Have you ever met someone who just overthinks everything? I know I have, many times during my long martial arts career.
In my opinion, it’s just as bad to overthink things the same as it’s bad to not think at all.
I was watching this awesome movie that most of you reading this probably know, The Last Samurai. The movies stars Tom Cruise as an America Soldier who is brought to Japan in order to help train their Army in the most modern combat tactics of the west.
Long story short, he (cruise) gets captured by a rebel group of Samurai’s and he befriends them and they train him in martial arts and stuff like sword fighting.
While learning sword fighting, Cruise keeps getting the crap kicked out of him. After a while one of the better swordsman comes over to him and says this: “Too Many Mind”.
What that means is that Cruise hasn’t been doing well because he overthinks his attacks during the sword sparring.
At that point, Cruise turns his mind off and just kind of lets his body take control. Only then does he do well and even come to a draw with one of the best swordsman in the group.
The bullet point of all this: Sometimes it’s better if you just turn your brain off and go with the flow. In doing so, you’ll find that more often then not you end up doing much better.
If you watch the very best fighters in MMA, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or something like Krav Maga. All the best fighters can do all these amazing techniques based purely on muscle memory.
I know for me, I tend to overthink everything, down to the last detail. Sometimes it’s helpful but I find that I almost always do better when I shut the thinking off and let the skills in place do their job.
Remember that in order for your skills to shine in live rolling/sparring or during a street confrontation you need to drill these skills A lot. Not a little.
Lot’s of drilling makes skills become much more of an instinct, you know, something that doesn’t need thought to happen, it happens no matter what.
Keep this in mind…
If you start thinking about what you’re going to do while in the middle of a rumble I’ve got bad news for you, you shouldn’t be fighting AKA you’re not ready.
What you need to do should take place without thought. Again, it’s got to be drilled to the point of knowing it forward and backward. This takes time as I’m sure you know.
Put in the time through your training and it won’t be long before what needs to take place in a fight happens with or without any thought behind it.
