was based on a conversation I had with Tom after a training session with Tom, Adam and Rory Singer, Matt Thornton and Brian Stromberg. Hope you don’t mind me resurrecting and fleshing out this post.
Tom Oberhue, one of the SBG originals said to me during a post-training session pep talk, “We are at a point where we don’t need more breadth, in other words, we don’t need to add things, we now need depth, we need to deepen our skill and application of boxing, wrestling and jits. Boxers don’t keep adding techniques, they go for depth, time in the trenches. There is no easy way.” I gotta tell you, that was a long time ago but it’s more true now than ever. Here is what got me thinking about this. In boxing there is the jab, cross, uppercut and hook. Four main punches. Everything else is a variation of these four. Guys aren’t looking to invent new punches, the test is to find ways to make these punches, (that we already know work), work against a high level opponent.
There simply is no easy route. There is only consistent effort over time. There are the basics, the fundamentals executed against resistance, time after time. When I’m tired, when I’m injured, when I’m sick, when I just don’t feel like it… Consistently, day in and day out, in the gym executing the fundamentals, digging that rut until it becomes a ditch, then digging deeper until it becomes a trench. Until we can execute our mount escape against anyone that tries to hold us down, until our jab seemingly has a mind of it’s own and can hit our opponent every time we see an opening. We don’t need more stuff; techniques, gear, whatever…, we need to master the fundamentals. My friend and coach Chris Haueter said to me, “You don’t need to learn more, you need to do more with what you know. Being able to pass anyone’s guard with the same 3 or 4 passes… that’s skill.”

Where does that leave us? Facing facts. There are no alternative ‘arts’, systems or whatever out there that are more effective than Boxing, Wrestling/Judo and Jits. Boxing, Wrestling/Judo and Jits provide enough breadth, those core arts integrated will cover the majority of the empty hand problems you will face.

What about the streetz? What about eye gouging? What about biting? What about dirty tactics? You don’t need to worry about adding dirt. Yes, I used to think dirty tactics were the way to go yet the truth is; guys get sidetracked looking for ways to add dirt when the majority of hands on situations could be finished with a cross. The guys that have argued with me the most about that point have at best a low blue belt level jits game and have never spent more than a minute in a legit boxing gym…, they’ll spend hours on youtube looking for some obscure armbar, or guard pass, or how to twist fingers or how to throw 50 deadly heart stopping strikes in 5 seconds… Yet won’t spend time learning to set down on their punches, move their head, work angles and throw combos. A right cross thrown properly might be all you need to knock the living bejesus out of the majority of people that you run into. As my friend and coach Matt Thornton says, “I’m not a self defense coach, and I’m not a sport coach. I am a delivery system coach. Fundamentals transcend venue.” Think about that for a little bit, the only real difference in what I do is where I do it, not how I do it.

STOP looking for that mystical, never-before-seen, magic technique. Just get your butt into a good MMA program; box, wrestle and jits. Then do the work. There is no magic potion. There is only hard work on the fundamentals. I was talking with a trainee recently and he was asking how to get good at this thing we do? I told him that in looking back over the last 30+ years of my training history I’ve missed a total of 9 months of training. Even if I stretch that number based on surgeries, hospital stays, sickness and injuries?
I’ve still only missed about a year of training. One year out of 30. Consistency over time.
Time not spent looking for the newest thing. I’m busy grinding it out on the proven things.

Great post.