LMA Map 1 (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

For participants following along, you'll notice a pattern in the release of the LMA units. The first units were about conditioning. Next was awareness and checking in. Next was stance, balance, flexibility, and footwork (with theory and pedagogy along the way). This is even before conventional defense and offense, though that's all hidden within the units and drills as scaffolding.

The curriculum is progressive and cumulative. It builds on top of itself. That means starting with functionality before we increase the demands. Demands should only increase based on the scaffolding participants already have. Otherwise, you're only setting people up for failure.

It's obvious to notice dramatic things like missing a punch or getting hit, the result. It's not as obvious to see how that happened, the conditions and behaviors. Were they fighting in a cage? In a ring? In a small apartment? In a parking garage? What about their physical behaviors, such as their stance? Were they in or out of balance? Where were their feet? What about composure? Were they rushing? Were they moving faster than they could think or breathe? But you can't account for any of this if you're lost.

Just as we need navigation for the road, we need a map to guide our practice and movements. The more you know the map, the more relaxed you are, and the more natural your movements can become. The more thorough the map, the more fruitful the results.

If everything was binary and straightforward, like a straight line, you wouldn't need a map. You need a map because nothing is like that. Forks only lead to more forks. But once you've seen enough of them and understand how they work, you'll notice patterns. Once you've seen the patterns, adapting to new circumstances is less daunting. This is why we're not doing any specific art or even self-defense but mixed martial arts, where it's the most open-ended. So we have the most variables to draw patterns from.

If you were to tell a supercomputer to figure out the overall patterns for martial arts, would you only feed it data from karate or from the self-defense scenarios based on individualized situations, or would you feed it everything? Of course, you'd feed it everything because what you ultimately want is to find the strategies that would work in the most situations.

That's a lot to cover, and that's what we're covering. But that variability is what will make it fun and constantly new. Fun is what will keep you sticking with it. Sticking with it is how you'll get good.

Make sure to keep referring back to the table of contents for updates and changes.

– Sam