Martial Arts Mentality

When asked about the value of martial arts, instructors across the globe are quick to explain the great fighting skill as well as physical and health benefits that a person will develop through

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training. The practitioner is usually ready and willing to demonstrate some sort of evidence that this is true, from an intense form, to an impressive series of flying kicks, some board breaking, or even defense against group attacks.

Sometimes, for whatever reason, this does not fully satisfy a person's curiosity which prompts the instructor or practitioner to discuss the mental benefits one gains from the arts such as discipline, honor, courage, and kindness. The fact that the arts enhance these inner abilities is a bit more challenging as no amount of push-ups will prove a person's integrity. These are the skills that are used every day when the martial artist is interacting with the rest of the world. If the practitioner has been really studying his art, it will show through his interactions with the people around him, the respect and courtesy he gives to others, friend and stranger alike. But how do you convey this to the curious? The best way to start is to share a real story, like the one I just recently witnessed:

I have a student in my school that has been training with us for nearly a year now. He is a bright young man with solid plans of becoming a police officer once he is done with high school. He loves challenges and is always incredibly positive. Recently, he has been handling very difficult times in his life and has missed some classes. While in class, he has updated the group and explained that he has spent some time with doctors and has endured increasing back pains. As time progressed, it looked for this student as though he was going to have to undergo surgery to replace some lower disks of his spine. As the instructor, I wanted to help this young man continue with the arts he has such a passion for and I modified each workout to accommodate his needs and discussed with him things that might improve his situation, including recommending vitamins to help strengthen him on the inside.
The true inner warrior showed himself in a fellow student, a gifted martial artist with a natural inclination toward the arts and a desire to be the best of the best. This student quietly listened to every update and was also interested in learning the alternate training to help support his fellow classmate. Two days ago, I got a text message from the quiet student asking if he could visit me at my home, to which I agreed. When he arrived, he was carrying a small box. He didn't say much but wanted me to see to it that his fellow student received this box of men's health vitamins. He knew that his friend was focusing on the medical bills and felt that if he could contribute in some way, his training partner would be better taken care of.
He knew he wasn't a doctor and couldn't help in that capacity so he figured out a way to help and he did so without requesting compensation or recognition. He did it simply because he cared.

This is a living example of what kinds of inner abilities are enhanced with martial arts and the incredible thing about this aspect of the arts is that people can excel in these abilities from the very first day into the arts. I am fortunate that I know these two and every student at the Beginner's Mind Dojo. They are all great martial artists, physically and internally and each one of them inspires me to be a better person every day.

Image by Tom Gill (lapstrake) via Flickr

Relay For Life

The Beginner's Mind Dojo spent time this weekend assisting Valley Residential Services at their tent and along the Borleske track through Friday night walking to raise awareness for the cause of fighting cancer.

Many local businesses were present, including Wal-Mart, Hair Raisers, and Gilbert Auto. The Borleske track met many shoes through the course of a 24 hour period and saw people from all walks of life supporting the cause with walkers making anywhere from one lap to ten hours of laps to show their dedication and care, including friends and families of passsed loved ones and cancer survivors like Rick Morgan, who just recently finished his final round of chemo-therapy a few months back.


Also at the Relay for Life was a dunking booth, a mini-fair and a lengthy slip-n-slide to occupy the children (and a couple of the adults), there was live music and an auction, which all helped keep spirits high and maintain a positive environment for an otherwise painful subject.

My First Day of Teaching

I came across this old note that I wrote on what was possibly my first real teaching experience in the martial arts world. Experiences such as this are my motivation.

Each class brings out my weakness which promptly streams from every pore and rolls to the mat and, even though I'm pushed differently and diligently every night, I feel the desire to continue training after class has ended, which is always too soon. I gain a thirty minute cool down while my youngest girl gets on the mat and explodes with a brilliance that most could only hope to witness, much less, become.
During my daughter's class, a young and lonely student of the class following my girl's asked if I would be watching him perform in his class just like I watch my own daughter in her own. I could tell he desperately wanted to connect with someone and there was no one to support him so I offered my attention. Fate wove through this event as our Master Instructor approached me and asked if I would be willing to teach this young man's class.
Immediately, I began questioning my own ability and my confidence was taking blow after blow from the villainous monster known as doubt but we worked through it together and I gladly accepted the offer.
I was no longer the student and was now a teacher, even if only for thirty minutes. It was at that moment of realization that the wash of responsibility drenched me and my alertness level had been heightened to the stratosphere.
The next half hour, I worked very closely with this young man. We built strength and precision. I challenged him physically and he challenged me spiritually. We pushed through techniques and forms. My mind constantly traveled to memories of substitute teachers in middle school through the comparisons and my leniency level was challenged. This intelligent young man was emotionally checking boundaries and testing personality weaknesses to encourage the physical ease of his training and I knew that, as an initiate instructor, I would be a failure if I allowed this to happen but if I was forceful and stern that I would lose my first pupil forever. I was holding the future in my hands, not just mine but this boy's devotion as well. What was I to do? I took a chance and searched for closer connection to this child by digging for his interests that might motivate him to excel of his own accord so we took a moment and talked.
Once we built a solid relationship, our class motored on with freight train intensity and we no longer needed to struggle for control which encouraged his full support and even offered up some genuine smiles through the class from more than just the two of us but also the bystanders that I suddenly realized were very interested in our progress. By the end of the class, I felt confident that he took some valuable lessons home with him and I could tell that he no longer felt that sense of isolation that filled him before class. He got what he was after, the chance to show his skill to an interested peer and to feel accomplished in a field he enjoyed but has not gotten much support in.
We all left the school and his glow was possibly the brightest today. I was proud of him and told him as much as I thanked him for teaching me today in what has been my most valuable lesson thus far.
Experiences like this are the exact reason I pursued a future in teaching and my school, Beginner's Mind Dojo, would not even exist without the valuable experiences I learned from this young man..