The “go with the flow” philosophy is often seen as a positive mindset that encourages individuals to be flexible, adaptable, and open to new experiences.

In a physical sense, this philosophy is at the core of Modern Arnis and the founder of Modern Arnis, the late Professor Remy A. Presas. He always exhorted us to “go with da flow!” If one technique fails, flow into the next one.

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The above video provides a good example of flowing from one technique to another. In this case, I flowed from one lock to another. As you can see, Alex didn’t exactly enjoy this!

Professor taught the above flow drill at many camps and seminars. It’s an excellent example of his beloved flow.

However, based on my observations of him, he didn’t always get caught up in the flow. He often preferred the quick “kill shot” solution instead of flowing to the following technique. If you look closely, you can see some examples of this in the below video.

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Outside of martial arts, the “going with the flow” philosophy is wonderful and implemented thoughtfully, which can lead to less stress. If one store unexpectedly closes due to repairs, you can go to another for your needs.

However, this philosophy also has its downsides.

One of the main downsides of the “go with the flow” philosophy is that it can lead to a lack of direction. I have observed that, with some folks, “going with the flow” can descend into aimlessness.

We may be less likely to set and achieve clear goals when we go with the flow. We may also be less likely to make important decisions. This can lead to a sense of aimlessness and dissatisfaction in life.

How many of you get into a car and say to yourself, “Let’s go with the flow?” Most of us have a clear destination when leaving the house.

Another downside is that going with the flow can lead to complacency. We may be less likely to push ourselves to achieve our full potential or strive for more.

An example of this is deciding not to go to a martial arts class because something else came up. We often justify that by saying….oh wait, you know what it is. “Hey, it’s just one class; it won’t hurt our chances of being promoted to the next belt.”

Let’s analyze the downsides in the context of martial arts.

If taken too far, “going with the flow” may rob you of the initiative in self-defence. “Going with the flow” implies reacting to your opponent instead of taking control of a situation. As we all know, action is faster than reaction. Let’s call this the “wishy-washy” version of going with the flow.

Instead of a wishy-washy “go with the flow,” one can adopt a harder-edged version of this philosophy. Like the Cobra Kai! :-). What’s that well-known mantra? “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy.“

One can parry an initial attack and counter (“Strike First) forcefully enough to end a situation (“Strike Hard”). If that doesn’t do the job, a follow-up counter or two should do it (“No Mercy.”)

Are we going with the flow here? Heck, yes.

In conclusion, “going with the flow” in martial arts has its benefits, but it can also lead to a lack of assertiveness and put martial artists at a disadvantage in real-world self-defence scenarios. It’s essential to balance adapting and being proactive in your training.

Guess what? ChatGPT wrote about 50% of the above.

I requested ChatGPT to do the following: “Write a blog post about the downsides of going with the flow.” Ten seconds later, it answered my query with six paragraphs. Pretty amazing. However, I modified some sentences due to their wordiness and deleted several paragraphs. Some of my input may seem evident to you.

Side note: the logo in the featured image for this post is ChatGPT’s.

This experience got me thinking about human creativity vs AI-assisted human creativity. I like the idea of using AI to generate templates for blog posts. But then the question becomes: did I write the post or not? This may be problematic in a university setting with term papers. But what about a blogger struggling with writer’s block? Something to think about.

This Week’s Video

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This is a fun variation of flow drill #13 (cross-body thrust). You execute the bottom feed, hit your opponent’s hand and thrust afterwards. That’s it! Give it a try!

Hip Hip Hooray!

My wife and I had been playing phone tag with the orthopedic surgeon’s office concerning my hip replacement surgery date. We finally connected on Monday, January 9th. Based on my surgical consult before the holidays, I expected the surgery to be set in March. On a lark, I asked if there were any openings or cancellations for this month.

“Yes, we do. We have an opening for January 26th. Would you be interested?“

I replied, “Heck yes!“

So it’s on! I have a pre-op appointment on the 24th and lots of preparation beforehand. I’ll keep all of you posted!

Additional Reading