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MARTIAL FEEDBACK PART 1
Feedback on your performance can come from many different sources, some more valuable or accurate than others. Regardless of its’ origin, without feedback you can’t improve!
As martial artists we’re continually looking for quality feedback so that we can fine-tune our performance. In this article I hope to provide you with some alternative methods to obtain feedback, even when training alone.
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>Monitoring the power felt through the pads
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What is feedback?
First of all let’s look at what feedback really is for a martial artist. Closer inspection of your performance will generate feedback falling into two main areas – technique and fitness. These two elements are very much dependent on each other, but it’s better to separate them to provide clearer training goals. When assessing technique the key areas to look at are – form, accuracy, control, speed and power. By breaking down a technique into these components you’ll be better able to determine what needs improving. When looking at fitness we’re specifically observing how well you can maintain a desired intensity before energy levels diminish adversely, and how quickly you can recover between rounds.
Feedback can be either qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative feedback cannot be measured, it’s subjective, such as ‘That kick seemed much quicker’. Conversely, quantitative feedback is measured and has a value, such as ‘That kick took you 0.55 secs, that is 0.1 secs quicker!’ Both types of feedback have their place in helping you progress.
Positive and negative feedback
Positive feedback is good to confirm when you get things right, but remember that constructive negative feedback is usually far more valuable for your improvement. The key is to be ‘constructive’. Simply surmising that the execution of a kick was ‘rubbish’ isn’t adequate! Why was it rubbish? What was lacking? Form? Accuracy? Control? Speed? Power? What changes could be suggested to improve the performance? You can see how feedback of this nature will help you develop, and even negative feedback can be good for you.
Where can you get feedback?
Instructor
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>The Instructor looks on, assessing performance, compiling feedback
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The most obvious source of feedback is your instructor. He or she can objectively observe your performance and suggest improvements. Initially most of the comments are likely to regard form and accuracy. Once these elements are corrected, attention will turn to control, speed and the power of your technique. Finally fitness will be addressed to ensure continued repeatable performance for the required time period (round duration and number of rounds).
Training Partners
A good training partner will also provide you with valuable constructive feedback on your performance. This is particularly true when conducting padwork. In addition to a visual assessment, it’s easy to determine accuracy and power of the techniques striking the pads. The force of the blow is transmitted to the pad holder’s body permitting them to detect if you’re throwing your shots with less force as you tire toward the end of a round for example.
Now that we’ve considered the two most obvious methods of feedback, next month we’ll build on this by investigating some alternative more inventive sources.
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