Two of my Taekwondo and kettlebell students trying double kettlebell swings for the first time. A two hand kettlebell swing is two hand on one bell. A double kettlebell swing is two bells, one in each hand.
Here they are trying the combination of double swings and the front kick.
http://www.dragongym.com/adult-martial-arts/ — at Dragon Gym Martial Arts and Fitness.
Before I get into these "5 traits" we kind of need to decide what it means to be a "successful" martial artist. How does one define success in the martial arts? Is it attaining black belt? Is it winning lots of matches and becoming a champion of some sort? Is it getting in really good shape, i.e. becoming strong and fit? Is it optimizing your health? Is it having the confidence that you can defend yourself in almost any scenario? Is it the ability to teach and successfully help others? Is it influencing the community for the better? For the youthful student, is it getting good grades and eventually acceptance into a good college? Is it making friends and feeling connected to other like-minded individuals in an other wise isolative society?
The reality is I can't answer that question for you. Yes, in part, you do need to define what the martial arts are and what it means to be a "successful" martial artists based upon the requirements of your school and your instructors. (This is more than just the curriculum). However, you also need to reflect and determine how the martial arts fits into your life.
For example, for the 20 year old collegian on the tournament circuit, being successful IS WINNING on the tournament circuit. Conversely, to the 45 year old professional, collecting medals might not make much sense but having the self-confidence and sparring and self-defense training creates probably does.
In fact the 20 year old collegian and the 45 year old professional may be the same person.
How you define success as a trainee of martial arts depends upon where you are currently in your life. And, that will change over time.
However you define success, I think these traits are common:
When most start an endeavor like martial arts or physical fitness the motivators are often external: Losing weight, learning a new skill, building muscle, winning medals, attaining the black belt, etc... However, after a relatively short period of time most, if not all, of one's initial goals have been realized so why keep going? There will be points of frustration: time pressure from others and other activities, diminishing returns, plateaus and perhaps even regressions. How do you keep going? You have to learn to / let yourself enjoy the plateaus and the motivation to do that can only come from the inside. That is not to say that we are not seeking progress, but progress is an external motivator. When you can find the motivation to train and practice for the sake of training and practice alone you will be closer to success as it will enable to persevere through the hard times and reap the benefit in the long term.
The beauty of martial arts training is that it can be done almost anywhere, with very little space and almost no equipment. And, we live in an age of information. The attitude towards martial arts information has really changed over the last 3 decades. When I first started learning and training to become an instructor we had to memorize everything. In fact, Grandmaster Goh did not let me take notes, video or write anything down. All the material had to be memorized. Over time, the outlook changed. We started writing down and recording everything we could. Additionally, there are so many publications, videos and internet resources on the martial arts. There is no shortage of information. Perhaps there is too much information. Make sure you are discerning and skeptical of the resources and information that you procure.
First, an interesting etymological point. Passion has the greek passios as its root. Passios means "to suffer". Consider that the next time you say your are "passionate" about something. Are you passionate or just enthusiastic? Do you understand the difference between passion and love? Willing to suffer may be a bit severe, but willing to sacrifice seems right. With that construction we can make an example like this: I'm passionate about my work because of my love for martial arts.
One thing I've noticed over the years is once martial artists that attain a rank like 1st or 2nd degree black belt they become set in their ways and even dogmatic about training. There are right and wrong ways of doing things, but don't get stuck in "this is the only way" thinking. Sometimes another way of looking at things is the best way to make your way even better. It's important to remember that once you learn a little you think you know a lot, but soon you learn a little more and you realize you know a lot less then you ever thought.
Martial Arts is an individual pursuit through and through. Only the individual can do the work, put the time in, make the effort and absorb the lessons. But, it is also important to realize that no one is in a vacuum. We have training partners and we are part of a training community. That community is interconnected and inter-reliant. Sometimes you will need the help of others and you need to feel that it is OK to ask for help. Similarly, others will often need you to help and it's important that those others know and feel that it is OK from them to ask you for help. There is also a certain synergy and energy to gained from training with a group. It is also strongly tied to point #4. Being collaborative will also help you be more innovative and creative in your training.
Sincerely,
Somnath Sikdar
Master Instructor
Dragon Gym
Often, when we go on vacation, or even to a business event, we use the change in geography as an excuse to eat whatever we want. I know I've been guilty of this many times.
But, then what happens? We come back to "reality" feeling worse then when we left. We feel fatigued, sluggish, bloated and possibly addicted to sugar and carbs again.
Worse, we feel possibly even feel guilt or regret over the choices we made and how they will hamper our progress towards our health and fitness goals.
A vacation should not set us back, nor be a source of guilt. We should come back refreshed and if anything given a leap forward towards our goals.
Not to digress too much, but the notion of a "cheat meal" always bothered me too. "Cheating" is when you bend/break the rules in order to win --> take a short cut to meet the objective in a shorter or easier way. However, when we talk about "cheat meals" we mean a meal that will hinder our progress. Never made sense to me.
Anyway, how can we get more out of our vacations?
1 - We need to set an intention for, and a realistic expectation, of what the vacation is for. A vacation is for us to escape the daily grind, temporarily, not too check out and sabotage everything else we have going on.
