Quality Versus Quantity

by Ken Warner
December, 2003

I read an article recently by an instructor who claims that there is nothing more to learn after one achieves 6th Degree Black Belt. (The instructor happens to hold that rank.) This idea is ludicrous - I believe this instructor has totally missed the point of martial arts training. There is always more to learn as a martial artist - indeed, that is what makes being a martial artist so exciting. Many systems do not teach any more material beyond 5th or 6th Degree Black - some do not teach any actual "material" beyond 1st Degree Black. But you can always refine what you do and keep getting better at it. That leads me to another issue - that of quality versus quantity.

Many martial artists spend way too much time worrying about how much "stuff" they have, and not nearly enough time practicing and getting good. And many people equate skill in martial arts with knowing hundreds of techniques or scores of forms. This is ludicrous. Choki Motobu taught one form and twelve fighting techniques. He was one of the best Okinawan Karate fighters who ever lived.

Some systems of Kempo teach over 500 techniques to Black Belt. 500 techniques? This is insane. If a student has to spend the time to memorize 500 techniques, there is no way that student has enough time to get good at all that material or understand the principles those techniques should contain. The people who teach this way justify the practice by claiming that their students will be conditioned to defend themselves in any attack situation they might encounter. Again, this is insane. A real fight NEVER goes the way a technique goes when performed in the Dojo.

In most cases, any style that teaches mountains and mountains of "stuff" does so because at some point in that style's lineage an instructor realized that if he or she kept adding more and more stuff to the system, the students would keep coming back and keep paying because they would always have more "stuff" to learn. If a student found out that he knew all the "stuff" his instructor knew, the instructor fears, then why would the student continue paying for lessons? Again, people confuse quantity for quality.

In fact, I believe a martial artist should ultimately arrive at a point where it is important to 'learn less" in order to keep growing. If I had 500 techniques in my system, the first thing I would do would be to eliminate the 450 that are redundant. When one comes to understand the principles behind what one is practicing, one should ultimately need fewer and fewer "things" to practice in order to continue to get good at what one is doing.

I would rather teach a student 5 techniques, then spend the rest of the time helping that student get really good at those 5 techniques, and enabling that student to apply the principles behind those 5 techniques to a variety of different attack situations. I guarantee that student would be far better equipped to defend him- or herself than the student who has to try to remember 500 techniques.

That all being said, I do have to acknowledge that new students in the martial arts must start somewhere. When one goes from "knowing nothing" to "knowing something," one must first learn a certain amount of stuff to make any progress. But martial arts instructors should try never to teach stuff just for the sake of stuff. The stuff should help the student build skills and develop, ultimately, an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of the given martial art. Every student of the martial arts must first learn a lot of stuff before it becomes beneficial to start eliminating any of it.

For long term students, or lifetime students as most instructors will be, it is fun to keep learning more stuff. One should always strive to improve the quality of one's "core" art, but as a lifetime student it can be extremely useful to broaden one's horizons by training in other arts. I train in Praying Mantis Kung Fu because I like the things it does for my body that Kempo does not. But even in this area, many people go wrong. They say they "know" the material when they have memorized the moves. Memorizing movement is only the first step to truly "knowing" something. One must then practice it over and over for years before one truly knows it. And to keep just learning more and more forms just for the sake of knowing more forms is also a mistake. At some point one has to stop being a pack-rat and start spending more time just getting good.

I say again, it is ludicrous for anyone to claim - at any rank - that they have "learned all there is to learn." Whether one chooses to continue to improve one's core art, or to branch out and begin learning other arts, there is always more to learn as a martial artist. 

To the instructor who says he has nothing more to learn as a 6th Degree Black Belt I would say this: For the next 12 months do not spend ANY time thinking about your rank. Instead, spend ALL of your time practicing your art. I guarantee you will find you have a lot more to learn.