6309 SW Capitol Highway, Portland OR, 97239
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Martial arts is always changing. This is good. There’s no improvement without change, and I’m certain most folks in the martial arts community want to see improvement.
One aspect that always comes under scrutiny is the notion of concepts versus technique. Some coaches argue for teaching conceptually – these folks explain things globally and how everything connects to everything else. Others argue for technique – drillers make killers is the cliche in that crowd.
The good news is both methods work – do either one long enough and students will improve. I’m not sure there’s any clear evidence one works better than the other though proponents of both camps are certainly willing to shout (in a mostly kind way) about how right they are.
My two cents is that for beginners, concepts are difficult to grasp because they have no context. That is to say, you can precisely and cleverly describe the idea of how to use frames and it might help some – and you probably as a coach should mention the concept behind the specific technique – but initial learning is probably best served with concrete techniques lightly sprinkled with concepts.
On the flip side of that, the further a student gets into training, the more concepts are important – but that’s no excuse to neglect technique and small corrections. Conceptual understanding usually arises from learning individual moves and connecting them together.
Maybe that’s a lazy conclusion, but there it is. Teach techniques and teach concepts. They not only work well together – I truly think both are required for functional martial arts.
SW Portland Martial Arts Blog
Concepts versus Technique
November 22nd, 2025Stay Calm
November 16th, 2025
There are many good things to be gleaned from learning martial arts. We, as a school, think that competency should be ranked number one. Students don’t need to learn fast and push themselves at every moment, but the goal should be improved skill in martial arts – without that core growth of competence, all the other good things fall away.
What “other” good things are there besides getting better at kicking, punching, throwing, choking, pinning, and evading punches? Staying calm under pressure. Today in kids class, we worked on trying to defend efficiently. When the punch comes in, if we use two hands, scream, close our eyes, and fall to our knees, that’s not particularly efficient. It might stop that attack, but it’s liable to open us up pretty wide for the next attack.
Alright. So what does defending efficiently have to do with staying calm? Well, inevitably, students will notice that they have, in fact, defended inefficiently. If, in that moment of noticing, they get upset at themselves and stop to grumble, groan, or throw their arms down, then they are likely to be opening themselves up even more so than if they had simply defended poorly.
Over-reacting emotionally almost always opens us up to attack. Thus, over time, martial arts, if practiced with an eye toward competence, should help us remain calm in the face of difficulty. Hopefully this skill transfers to more than simply defending punches in sparring and helps students stay calm when they make mistakes in “real” life like forgetting to bring a lunch to school, or missing the bus, or whatever – because as in sparring, so in life – over-reacting almost always leaves us less able to solve the problem at hand.
Technique
November 3rd, 2025
Martial arts isn’t all about technique, but it’s the most important thing we can deliver as teachers and it’s the thing that will matter the most over the long haul.
If you’re not fast, strong, or big – that will only make technique more important. Indeed, it is often those folks who aren’t physically gifted that end up with the best technique because they have no other tools to get the job done.
So how do you get good technique? Go to class, do the drills, ask questions, and train consistently. It’s the same for kids and adults.
Interested in kid’s classes? Check out our schedule here.
Kimura Escape
September 22nd, 2025
One way to think about escaping a submission is to practice a little bit of empathy. What does the person trying to finish this submission want? Well if they want X,Y, and Z then I should probably try and stop those things from happening if I don’t want to get submitted.
Is that really empathy? Maybe not in the way we usually think about it, but figuring out what your partner is trying to do in martial arts is a huge key in getting better at martial arts.
Let’s get more specific. Suppose your partner is trying to get the Kimura. In order to finish the Kimura, one thing they need is to have your elbow controlled. Therefore, if you can slip your elbow out of the lock, they can’t finish the Kimura.
The whole idea of reverse engineering submissions in order to practice submission escapes is brilliant and I can’t pretend to take credit for it. Credit goes to John Danaher and his excellent video, Submission Escapes.
The Press Family
September 12th, 2025
Meet the press family. There’s shoulder press, push press, push jerk, split jerk, and squat jerk. All of them share the same finish position, the bar overhead such that if you were to draw a line starting at the middle of the foot, go through the knee, the hip, the shoulder, and then finish at the barbell, it should be straight.
Why should it be straight? So that we’re supporting the weight with good structure. If the bar is behind that line, it puts a strain on the low back, increases the risk of injury, and possibly causes the bar to crash to the ground behind us. If the bar is in front of that line, it puts a strain on the shoulders, increases the risk of injury, and possibly causes the bar to crash to the ground in front of us.
That’s why today we spent a bunch of time focusing on how to find the correct finish position. Technique is strength. Strength is skill. Work hard in the smartest way possible.
Interested in our CrossFit classes? Come try a free week. The schedule is here.