New Things: The First or Second Try

Human nature tends to disregard things that don't work on the first or second try. It is not an ancient thing but rather a new thing influenced greatly by, first the industrial revolution, second by the eRevolution, and third by human evolution toward a greater need for instant gratification. 

Nature has not released us from natural evolution. If nature allowed us to quickly evolve toward this type of living then it would not be such an issue. All this has created greater stress, greater distances between humans regardless of the so called social networks, and greater conflicts that at one time in history were fewer since tribes and distance kept such conflicts at a minimum. 

We tend to encounter many things in our martial arts training but our one great obstacle is our personal and dojo belief systems. We tend to allow ourselves to get connected both emotionally and mentally to such things as "this is the supreme system of self-defense," and so on. We get stuck in believing that because some wonderful master of yesteryear created this awesome and complete system that we must adhere to it strictly and without deviation to remain true to that system. Mistake.

We encounter someone's perception of a technique for defense and then we try it. We try it once, maybe twice and in very few cases several times BUT if we cannot make it work to our satisfaction we discard it as useless and then make the mistake of using that to qualify and quantify our system as the greatest thing since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Mistake.

We must allow ourselves the latitude to achieve proficiency in all we encounter, all the new things. We have to give it due diligence and adequate time to vet it out properly and see if it will work. Not everything works for everyone. But, if we fail to give something the time, effort and diligence to work it out and see if thoroughly for what it truly is then we do ourselves a disservice by discarding it willy-nilly. 

Not everything works for every individual. What will work for this many on this side of the dojo may not work for just as many on that side of the dojo. It does not mean that this particular technique is either valid or invalid. It just means you can't make it work adequately for you. You are a unique individual, like no other human being so things will sometimes work for you and sometimes not. 

Allowing a technique to reach the junk pile, for you, without giving it a chance over time and with effort is a mistake. Personally and in the last decade I have found many things that I, at one time, felt were not beneficial to me and my system. Since I started to realize my mistake I have found many of the beliefs, thoughts and applications to be beneficial to one degree or the other. Some I ended up discarding and most not. I have to include this in my personal philosophy on martial arts and self-defense as well. 

When you encounter or are introduced to new things, don't just give it a try or two. Give it the allotted time and effort to find out if it truly works for YOU or not then either incorporate it or discard it. In truth, you might find it a boon in the dojo if you keep it all the same. After all, even if it does not work or fit your character and style it just might be the ticket for one of your practitioners who will be able to run with it.