The Five Things That Martial Artists Don’t Know

[sensei8]

Knowledge is paramount! Experience is tantamount! The keys to the wisdom of the martial arts is also recognizing ones limitations and/or ones faults, then meeting that wisdom head-on no matter what it might or might not reveal; truths are facts that can’t be ignored, no matter how hard one might try.

The five things that martial artists don’t know:

1) Quitting

2) Any Effective Technique Who He/She Doesn’t Love

3) Any Other Way To Betterment, But Through Effective Training

4) Any Better Time To Train Than Right Now

5) The Word “Impossible”

1) Quitting:

There’s an idiom that goes like this…”Winners never quit, and quitters never win!!” This is a fact because, imho, it’s also quite true. A truism as this has never been spoken. A martial artist must adhere to this idiom as one would need air to breathe.

“It’s so hard.” It’s supposed to be hard, but that’s what makes the trails and tribulations of the martial arts so special and enduring. Each and every difficult thing has a positive side to it, and that is that that thing which battles against you, also imbues your willing spirit to reach each and every goal, no matter how big or little, and that your fighting spirit lives on, and in that, you’ll be awarded with the satisfaction that you conquered that which has set out to destroy you as a martial artist.

That fight to fight the good fight is within each of us as people first, and as a martial artist secondly. Just when one thinks that they can’t go on any further, they dig deeply from within to go just that one step further. A martial artist doesn’t exhaust expectations because there is always more. There’s more to whatever ‘it’ is; there’s no end, there’s just momentary pauses. Just when one thinks that it is possible to exhaust expectations, the ‘AHA’ light comes on in one’s head and that seemly unreachable rung is not surprisingly easy to grasp a firm hold of.

As a martial artist, quitting is OK, but that’s only if you’ll quit all of that whining and complaining!

2) Any Effective Technique Who He/She Doesn’t Love:

It’s easy to love that which is easy. A martial artist loves the things which are hard; difficult. Martial artists are trained in an encyclopedic myriad of techniques throughout their martial arts journey. Some techniques make perfect sense, while other techniques make absolutely no sense at all. No matter how much glue and gum and scotch tape is applied to some techniques; they’re still marquees announcing loudly in ones brain that that questioned technique is ineffective across the board.

Each martial artist searches the wide world over the most effective techniques that they can claim possession of for their arsenal, no matter where it came from or whom it came from. Improving ones techniques is the betterment of each and every technique learnt and taught; practice shouldn’t be taken lightly, yet, practice should be done with a pitched fever.

Listen to your body signals, and in that, please don’t push yourself so hard and so far that you’ll require medical attention. Effective training and practice shouldn’t require a hospital visit. Gauge yourself, drink plenty of fluids, and know when it’s time to take a break or to stop for the day/night.

Searching, discovering, and perfecting that effective technique might come on purpose, or it might come by accident. Either way, once that technique becomes effective through testing it, doubting it, trying it, and then believing in it; that technique which is effective, is quite easy to love and nourish it so that it/they [techniques] become better and better through every trail and tribulation. Remember, what’s effective for me, might not be effective for someone else. Why? Knowledge, experience, and body type play important ingredients for technique(s) success, imho.

I can’t love that which is ineffective, but I will, and do love that which is effective!

3) Any Other Way To Betterment, But Through Effective Training:

Practice, practice, and more and more practice are important in improving ones betterment within the martial arts. However, blatant disregard on how one does train is damaging to not only your physical well-being, but how to launch an effective technique(s) when necessary.

Train not because you have to, but train because you want to and that you need to with that wide eyed purposeful intention, and in that, you’re intent is respectful across the board. When you strike, block/deflect, kick, punch; perform it effectively to and through the technique.

Attack that training apparatus with the intent to destroy it. Meet that fear and doubt head-on with the intent to defeat that with is trying to define you. Once you feel like sitting down, push yourself to go just that much more further than you might’ve even imagined, however, you knew that that was already in you to succeed; and you will. You just had to conquer that fear, and meet it on your own terms; not its.

