10, 000 HOURS..

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” -Bruce Lee

Malcolm Gladwell is attributed the concept that we require 10, 000 hours of practice to master a skill, but maybe Bruce Lee was ahead of him??

How do we acquire a skill?

Practice.

Acquiring multiple skills is necessary to be a competent athlete, but trying to acquire them all at once, means watering down your available time to practice each one, which may lead to sub optimal development of those skills.

My old Bruce Lee Fighting Method books taught only 4-5 kicks, and all but 1 of them came off the right foot!!  The philosophy behind his art of Jeet June Do, was to keep it super simple, to practice just a few basic movements, over and over, until they were exceptional in their execution and could be performed on pure instinct.

Minimal tools in the arsenal meant the most effective fighting arsenal.. no confusion or distraction, just eye strike, throat punch, groin kick.

Same as CrossFit – squat, deadlift, pullup, press, these movements are the eye strike, throat punch and groin kick of exercise, ie the most effective, bang for your buck movements.

Practice them till they are exceptional.

For more advanced skills, like muscle ups, pistols, CTB pullups and handstand pushups, focus on one at a time.  Work through sensible progressions, and don't be distracted by other movements.  Once you've made some headway, introduce another skill.