The Primal MMA Coaching Podcast #17A - Context is King! Dr. Alan Dunton, on moving along the continuum of representativeness.
Jan 26, 2022
Dr. Alan Dunton, a researcher and former Irish Taekwondo competitor, shares compelling insights into skill development in martial arts. He delves into the nuances between action capacity and capability, emphasizing how isolated training can be beneficial yet context-dependent. Alan explores the importance of attunement to opponents during sparring, the role of perceptual information in training, and the need for a cultural shift in coaching practices. He advocates for contextual conditioning and discusses how fatigue impacts decision-making in competition.
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Capacity Versus Capability
- Action capacity means raw attributes like speed, strength, power and endurance while action capability means using those attributes effectively in skillful contexts.
- Alan contrasts body-scaled affordances (reach) with action-scaled affordances (speed/power) to clarify the distinction.
Supplement, Don’t Replace Context
- Use isolated strength or endurance work only as supplementary training when gym time is limited and context-rich practice is possible.
- Prioritise contextual training when you have restricted weekly training hours to maximise transfer.
Affordances Are Partner-Specific
- Affordances appear differently across opponents because each opponent emits distinct movement signatures and cues.
- Attunement to those cues comes from repeated interaction with specific partners, not just technique drills.