Blog
Balancing Act
Recently I bumped into an old student. I didn’t immediately recognize him but after a few glances I realized he had been a student when he was about five years old. His face looked the same but he sure did grow up. I said ‘hello’ and he immediately said ‘Sensei’ and bowed to me. He is now 19 years old and told me he thinks of our school often. I asked him to come back to train again. He said he wished he never quit. We spoke a bit more and I asked why he had given it away. He said he was a kid at the time and his parents let him quit. Students often tell me they will be back someday but this very rarely happens.
When people take up the martial arts, in the first place, they are seeking more than just a fitness, or sporting activity. There is a little more to the martial arts than meets the eye. It is about the challenges and accomplishments of an individual. I believe we all need some direction and purpose outside our working (employment/school/domestic) environment. Life is a balancing act (this is where the Yin and the Yang come into it).
Sometimes, the young ones may become bored (as we all do) and be swayed by other activities. Parents should know that if a child gets bored with a toy, then getting them another toy will only be pleasurable for that short time just like the last one. This is where parents have to be on the alert! Parents can deal with these situations by approaching the Instructor (you will not be left on your own). Don’t let your children quit! Martial Arts training is invaluable! There are literally thousands of success stories which demonstrate how the Martial Arts will enhance your child’s life.
I, personally, enjoy teaching and positively influencing people’s lives which I do through the martial arts. Remember, a Black Belt is a White Belt that never gave up.
GA
Can you be More Specific Please?
If you cared enough to keep up to date with what is going on in the fitness industry you will have noticed the never ending discovery and challenges of new exercises. To the fitness junkie these are pretty exciting because something new on the market, just as exciting as the arrival of a new fitness apparatus, marketed on television, brainwashing millions of people this is the answer to thei weight and fitness problems. Like many Instructors, we have been introducing new fitness routines to compliment the martial arts rather than stay with the old fashion push-ups and sit-ups, specialty of the ‘70’s and ‘80s. As martial artists, our exercises have to be sports specific and not to get carried away with the many new thousands of exercises. Exercises have to suit our needs; eg it would be a waste of time training a boxer to be flexible like a ballerina. Whilst exercises should be specific for each particular sport, consideration should also be given to some exercises which may only be suitable for specific people. To avoid any confusion, sticking to the basic fitness routines will just about suit everyone – they worked very well for me when I was training to be a Police Officer, 29 years ago; I was super fit by doing just the basic cardio and fitness routines!
There is also another consideration. A newly discovered exercise usually has not been researched and long term tested. Today, they will tell you it’s great, and tomorrow, they will tell you how bad it's for you. We were told to do sit-ups with our legs straight (great for your back if you wanted to retire early) and today you would scold anybody for even thinking about trying it that way. But history has a habit of repeating itself.
One final thing – fitness machines look much better on television than what they really are ie under the bright lights with all the good looking guys and gals with smiles on their faces. The marketing overinflates the price, quality and effectiveness of the machine. The only good thing about them is that you will at least do some form of fitness, until you're bored or they break down. They all have one thing in common, once you stop using them, you will probably never use them again. Thank goodness for eBay. Don't worry too much about the new machines and DVD's, you are already getting fit just by training in the martial arts. I hope you like the picture which has nothing to do with this blog, the same as those machines on TV which have nothing to do with fitness.
See you on eBay.
GA
Pursuit of Excellence
Perfection can be defined as faultless or high degree of excellence. However, it is more of an ongoing pursuit than an end result. Perfection in the martial arts is what keeps us training because, to the martial artist, there is no end to the pursuit of excellence. As students, we do like praise from the Instructor but too much of it can breed complacency resulting in a reduction in enthusiasm to further progress. That's how it was done in the old days.
Perfection is especially important in the traditional martial arts where respect for the arts is maintained; these techniques are effective in their own right. Just because something is old does not mean it is useless. However, techniques do evolve at the higher levels, especially in BJJ, but at grass root levels, the techniques passed onto the student should be learnt and performed almost exactly the same, in principle.
When I observe students I am always scanning for imperfections in the techniques. What’s most important is that a technique should not be compromised because the student, who will one day be an Instructor, will pass that onto their student. If a glass of juice is watered down each time it is passed onto the next person then you don’t end up with 100% juice. So this is what can happen with techniques not taught or learnt correctly. They are not original and may have defects. So when your Instructor points out your mistakes, that's a good thing. Imagine reporting a problem to a Doctor and they can't tell what's wrong with you. It's all about finding out your mistakes and fixing them!
Perfection is about discipline, regular reviews and critique if we are to improve our skills. So FAIL can be good because you need discipline to accept it, listen to critique and review the process for a successful result.
It is the journey, not the destination, that makes it exciting. See you on the next trip.
GA