Navigating Between Too Much Or Just Enough

Some of you know I am a huge football fan in addition to martial arts. After all, it’s hard to avoid watching football in Ohio. I have clear memories of watching the 1970 Cotton Bowl game between Notre Dame and Texas with my father. I was just 5 1/2 years old at that time!

Anyway, I’ve been fascinated with football, particularly with all-time great coaches. A recent article about Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs head coach, caught my eye. Among other things, the article discussed Reid’s offensive genius. He comes from the West Coast offense coaching tree. What’s unusual about Reid is that he has added elements from other offensive philosophies during his coaching career. He has watched film from every level of football to find offensive nuggets to incorporate into his playbook. To many, he has a “beautiful mind” when running an offense.

Anyway, the article alludes to the problem of having too many plays in one’s playbook.

“There are two types of philosophy on offense,” says Marty Mornhinweg, a close friend who began coaching alongside Reid when both were college assistants in their 20s. “One is that you do a very limited set of plays, but you run them better than anyone else. The other is that you do an awful lot, and you keep the defense off balance with different formations and tempos. Most coaches are somewhere in between. Andy is way over on the creative side.”

Running a limited set of plays better than anyone else has been the hallmark of some of the great college offenses of the past. Recall Woody Hayes’ “Three yards and a cloud of dust” offense in the 1970s or Barry Switzer’s wishbone option offense of the same era. There is also USC’s famous “student body right” play out of the I formation.

Nowadays, offenses have become more complex, with coaches striving for a balance between creativity and execution. As noted by Marty Mornhinweg, some coaches “do an awful lot” to keep defenses off balance. Among them are Reid and Bill Belichick. Under them, the game has become unbelievably complex.

The downside of Reid’s approach, Mornhinweg told me, is that with so many plays, “you have less repetitions of each one in practice. You have to live with some mistakes.”

Note: you should be able to view the above video, which offers a peek into Reid’s offensive philosophy. If you are not able to view the video, go here.

Furthermore, another article about Reid has the following:

“He studies like no other coach I’ve ever been around,” Chiefs receivers coach Greg Lewis said. “He studies college games, high school games, CFL games, European games. He’ll go look at stuff from 1910. He knows everything. He has a beautiful mind. He is able to compartmentalize everything then bring it out at the right moment, ‘Oh, this is something I saw on film from 70 years ago.’” Then comes the most important part: “He’s able to put it in terms everyone understands, and that’s special.”

The question of “too much or just enough” also pervades the martial arts.

For those practicing Modern Arnis, the description of Andy Reid sounds a lot like the late Professor Remy Presas. He started with his family style and then studied Balintawak in Cebu. While travelling in the Philippines, he picked up the Sinawali styles, judo, knife, espada y daga, and karate. After moving to the States in 1975, he continued cross-training with many martial arts contemporaries and added to his knowledge base. He had the amazing ability to connect concepts from different martial arts into a coherent whole.

See the different martial arts he uses in the video below.

If you are not able to view this video, go here.

I admire Andy Reid and Remy Presas’ curiosity and willingness their boundaries of their respective areas of expertise. They show us what’s possible when coaches or instructors become rather creative.

However, I am not Andy Reid or Professor Remy Presas. All of my students work and have only limited time for martial arts training. Unlike professional football players, they don’t have the time to watch film, read scouting reports, and practice for the next game. Reid will develop new plays to create mismatches and exploit weaknesses in the opposing team’s defense. That means the offensive players will practice the latest and greatest wrinkles to Reid’s offense before an upcoming game.

When it comes to my students, I err on “just enough” instead of “too much.” Why overload students with limited time to train?

Confession: I’ve caught myself teaching variations of techniques or flow drills to befuddled students. I do this out of excitement and joy over what’s possible. However, I’ve improved this over the past few years. I now focus on core material with proper footwork, structure and flow. I minimize the variations and counters for the sake of focusing on the fundamentals.

It’s a different story for the advanced students, though. At first, I’ll spoon-feed them either variations or counters. I intend to kick-start their creativity. Often, we’ll stop in the middle of a flow drill, and I’ll ask them, “Show me 2 or 3 things that you can do at this point.” Man, they are so excited when they come up with their solutions!

In summary, I prefer to teach the 20 flow drills. To me, that is a limited set of skills that they can perform well. Once they reach the requisite skill level, I will expand the art by teaching them more and encouraging their creativity.

Taking the Andy Reid approach with my students from the get-go is not advisable. After all, they are coming to me to learn practical self-defense skills. Give them “just enough” at the beginning instead of frying their brains with too much.

As I said earlier, we need the Andy Reids and Remy Presas-type geniuses to show us what is possible and show us all the possibilities.

I want your feedback. Please like, share or comment. It’d be appreciated!

Additional Reading

• The Importance of the #5 Poke in Modern Arnis
• The Vital Triad: Leg Strength, Balance, and Stability
• Crappy Hip to Bionic Hip: My FMA Footwork Reboot
• Six Month Countdown
• From Pixels to Stick Fighting

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