The Goldilocks Rule and martial arts. The Goldilocks rule is about avoiding excess. As a child growing up during the cold war the Olympics were a blood sport. The Olympics were about athletic competition. But the Olympics was also about The United States getting more medals than the Soviet Union.
Olympics were a replacement for actual combat. Instead of the dead, you counted the number of medals and what kind. I’m confident that the members of the Warsaw Pact held that same position.
The Warsaw Pact was a group of countries in Eastern Europe pledging cooperation with one another. The motto of the Warsaw Pact was: “Union of peace and socialism.” The Democratic Republic of Germany (GDR) or East Germany was a member of the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact.
Too Much Energy
The East German athletes were unbelievable in their physicality. Their level of Olympic competition was extraordinary.
The GDR female swimmers had profound physical attributes bordering on male. These female swimmers had broad shoulders powerful arms, an ambient muscle mass unknown for women before this time. It was revealed in later years that the GDR’s women’s swim team was using anabolic steroids to boost their physicality.
The risks to the misuse of anabolic steroids are now known. Not just a change in irritability or increased aggression. but hair loss, liver disease, and heart disease.
Putting too much energy into the system for an extended period is dangerous to the system. A violation of the Goldilocks Rule. The GDR athletes, in the calling of service to the country, were willing to overdrive their bodies.
Not Enough Energy
Not getting enough energy into a system results in the organization falling apart. Starvation is an example. Fewer calories are taken into the body than needed for survival.
Over time the body begins to cannibalize its resources and the body is no longer able to function. Again, an example of the Goldilocks Rule being disregarded.
Extremes And Trade-Offs
No matter what the extreme, there are tradeoffs. The merits of the moment at hand, versus the long term, can be argued, but, there is a price you will be paying. The extremes, in either case, are bad. This applies to the Goldilocks rule and martial arts.
Strike a balance in your journey. Heed the warnings of steroid misuse and anorexia. These two examples are examples of choices. They are not the result of forces out of our control. An example would be famine. Famine is out of our control anorexia is not.
The Goldilocks Rule provides a tried and true example of why the old martial arts masters can still perform at a high level. These martial artists adopted the middle path.
The Goldilocks Rule is based on the fable of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. The moral of the story is, not too hot not to cold, just right. Venus is too close to the sun and as a result, is a boiling mess, Mars, too far away, too cold. Earth is just right for us to survive.
The Goldilocks Rule and Martial Arts
We live in this Goldilocks zone and we should approach the martial arts journey in the same way. Don’t drive the system too hard, too fast, because you will burn out. Don’t be too soft either because you will waste away.
Choose the middle path, seek balance. You will become imbalanced when necessary, but once that force is removed seek the balance and live a long and more importantly healthy life through the martial arts.
A few related articles you may want to explore
Let’s Connect
KRIS WILDER
Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.