Question 068: Why spend so much time on perfecting basics

Nowadays, most martial arts use patterns. They allow people who do not want to fight a way to practice and compete in their art, and they let people express their artistic side. I tell students that sparring is instinctive and physical, while pattern performance is thoughtful and emotional. When sparring you use your body, in pattern work you use your brain.

While watching sparring, the crowd cheers, much as they do at football games. While watching people perform patterns, the crowd is quiet, except at key points, much as they are at golf tournaments. When you spar and lose, it is usually because the opponent beat you. When you perform a pattern and lose, it usually because you beat yourself. Breaking is both a mental and physical endeavor, with a little physics thrown in. You may be beaten in a break if you are mental or physically weak, or if the breaking medium is unusually hard, but most breaks fail because of a weak mental component.

A person may be an expert at driving a car, and at riding a motorcycle. Although operating both vehicles involves many of the same skills, they each also require entirely different skills. For example, to make an emergency stop with a car, you only have to slam on the brake pedal with your foot, and, since most drivers primarily drive cars, this is practically instinctive. To make an emergency stop with a motorcycle, you must simultaneously squeeze the front brake lever with the hand and press down on the brake lever with the foot. This takes finesse, and since even avid motorcycle riders do not ride as much as they drive, many motorcycle riders do the wrong thing.