When Belief Becomes Dogma: The Danger of Being Certain.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on AUG 13, 2025

When Belief Becomes Dogma: The Danger of Being Certain.

(Approx 2 minute 15 second read)

Conviction. It’s crazy when people are so confident, so absolutely certain, so entrenched in their own ideas, that they just can’t see outside the box. Their way is the only way – end of discussion.

As well as the martial arts – with a little boxing thrown in as a youth – I’ve been involved in many sports throughout the years: rugby, squash, tennis, sailing, racing cars and motorbikes, even flying model airplanes. Nowhere have I seen so much misunderstanding, so much ego, and, frankly, so much stupidity, as I have in the martial arts.

For many years, I stayed quiet. I ran my dojo, taught my small group, and kept my head down. No one knew who I was, and no one cared – including me. That’s just how I liked it.

My students encouraged me to write for them, but things spiraled. What began as a few posts for their benefit somehow turned into a larger audience (thank you, by the way).

But my word, some of the comments and private messages I receive are cringeworthy. The sheer confidence behind some of these ideas amazes me. It’s as if people don’t just hold an opinion – they clutch it in a death grip.

Take yesterday. I wrote about creating angles and moving off the attack line to gain a tactical advantage. Seems like common sense, right? Apparently not.

Some people would rather stand there toe-to-toe, trading ‘blocks’ and blows, both having an equal chance to get flattened.

Why would anyone want that?

One ‘gentleman’ explained to me – after calling me “very confused” (perhaps my old age is showing) – that his Shotokan back stance and leftward movement in the Heian kata was the de facto way. That was the method, full stop. Never mind that I never mentioned Heian kata at all, and we practice the Pinan kata in my group. But there you go.

What fascinates me is how quickly some people will throw away tactical advantage, historical context, and practical self-protection in favor of rigid choreography. They’re not thinking about whether it works in a real scenario – they’re thinking about whether it matches the pattern they were taught at age 12.

It’s the difference between reciting a poem and actually having a conversation. One is memorized. The other is alive, adaptable, and responsive.

Conviction can be a wonderful thing – it drives progress, fuels commitment, and keeps you on the path when things get difficult. But when it hardens into stubbornness, when it blinds you to reason, evidence, and context, it stops being conviction and becomes dogma.

Psychologists have names for this. Daniel Kahneman calls it “theory-induced blindness” – once you’ve accepted a theory as your lens, it’s extraordinarily difficult to notice its flaws.

Or, as someone wisely put it: “There is nothing that blinds one to the truth more effectively than a conviction that one already knows the truth.”

In the martial arts, that’s dangerous. The moment you believe you already have all the answers, you stop looking for better ones. You stop testing, adapting, and questioning. And in the real world – outside the comfort of the dojo – that’s when conviction can get you hurt.

Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo