IS MORE BETTER?

 By Phillip Starr

“More is better.” Although I'm tempted to say that this kind of thinking is exclusive to the West, I've seen it in the East, too. But seeing it applied to martial arts practice IS rare in the East, while it is all too common in the West. For instance, one of my students built a striking post to use at home during his daily practice. I had given him the proper dimensions but when he invited me to his house to see the finished product, I was a bit taken aback. He was using a 4x4” post! He'd simply wrapped rope around it, without using a pad of any kind. I struck it a couple of times and told him, “Looks like you've got a first-class tree here.”

He smiled and said, “I know you told me it should be no thicker than 1 inch at the top and it should be padded under the rope, but I figured this would be stronger and do the job.”

“What...job?”, I asked.

“Toughening my hands”, he answered.

Wrong answer. Way wrong. And I let him know it, using some very colorful adjectives, which I won't repeat here. The striking post is NOT intended to toughen the hands! He said that he'd reasoned that a solid post would work better than one that flexed when struck. The striking post is SUPPOSED to flex, but he'd ignored that and just figured that a solid, unmoving post would work...the “more is better” mindset.

Another student insisted on practicing with a very heavy, iron sword to strengthen his grip, shoulder, and forearm. But although I'd recommended doing it for rather short periods of time, he tripled it, hoping to shorten the process...and ended up with seriously inflamed wrists such that he was unable to practice again for a couple of weeks. More isn't necessarily better at all.