2 - Do your best to unplug. Besides the obvious distraction and stress from constant social media and email alerts, the continuous connectedness to things (and people) externally limits our time and opportunity for introspection and personal reflection
3 - Have a plan -- Have the logistics of your vacation planned out ahead of time. Do your best to avoid the stress of needing to make on-the-fly decisions. At the same, accept that not everything will go exactly to the letter, and that's ok.
4 - You don't always have to be doing something. When was the last time you just sat in a park...just sat on a bench...for hours
5 - You can indulge without going overboard
6 - Listen to your body. It is constantly giving you signals as to what it needs: rest, water, food, touch, movement, etc. Whenever possible, listen to it and give it what it needs.
When I think about what it would mean to me to be a master instructor, I think back over the years and consider my experiences, the Master instructors who taught me and the lessons they gave.
Before I was a member of Dragon Gym, I took a trial class taught by Grand Master Goh. I remember that he taught us foot weapons and how to practice forming them. Then he showed us front kick and side kick. He taught us in a way that made me excited to learn. After class I was exhausted, but felt great! I signed up that night.
When I was a blue belt, Master Somnath started an instructor training program. I was lucky enough to be asked to participate. We trained once a week for more than two years. I remember during the first class each of us faced a different wall and practiced warming up an imaginary class. Every week we did that, week after week. We were taught the curriculum, White Belt through Il Dan Bo Stripe, and reviewed it over and over: forms, hand techniques, kicking techniques, weapons, self-defense, all of it. We broke down technique after technique, step by step: middle punch, double knife hand block, round house kick, flying side kick. We found out that any technique that can be done while standing can also be done kneeling, tumbling, running or jumping. That experience was the most repetitive, intense, enjoyable and rewarding experience I’ve had as a martial arts student.
About a year into the instructor training program, Master Somnath setup a video camera and recorded each person in the class: five basic kicks and Palgwe Yuk Jang. Up to this point I thought I was doing pretty well and believed I had pretty good technique. And you know what, that video proved that my technique needed allot of work. It was humbling to see. But it was tremendous feedback and really helped me to improve.
One class, when I was an Il Dan Bo, Master Somnath prefaced a class by saying, “The more fatigued you become, the louder your kihap should be.” Huh? We started training: kicks, spinning kicks, jumping kicks, no time to catch our breathe. He repeats: “The more tired you get, the louder your kihap should be!” The class got harder. But we started getting louder. When we got louder, our spirits rose. We started feeding off of each other’s energy. We suffered, but we suffered together and made it through one the hardest classes I ever took. Over time I learned that I could use my kihap to pump energy into my body. Later, I found out that it was adrenaline. It was experiences like that class that taught me the value of team work and spirit. Your body will get tired and your mind may start to question what you’re doing, but a strong spirit can pull you through difficult times.
When I was a first Dan, Master Harley took me aside one night after class and gave me a tip to help improve my side kick. Up to that point, I knew all the steps, the sequence of it. But my timing was off at a key moment in the technique, the point when I turn my hip over and extend my leg was too fragmented. He helped me to make that process more linear, making the technique more fluid, direct and powerful. At my best, my side kick is far from perfect. But that tip helped me to significantly improve the technique.
One day, Master Somnath filled a bucket of water and made us empty it by immersing our hands in it and using Dan Jan breathing to dry our hands. We learned that the better our breathing technique, the faster the water left our hands, the faster we could empty the bucket. That lesson transferred nicely to our training, helping every technique get better.
In 2006, Master Somnath told me that I would be taking a senior instructor test the following January. I wasn’t as fit as I needed to be and had three months to get ready. Fortunately, Brian Petty bailed me out. He created a three month kettlebell program to supplement my preparation for the test. The kettlebell exercises complemented my martial arts training so well, that my technique improved as a direct result of his program. After three months, I was faster, stronger and more flexible than any time since I started training. The test was very difficult, the most difficult I had taken. But I was ready!
Because of these experiences, I can tell you how much weight to put on your front leg while in a front stance, how to tell if your feet are spaced properly while in a back stance, how many degrees the angle between your forearm and bicep should be for an inside block, how to time your breathe to your technique so that you maximize speed and power. I know these things because I was taught them over and over again. I can tell you that your spirit is the most important part of your training and that teamwork is one of the best ways to develop a strong spirit and that with a strong spirit you will accomplish more than you ever thought you could. I know this because I had master instructors who motivated, taught and guided me.
What does being a Master Instructor mean to me? It means to put students first, to make their goals my own, to motivate them, to give them my time and advice when they need it, to find ways to help them improve and become stronger, to prepare them to succeed as martial artists. Being a master instructor requires that I put as much energy into teaching as we expect our students to put into their training, that I strive to continually increase my knowledge and improve my technique. After all, I am still a student of the Martial Arts.
http://www.dragongym.com/muay-thai/
Mark Beecher and DGMT Coach Lonnie Beck go over a set up on how to knee strike an opponent in the face.
Enjoy!
Lonnie Beck runs the DGMT muay thai program out the Dragon Gym Martial Arts & Fitness center in Exton PA
http://www.dragongym.com/muay-thai/
