Visualise Your Way to Success in Martial Arts

Visualisation is forming or playing mental images in your mind... In visualising your way to success in Martial Arts. You will be using this skill to improve any aspect of the art that you want to hone.

Visualisation is a powerful aid in internalising a set of movements in martial Arts.

Visualisation is not new and is used in almost all industries to one degree or another.

Where to start

Think through what you want to visualise. You can isolate a particular skill, singular movement or a series of movements.

Once that is decided, find somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed. You can sit or lie down and breathe deeply, relax and clear your mind.

You’ll also want to quiet yourself by being calm and still... The quiet, relaxation and deep breathing get you into the right state of mind for visualisation.

Record it

The act of visualisation will involve you playing or recording the actual movements you want to master in your mind’s eye.

The effect this has is etching the recording (visualisation) on your subconscious mind. Making it easier to recall when needed.

This is a great way to improve absolutely any area of martial Arts that you feel could do with it.

Visualise

How?

Firstly, visualisation can be done anywhere at any time, as long as you can get a quiet spot to do so... It can be done instantly, at any time and over any duration of time.

In my experience, when I want to get a technique perfectly executed... I close my eyes and play a version of me doing, for example, a perfect spinning back kick... Including accurately hitting the target, retreat and land with my guard in position.

You’ll need to ‘play’ with this before worrying too much about the results you’ll get because it works slightly differently for each individual. By that, I mean some people will not find it easy to visualise... but they’ll get results instantly.

Others may have to work on it for longer or try different times of the day before you get results.

I recommend you start with small movements... Like a particular punch or kick, then go on to combinations, then on to kata. There are no limits.

In time you’ll be able to visualise better performance and you’ll see your active performance improve. Play with it, try it and use it.

Try these little gems, if you find yourself struggling: 

Soft appropriate music
Lighting, on or off
Quiet location
No distraction
comfortable chair
Comfortable clothes
Limber up before starting
Very light stretching before you start
Relaxation.

This is one of the most powerful ways in existence for controlling your future behaviour, thought and actions.

It is worth the persistence to keep trying till you are visualising your way to success in Martial Arts.

Tomorrow we are going to look at a common, but unspoken fear in martial arts.

Your comments are welcome in the box below.

Thank you for taking time out to read this post.

Sparring... Getting the most from your Dojo

Sparring demonstrates the level of skill you have acquired from martial arts training. In ‘Sparring... Getting the most from your dojo’. We are going to look at 5 ways your dojo can help improve your sparring.

Because the key to becoming great at sparring is putting together and mastering all the skills required, your dojo plays a huge role here.

Here goes:

Control and safety

Among other things, you’ll get instruction and guidance from your senior grade belts. The environment is a controlled one... this helps to keep the risk of injury to a minimum. This is helped by having the right training equipment and supervision with safety in mind, especially when it comes to younger members of the dojo.

Encouragement

Sometimes, you just need to hear it.

In all its forms, it is there. Whether it is a one to one level from your Sensei or from your fellow coloured belts. Or a round of applause.

Camaraderie among your fellow students of the arts can also be very encouraging. Sometimes it is all about getting that extra bit of inspiration you didn’t realise you had. But they can see it...

An army of sparring partners

Sparring with your peers and seniors, who come in different shapes and sizes, with different strength’s and abilities every week, will polish your skills to no end.

As you get better, there are those with better skills than you to keep you moving forward.

An army of coaches

 

If you only had one teacher – you’ll only learn what he teaches. If you have a multitude, you’ll learn some more things and different takes on the same things... The dojo is the best place to find multiple teachers.

The other very useful trick when at the dojo is to take video’s of your performances, play it back yourself to get some really useful insights into what you are doing. Then getting your Sensei or higher grade participant to critique, this will give you some tips to enhance your skills.

Endless sparring opportunity

Doing additional sparring at the dojo after the session or coming in early also gives a huge impact to your sparring ability.

This last of the 5 ways is, without doubt, the most significant in gaining the edge on your sparring... As you’ll agree, in whatever it is you do, the more you practice the better you get.

The key here is to try and vary your sparring partners and testing out new and varied techniques as well as polishing and honing your basics. Remember to keep the tried and tested techniques current... Experiment, experiment, experiment.

You can look forward

And that is the end of our look at sparring – getting the most from your dojo... Below are just some of the benefits you’ll get from focusing on what you have learned in this post.

• Extra practice
  
• Instruction on hand
  
• Encouragement
  
• Better understanding
  
• Increased sparring ability
  
• Improved sparring endurance

If you found this post useful, please comment below, maybe a few words on what you got from the post, what resonates with you or indeed what aspect you are going to try on your next visit to the dojo.

Thank you for your time.

The Fitness Element of Martial Arts

You’ll often hear people say “I want to do Martial Arts to get fit.” Or something along those lines. This post will help to clear up where the lines of fitness and martial Arts (MA) meet.

In the fitness element of martial arts we take a look at how the two interact in order to help you get the most from your training.

What is Martial Arts?

Martial Arts is the taking part, learning and subsequent mastering of a system of fighting or self defence which also develops your mental, physical and spiritual realms, through a series of exercises, movements and practices.

Back, arms & shoulders

What is fitness?

Fitness has to do with the conditioning of the entire body to increase physical strength, agility, endurance, cardio vascular capacity and in most cases, size or definition.

So far...

Martial arts is the name of an art, Fitness is the name of a condition.

By taking part in MA, you are using your physical body to carry out a series of movements, some of them quite strenuous, until you become accustomed to them. The repeated use of your body in the pursuit of learning MA is what builds your fitness.

