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Active Training vs. Passive Training
Mark Hatmaker
OK, here's the scene, you're driving along in your car and you've got the music cranked. You're navigating the roads just fine, negotiating curves, keeping it between the lines, not steering into head-on collisions all the while singing along or drumming on the steering wheel to your tunes of choice (British punk, circa 1977, if you're riding with me).
You come to a busy intersection--one that calls for some well-timed crossing of multiple lanes to make a left turn. While we're pondering this intersection, more often than not, you find that you need to lower the volume of your tunes until the traffic has been navigated. This lowering of the volume ring any bells? If so, why might this be? Why would we need to reduce the volume of the aural stimulus to execute a function that is almost all about visual awareness?
BTW--There are more than a few correlating studies that have recorded conversations between drivers and passengers. These conversations on both sides of the seat either stop, or decrease dramatically at busy intersections. You experience a similar "turn it down" effect when looking for an address or simply when you are lost. In a series of related experiments, subjects are asked to pick out a conversation in a high noise-to-signal ratio. That is, the target conversation the subject is to distinguish is buried among other conversations or background noises. Almost invariably the subjects closed their eyes to better distinguish the conversation. A separate set of subjects were asked to keep their eyes open while picking out the conversational thread, they fared less well at the task. So, why should this be? Why would one sense interfere with another? I mean we use our eyes and ears at the same time, all the time everyday. We can walk, look at where we are going all the while carrying on a conversation and not lose the narrative thread or trip over our own feet. Why should the described instances be any different?
The answer comes down to complexity of task and familiarity of task--with a little bit of multi-tasking de-bunking thrown in along the way. Let's hit each in turn and then examine the implications for our combat training. First, complexity of task. Driving a familiar route with few obstacles to be navigated does not call for much demand on our executive function. As soon as we introduce complexity, the aforementioned intersection for example, where there are variables to be pondered we've got to up our game. Second, familiarity. There was a time when we all first learned to drive that even the tasks we now take for granted were approached with white-knuckled hands at 2 and 10 on the steering wheel with dilated pupils taking it all in, hoping we kept it between the lines. Every new task we confront requires attentional input--once we have applied our shortcuts to navigating the new task (heuristics) we raise the bar for complexity by this newly acquired familiarity. And thirdly, multi-tasking. We humans don't really multi-task--we aren't really walking and talking, or texting while driving, or answering emails while talking to the spouse at the same time. We humans are set up to pay attention to only one thing at a time and when we engage in multiple tasks (even a mere two things at at time) we are actually switching back and forth between tasks at a rapid rate. The switch is so rapid we have the illusion that we are doing more than a few things well, but that texting and driving and talking to the spouse while keying in an email--I'm sure we can see this is not the best way to operate one's life. We all recognize this defect in "multi-tasking" when we turn down the radio for the intersection and close our eyes to "hear." We can take the preceding information and apply it to our combat training to, perhaps, create more optimum results. More "present moment" training procedures. Usually "present moment" training is approached via metaphysics through lip service vehicles such as Zen training or mindfulness training, et cetera. Those esoteric approaches may work for some, but they come with the paradoxical baggage of splitting your focus. To learn to be mindful or present in your training via these approaches you must first devote some alternate time to the meditation or contemplative processes to acquire the mindful skill-set to bring to your physical training. This route can be a long one for some, and some never quite find they are able to bring the esoteric to life in the prosaic world. I suggest there is a more pragmatic way to keep you grounded in your training and avoiding wheel-spinning and false multi-tasking and this is by adopting an Active Training approach over a Passive Training approach. Active Training requires you to be present by force of complexity or other outside strictures. Rather than simply working rounds on the bag, you can apply "Gaming the Gear" concepts to combat training, that is, use external constraints to keep you "present" and focused on the traffic. A few options include:
- Competing for highest strike rate per round against a partner or yourself. Example: If your partner got 235 strikes in his first round, you strive to beat that number.
- Beating the Clock. Decide you will deliver X number of thigh kicks on the banana bag in X amount of time. If you reach that goal, up the ante in the next session.
Practically any piece of solo gear can be approached in this manner (you can find more gaming the gear options in our book The Boxer's Book of Conditioning and Drilling).
Partner drilling is where Active Training really thrives. Contact is the ultimate "stay in the present moment" tool in your kit. Avoiding being hit is the gym equivalent of successfully navigating an intersection. Partner drills should always have the threat of contact, I include focus pad work in this equation, as well. If your training partner never hits back then you could have just as well trained on a heavy bag or shadow sparred. (Hitless training is wasting somebody's time--either yours or the pad holder's, or both).
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating all out, no holds barred donnybrooks in the middle of a pad session, or a partner suddenly throwing knees in the middle of a double-leg-only drill. What I'm talking about is agreed upon contact levels to keep both parties in the game and a few spice wild cards.
A spice wild card may be a simple as "Hey, we're both going to shoot double-legs on each other at 80% for the next 3 5-minute rounds, but how about we add if the head is open for a jab at any point in the drill we can take that, too?" See nothing crazy in that?
You both get to work the double-leg with contact to keep you awake and you've got a wild card to remind you that many folks drop those hands when they switch to grappling mode (Remember what we said about multi-tasking?)
Passive Training is driving a familiar route everyday of your life, it's driver's Ed Class again, and again, and again. Active Training is eyes wide-open always looking at new scenery all the while watching out for folks swerving into your lane. Active training will keep you engaged and engagement leads to immediate correction of errors and is ultimately the road to growth. | 
