Perception and Boredom
Boredom is a sad word in the martial arts which is an excuse for being lazy. It can usually result from doing a technique many times over but that’s what it takes to develop a technique into a reflex action before becoming useful in a ‘live’ situation. Next time you are sitting back watching dancers on television, think for a moment about how many times they practiced to get it that good. Boredom should be treated as a challenge, just another hurdle to get over. Boredom can also result from not focusing so it is important to give your full undivided attention to training. Learn as much as you can while you’re there. Go home and write things down; you’ll probably never going to refer to your notes (I never have) but the point of this exercise is the processing of writing ie you are recalling information and consolidating what you have learnt.
Perception of things may also add to boredom. Sometimes we may see ourselves going backwards but that is an optical illusion. How many times out on the highway you reduce your speed from 110kph down to 60kph and it appears you are going walking pace (you are still doing 60). It just looks really slow. The same goes in the martial arts. You never go backward; you may have just slowed down but you are still advancing. Other times you perceive going backwards because the other person seems better than you. Have you ever thought they may be just advancing a little quicker than you but that does not mean you are going backward. This works for me when I wrestle with opponents who just seem to put it over me on particular days. I prefer to say they are getting better instead of 'I’m not doing so well'. The same goes when I do well against others; I don't think of my opponent going backward but, 'I'm improving'.
Boredom can result in missing out training sessions. Maybe, there is a solution. Write down the real reason for each class you might skip out on (you are the only one who has to know this, so be truthful). You will be quite astonished but this may be just what you need to overcome this pitfall.
Have a nice Easter.
GA
I had just returned from the Sunshine Coast after spending 3 glorious days (minus the sunshine) with our Qld students. My good friend and Qld Instructor, Darren Grieve, was waiting for me and the twins (John and Tim) at Maroochydore Airport last Friday morning. John and Tim headed off with Instructor, Dean Taylor, and his student, Lee. Darren and I made a pit stop at Noosa Heads for the last chance to get good coffee before heading off to Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach. Darren, the local Police Sergeant, runs Budoshinkai Karate and a small BJJ class for his students, and police officers. Early afternoon, it was time to get on the mats and do some work! Conducting seminars gives me the opportunity of analysing and consolidating my knowledge; it’s like actually attending somebody else’s seminar. We were later treated to a BBQ at Lee’s house which was well deserved after a 3 hour workout. Darren handed me over a bowl of grapes and said, “Sorry, we don’t have oranges” (please refer to previous blog).
Just about every martial arts student would like to earn a Black Belt one day. Is it because they like the colour or is it because what the colour represents? If most of us will pick the latter answer then why is that an increasing number of Martial Arts Instructors seem to be lowering the bar which reduces the value of the Black Belt? There is an important lesson to be learnt from the way BJJ students are graded. BJJ grades are not easy to get and wearing the same colour for a long time, might not appeal to most people. It takes about 3 years to get the first grade (Blue Belt) then another 7 or 8 to get Black (if you ever make it that far). In most Karate systems it takes about 4 years to get Black. If a student is dedicated and persistent there is no doubt they will eventually succeed. Whilst there may be martial arts styles/schools lowering the standard, I’d like to keep the bar up high enough, in our school, so there is an incentive for the student to train to the highest level they can reach. The students who drop out may have never really wanted it. I was recently talking to John Will, our QC of BJJ*, that I hope Instructors don’t ever lower the bar in BJJ. I’d rather work hard and wear each grade with pride. I believe this approach will ensure everyone will really appreciate the meaning of a Black Belt. Chief Instructors of all martial arts schools have the responsibility to maintain quality control for this to happen. I hope our students share my philosophy.
Recently, a 14 year old male signed up for BJJ classes and had his first lesson last Saturday. He did very well for the first time. Toward the end of the class I let him have a roll (wrestle) with the other students and he did surprisingly well and was asked by his opponents if he had done any training before. He answered ‘only from what he and his mates have been doing at school from watching UFC matches and YouTube’. Of course, this young man has just signed up and now he will get proper instruction.
Amateur Tournaments can be very controversial when compared to Full Contact events such as Kickboxing, Full Contact Karate and Ground Fighting. The reason for this might be because anything less than full contact can be difficult to gauge making it controversial whether a penalty should be given or not. I am not advocating everybody should do full contact but people should be aware of the shortcomings and perhaps give tournament promoters and their judges of these tournaments a fair go. If you don’t like it then perhaps it’s time to move into the bigger arena.
Man Made Natural Disaster – no such thing up until now! The fires down in Victoria didn’t quite make front headlines when I did my last blog. Like some Instructors I’d like to say something because we should all be acknowledging one of the country’s worst disasters. Whilst watching the news the heat was great for people on the beach and for others it was pretty much the end of the world. Those most affected are the people who have lost their loved ones, friends and homes. This also greatly affects the people who know or knew the victims. However, disasters have a habit of bringing the best out of people such as togetherness and heroism which are often non-existent today. Disasters remind us all this is what humans are all about.
Many of us learn martial arts to basically to defend ourselves but those who continue training is because they want to build confidence, become stronger and feel good about themselves. To continue training is like trying to keep that flame alive. How easy it is to put it out. How many times do Instructors hear from parents or students they've decided to quit because something else has come up, usually because little Johnny wants to be with his mates and play football. What Johnny should be doing is telling his mates to come and train the martial arts if they really want to be with him. Once you put out the flame then you have to find a new source to get it going again because that's what happens when little Johnny realises he'd rather be a martial artist.
Unfortunately things went sour from here as Jason was kneeling over the offender another person came running from the bar and crash tackled Jason from behind driving him into the concrete footpath and causing a severe dislocation of his shoulder. After seeing Jason get belted in such a cowardly manner I let go of my offender and landed a front kick into the stomach of the person and then took control of him with a guillotine choke whilst standing up. As I was maneuvering this person to the police vehicle I looked back to see that Lee had been surrounded by three persons throwing punches at him, however some quick thinking from Lee saw him deploy his OC (Capsicum) spray into the face of all three people, whilst it made the offenders more agitated it brought us some time and distracted the offenders enough to separate them and for us to deal with them one at a time.
I want to congratulate the brave people out there who have to weather the heat. Special mention goes to the Fire Fighters, Road Workers and even the Cricketers. Others worth mentioning are the people who showed up to martial arts training this week, particularly Belmore and West Pennant Hills; I really admire these people. It’s true the heat does keep people away! So does the cold, so does the rain etc, etc. Training in essence is not about comfort, in particular, martial artists are athletes and can endure more ‘punishment’ (if you want to call it that) than the yuppie who takes the escalator to an air-conditioned gym holding a bottle of Powerade. I was wrestling with guys last Sunday and Monday evenings in that ‘over 40 heat’. By the end of the night I was dripping that much sweat the steering wheel of my car was slipping from my hands. I did think about the heat, I said, ‘Too bad, maybe better luck next time.’ Training in the heat is a challenge because your body reacts differently and it is important that you condition yourself to perform in one extreme temperature to another. Remember, if you ever come across trouble, you can’t change into comfortable clothes and you can’t change the terrain or weather.