Effective training means to seek out help from those who’ve been there. That way, you won’t feel alone in your despair, and/or amenity. Does it mean that you’re weak? No, it means that you’re being honest with yourself, and that from time to time, you’re going to need help to remain on the course that’s set before you. Be lackadaisical when you’re dead; you’ll have all the time then.

Train effectively because the alternative isn’t attractive at all!

4) Any Better Time To Train Than Right Now:

You could train tomorrow. You could train later. You could train when you feel like it. You could train another time. You don’t feel good. You meant to train yesterday, but something came on TV, and for that moment, that was much more important to you than your training. Besides, this martial arts stuff is easy; it’s a snap.

Putting things off might have their place, somewhere and sometime, but the MA requires that you train no matter ones skill set. Survival in the streets against an attacker hell-bent on hurting your family, friends, and/or yourself needs one to train for the inevitable, and that time to train is right now!!

Yes, family is without a doubt the most important thing, and spending quality time with them is paramount. There are always times to train, and whenever time makes itself available, take advantage of it. Even if it only means finding a few minutes here or there to train, because before you know it, you’ve managed to find an hour or more in your full plate of a day.

There is never a better time that right now to train!

5) The Word “Impossible”:

Many things are impossible. Just to name a few…I can’t fly without an airplane. I can’t run faster than a car. I can’t walk on water. I can’t cheat death. Things are meant to be impossible because we’re not all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips, no matter what illusion we tend to believe.

Remember your first class? Remember just how hard everything was? Remember how frustrated it became? Remember that every muscle and aching joint hurt…and for days? Remember showing up for the next class, and the next class after that, and so on? I’m quite sure that you thought to yourself during those first three days that this martial arts stuff is for the birds, and you were wondering what in the world did you get yourself in.

The only thing impossible, imho, is that which one won’t even try! When the instructor is about teaching you, he/she is constantly pushing and driving you; it’s not because your instructor hates your guts. No, because he/she believes in you and he/she knows that that is within you and he/she wants to be around when everything starts to fall into its proper place…the big AHA moment. Here's the bad news, you’re a student, I’m a student, and in that, we’re constantly learning. In that learning process of the martial arts, you’ll relive those same depressing feelings again and again whenever you’re learning something brand new.

Nobody’s born with martial arts abilities. Yes, you kicked and all that stuff when you were an infant, but that wasn’t the martial arts. Believe in yourself first before others will believe in you. It might or might not take some time, but your martial arts are yours and yours alone. Don’t allow anybody to take it away from you, and don’t allow them to steal your martial arts joy.

However, the martial arts, well, it’s difficult, but it’s not impossible!

In closing, I sincerely believe that these five things should be emblazoned on each and every martial arts school’s wall and in each and every martial artists heart for when things get tough, and that while the road of one’s journey isn’t paved with roses, there are certainties that one must be constantly reminded about; there’s always a light at the end of one’s tunnel if one would endure through each and every aspect that is the martial arts.

Edited April 15, 2012 by sensei8

[Dobbersky]

Solid post!!!

[yamesu]

I love this!

Thank you-

Osu

[JusticeZero]

Yet another of your wise and profound posts. I really appreciate reading these, thank you for posting.

[sensei8]

Thank you yamesu, Dobbersky, and JusticeZero!!

[GeoGiant]

Very solid post. Quitting being number 1. A lot of those old says like winners never quit are old sayings for a reason.

[sensei8]

Thank you GeoGiant!!

[JusticeZero]

It reads much like theory, which i've been dealing with a lot of lately. The thing about theory that's always frustrating is that before you read it, you don't know it, and while you're reading it, you think "Well duh, everybody knows that!"

One looks at the "trees" awhile, and hears some theory, and suddenly in their mind something goes 'click' and suddenly they see the forest that was always there. "Well of course it's a forest, what else could it possibly be?"

[sensei8]

It reads much like theory, which i've been dealing with a lot of lately. The thing about theory that's always frustrating is that before you read it, you don't know it, and while you're reading it, you think "Well duh, everybody knows that!"

One looks at the "trees" awhile, and hears some theory, and suddenly in their mind something goes 'click' and suddenly they see the forest that was always there. "Well of course it's a forest, what else could it possibly be?"

The AHA moment defined!!