"Why didn't you just hit me?!" Sensei yelled as he struck himself enthusiastically in the ribs, a target I apparently should have gone for.
"What?! I didn't think I could get any power there." I explained my logic. I had seen the target, but I didn't think barely hitting someone with seventy pounds on me would have any effect.
"WHO CARES?!" He exclaimed. "It would have been surprising enough for you to get a better shot AFTER that."
My mind melted. I felt stupid for not having understood such a basic principle.
"Wait... so I don't need to generate power..." The idea pulled together. "It can just be a distraction..." Now I REALLY felt moronic as I re-stated the obvious.
"BAIT. STUN. DEVASTATE." He said, authoritatively.
He went into an animated explanation:
First, bait. Wait for the attacker to overextend. Don't get emotionally carried away and think you need to attack first. When the attacker sees a target that seems too sweet to pass up, negate it.
Then, stun. Not every hit has to be powerful, it just has to buy you time. It can be a touch on the nose to change the head position, or the lightest sweep to the inside of the knee, bending it a quarter inch.
Finally, devastate. Once the attacker is off balance (a process you started in step 1) and surprised (see step 2), use your angles and levers to deliver a devastating end.
It's simple, right? So simple in fact that it's hard to do in practice.
“Sounds awesome... But how is this useful to anyone?” You might be thinking.
I get it. Nobody I know, myself included, is getting into fights. With or without knives.
However, learning physical techniques can be an effective heuristic for understanding universal principles that are useful in our everyday lives.
That's why martial arts, climbing, and entrepreneurship are the paths I've chosen in life. It's the only way I can understand the world. I'm pretty thickheaded when it comes to following what people tell me I should do.
So when I realized I didn't have to deliver a powerful blow with every strike, something huge unlocked.
How many times had I not tried something because I thought it wouldn't have a big enough impact?
It didn't matter if it was hitting someone in the ribs, hosting an event, or publishing a story. My stubborn brain began to understand the lesson I had just learned with my body:
Not everything you do has to have a huge impact.
Actions we don't think will be effective shouldn't be taken off the table.
Progressive movements, no matter how small, are necessary for something big to work later on.
Besides, what good are our thoughts without relevant experience, anyway? To believe something won’t work because you think it won’t work is pretty egotistical, isn’t it?
So that training session got me asking myself:
Are you lost in a sea of tasks that feel individually ineffective? Maybe it's time to look back and assess their cumulative effect. Are you in a good position to try something bigger now? What else can you do that would create an opening?
Conversely, when you keep trying to do something big and get frustrated because it's not working, maybe it's time to see what small actions you can take to create a smoother ramp to launch from.
Every little thing counts! Keep going.
Such a greaaatt read!!! We love you in South Africa!!!!
...awesome reframing...