Correct Mechanics, Not Popular Mechanics.

Going through some Kihon the other day, I found that doing head-blocks the way I had been doing them for years was actually causing a pain in my shoulder.
As such I changed it up and brought it down a bit more, shortened the movement, made the arm more like a higher-level 'chest-block' (of course this is just a label, don't get hung up there).
It made the movement faster and actually made the pain go away, more comfortable and it actually worked more of the pecs and lats.

Not a big earth-shattering discovery as this is the same way they perform the block in some schools of American Kempo (giving reasons based on some studies in Kinesiology).
If you try it, you will find the arm is stacked more with the way the body is designed and becomes more stable this way, the other way is okay I guess, the modification I made is more of a cross between the two with the end result based on the stacking, at least that is how it turned out.

Most are hung-up on various notions of how things 'should' be done that they rarely ever really think about how things 'should' be done.
Some misguided notion or dogma makes them think along the lines of the 'One True Church' ideal (yep, there it is again) that they may never come to realize the cause of their shoulder problems later on down the road was actually in following that mentality without even one simple question.
In this respect 'Don't think just do' actually becomes harmful to your health because it is taken out of its' proper context.

I realize that we think these old guys in some obscure point of history may have been amazing and we may owe them a dept of gratitude or respect for passing down these things that we study, but that does not mean they were perfect.
Look at some of the methods meant to 'toughen' hands and bones that actually debilitated these people to the point they could not earn a living or function normally?

I once met a guy who could break rocks with his hands, I believe he was a Teacher of Uechi Ryu Karate and he learned how to break rocks from another individual who I think was Okinawan.
There was actually a scientific method to it involving leverage and a correct spot to hit, he said it hurt like hell every time, always bruised his hands, but that was nothing compared to this older 'rock-breaker' who hand to ask for help when forming the number 'seven' with his fingers at tournaments because he had no normal mobility left in them.

Maybe I would not want to be hit by this guy, but I have been hit pretty hard by people who still had the full use of their hands, and they were holding back.
It seems to me that the younger individual was onto something when looking at the principles to what he did, he was able to maintain more of his mobility with some bruising and staggered his attempts so as to avoid serious complications.
Maybe it will come back to haunt him later on? Who knows? One thing I have learned though is that hitting 'hard' does not actually mean hitting 'hard' and it is not in how you train, but 'how' you train...
Ask your self why I can do and you cannot. Does that mean go out and punch rocks as hard as you can? What does breaking your hand do for skill in the long-run? Can you continue to do that when you're old and your hands are crippled?
Listen to your body and ask yourself the questions that need to be asked in the course of your training.

The Teacher is in the mirror.