I got this clip via a mailing list I’m on and want to give mad props to Mr. Owen. First, listen to what he says:
“Don’t be a knucklehead”. Isn’t that the truth? At every stage in your training, there is one consistent factor: the need for technical training. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rank beginner or have been training for decades, you always have to focus on increasing both your technique knowledge and skill. Why? Simply because there is no alternative: one day, you won’t have anything else left to make the magic work.
Strength fades as you get older, speed goes away as well, anaerobic conditioning will become harder and harder to do and so it goes on. But technical skills and experience only continue to grow. The one caveat is that you have to maintain a minimum of physical training to access techniques. Technique can compensate for a lot of deficiencies but there is a physical threshold you have to pass or it won’t work: If your body is as solid as a wet noodle, that Neanderthal brute who’s pissed at you for “stealing” his parking space will blast through your exquisite technique anyway. So there are physical minimum requirements you can’t ignore.
On the other hand, I’m not saying you can neglect your physical attributes anymore when you reach a higher skill level. Technique can certainly trump raw force but what if you can maintain your speed and strength to the highest level for whatever age you are? Wouldn’t that trump just having loads of skill?
