To know and not to do, is not yet to know
by Dave Sauer
In most of my classes I share my two favorite Bruce Lee quotes. The first:
To know and not to do, is not yet to know.
Bruce Lee, Tao of JKD
How many times have you heard someone talk a good game, but when it came time to perform, the disconnect between their talk and walk became evident? I know a guy, (in another field of training) who can amaze audiences with his vast knowledge on the subject and could pass all the book tests. He teaches the subject at a college, and has won “trainer awards.” He knows all the names of the big trainers in the industry and has even got his name mentioned in a book by another trainer. In the last 16 years, I have seen him publicly try to walk the talk only twice, and both times were embarrassments. It was quickly evident he did not have the skill to apply the book knowledge he had amassed.
I’ve been to numerous instructor level firearms schools in which a good percentage of the students in the class seem to be there to learn how to shoot, not learn how to teach others to shoot. It frustrates the hell out of me! I want to tell them, “Dude, go home and learn how to shoot, then come back. We don’t have time to teach you what you should already know. I mean, how can you hope to be able to teach someone a physical skill when you can’t do it yourself?!”
Bruce Lee was right. You can intellectually understand the concepts; you can know the theory and regurgitate the memorized lines, but if you cannot DO what you are talking about, you really do not KNOW what you are talking about.
Several of our pistol fighting courses start off with the infamous “One Hole Drill” in which we ask students to put five shots into the same hole from five yards. This tells us real quick who KNOWS the fundamentals of marksmanship and who does not. In my experience, only about ten percent really KNOW and can DO. One out of ten can, on demand and under pressure put a bullet right where they want it, shot after shot, from that relatively easy distance of fifteen feet. This is one of the foundational proactive fighting skills, yet it eludes so many.
Firearm User Network 
George Harris
Jan 25, 2014 @ 10:42:22
Good article. A good instructor can do on demand what he is teaching his students to do. Every drill should be demonstrated by the instructor so the students can see how it is supposed to be done. The bullet hole drill is the proof in the pudding and the foundation of marksmanship. Everything else evolves from that simple drill. After all, the objective of shooting is hitting the target when and where you want to isn’t it?
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John M. Buol Jr.
Jan 28, 2014 @ 15:07:24
An instructor, trainer or coach is one of his/her best students. There is zero communication gap of information and understanding inside one’s own mind. A person that is a poor performer with little to no higher level personal accomplishment in the skill area is limited in communicating higher skill level to someone else.
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John Tate
Jan 28, 2014 @ 15:37:59
There is a lot of truth in Dave’s observations and counsel. There is also at least one major problem; consider women’s gymnastic coach Béla Károlyi. He’s arguably the best and most famous in that field.
An overly strong counterpoint for: To know and not to do, is not yet to know. I don’t think so. There are plenty of activities where, as in Mr. Károlyi’s example, the coach can never be a player. There are far more examples of former players who now coach because they love the activity but are too old (feeble?) to play anymore.
Here is an alternate truth: just because a person is skilled, or even extremely skilled, in an activity doesn’t mean he can teach it. I’ve known skilled performers of everything from shooting to mathematics who couldn’t teach a rock to lay still.
My point here is, don’t be too anxious to trash the counsel of someone who, to use Mr. Sauer’s words, cannot walk the talk. That person may still have some accurate observations that will help their audience improve.
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John M. Buol Jr.
Jan 28, 2014 @ 16:01:57
>> consider women’s gymnastic coach Béla Károlyi. He’s arguably the best and most famous in that field.
The man is 70 years old today. Károlyi WAS a successful competitive athlete, having been a national junior boxing champion and a member of the Romanian hammer throwing team. He also enrolled at the Romania College of Physical Education, studying and practicing gymnastics, meaning he personally participated. He later met his wife Márta through this gymnastics program and they coached for 20 years after their competitive careers before being recognized internationally.
>> There are far more examples of former players who now coach because they love the activity but are too old (feeble?) to play anymore.
Former player means they were skilled at one point and have earned personal experience.
Football coaches, especially at the professional and upper college level, are not trainers. They are personnel managers. NFL players and D1 college athletes arrive pre-selected, having already been successful elsewhere. These “coaches” are managing talent that already exists.
>> just because a person is skilled, or even extremely skilled, in an activity doesn’t mean he can teach it.
True. But they were at least able to teach one student (themselves) to a high level.
>> My point here is, don’t be too anxious to trash the counsel of someone who, to use Mr. Sauer’s words, cannot walk the talk. That person may still have some accurate observations that will help their audience improve.
Possibly, but a person attempting to teach a skill they have no personal experience with is at least suspect.
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George
Jan 29, 2014 @ 08:32:55
You can’t argue success no matter how you get there. The time it takes however usually distinguishes the good from the great.
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