Resistance vs Structure

Sometimes we drill things against resistance. Sometimes we drill things against structure.

What?

Resistance means your partner is actively trying to stop you. Structure means your partner is only making an effort to keep themselves standing (or sitting – or whatever posture they start in). It is actually quite hard for some folks to draw the line between the two.

If you tell students not to resist, they become floppy fish. The technique stops working because you don’t need any technique against a fish – you simply push it over. Tell students to maintain structure and they apply 100% resistance and their partner struggles to remember the technique and instead ends up fighting to survive.

It’s a tough struggle but one worth figuring out. Good partners make for good martial artists.