To achieve fitness, you can take part in an inordinate amount of sports designed to condition the body to be fit.

And that is where martial arts meet’s fitness.

Solely Fitness

To solely achieve fitness and nothing else through Martial Arts is nigh on impossible, because, unlike running or lifting weights the repetitions in martial are fewer. But instead you are learning and performing a complex set of movements which are hard to forget and in effect are programmed into your mind and body so they become you... 

So in doing MA to get fit, you actually become so much more, weather it was your intention or not.

fitness training

Improving your game

Yes, a side effect of the art is to constantly improve your skill level and being fit is generally a by product of that purpose rather than the sole aim.

Because of this kaizen effect (never ending improvement) your fitness level follows the same path of constantly improving over time.

The added benefit of MA is not, however,  just in the learning of the skills it’s in the engagement of your whole mind body and spirit in learning, performing and mastering the art that makes it so much more interesting than just going to the gym, even if there is a myriad of different equipment with which to train.

Complement

Having said that, the two work best complementing each other... By that, I mean you’ll get fit doing Martial arts on its own, or by doing fitness on its own... But you’ll go even further if you combine the two.

For example; don’t just rely on throwing punches and doing tension movement’s to build your arms and shoulder muscles. You can advance their development faster and specifically if you do weights to build those specific muscle groups which in turn will improve your ability to punch faster or harder depending on how you use the weights.

Tailor to suit

You can tailor the use of fitness choices to improve just about any area of your body you choose and for a particular type of result like speed, strength, flexibility, toughness... the list is endless. 

But stepping out of your martial art and isolating a body group in order to improve upon your god given talent through fitness training can be very rewarding indeed... And consequently speed up your progress in your martial art.

Putting it together

Like all the best discipline’s... Gradual progression, leading to increased capacity which yields sustained results is the way to go.

In looking at the fitness element of martial arts. We can see how the right combination of the art and dialing in a bit of fitness training, tailored to your development needs can exponentially speed up your ability to perform Martial Arts better.

Please feel free to leave a comment or ask any questions you have in the box below.

Thank you for your time.

10 Things to do in Preparation for a Martial Arts Semi-Contact Open Competition. Part2.

Is your first competition coming up or are you a seasoned pro?

You will find something here for you in part 2 of my 10 things to do in preparation for a Martial Arts semi–contact open competition.... Yes it’s a mouth-full. But it is important to distinguish between the many different Martial Arts (MA) competitions out there.

Having said that, an element of this will apply to most situations.

Part 1can be found here

Let’s get into part 2:

Clothing, Equipment and Safety

As a Martial Artist, you’ll have a kit with most or all the above in it. But there are a few things to consider. 

If you have bought any of the above new to be used on the day, make sure you not only try them on before. But actually use them for their intended purpose to make sure they are the right fit and ‘comfortable’. 

Nothing worse than a gum shield or sparring glove that just keeps niggling at you or head guard that keeps spinning and obstructing your view as soon as it is tapped.

Also it is an area where it is better to have a piece of kit and not use it than  to need and not have it or having to go round trying to buy of borrow someone else’s.... It can put you off your game.

Location of venue       

Seems pretty obvious, but this is one event you do not want to turn up late for, because you couldn’t find it or there were two ‘St James Halls’ and you turned up at the theatre instead of the sports hall.

Getting there early gives you a chance to have a wander around at the place, find out what facilities are available in both the building originally and also any additions the organisers have put in place.

Also, you will mostly have any announcements concerning the day’s competition read out at the beginning... You don’t want to miss them even if you are experienced... There is always something unique about each one.

Then there is the all important having a nose around at your potential competition on the day. You’ll be amazed at what you will find out that can actually help you beat the competition... Given away freely just for you being there and listening... Yes please!

(And you probably thought ‘location of venue’ was just a filler.)

 

Competition fuel

Diet

The all important diet... What to eat and drink during training, before the competition and on the day? Thankfully we live in a world of information like no other before. So there is tons of information available on the web, T.V. bookstores.

I actually think it’s more about the importance to your results and general well being and having the will power or should I say habit of eating well than knowing ‘what’ to eat...

We all know fruit, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, legumes are good for you, but! Do we all eat them to the exclusion of the not so good for us food?

I recommend find a meal plan that is right for you and stick to it... Research if you need to and if it’s a will power thing, try getting a friend to hold you accountable. Better yet train with you and share the same diet.

Ultra important!

Adequate rest

This one is a very individual thing, but most of us ‘know’ how many hours sleep we need to feel well rested the next day.

I will say right here at the beginning, that regardless of your Family, work or training schedule. You want to get ‘your’ adequate amount of sleep every night for at least seven days before competition day... And that is a gem, right there.

Now, training days and non training days, yes, your body needs rest to rebuild torn muscle tissue from training and general recuperation. There is a doctrine that says you shouldn’t train everyday. 

This may vary between peoples body type. But I think it is rather about what training you do if you are going to train every day.

I believe it is more important not to over-train. If you do, then having a non training day may not be of much use anyway.

Again, I appreciate this varies from person to person... Listen to your body and get some advice if you feel the need.

In my case, I regularly train everyday and vary what area of the body is getting the work and in some cases the type of training, Thereby having a different effect on my body in each case.

Visualise success

If you are not familiar with visualising an outcome...  Which in this case is Winning your class at the competition or winning an award for best Kata or, Fighter of the day.

Then don’t sweat it.... Just imagine you are playing a movie or a youtube video in your mind, of what you want to happen.

It’s just like day dreaming, only you are in control, in that you deliberately decide just what it is you want to dream about and you create it in your own mind. It is as simple as that... No need to complicate it.

So, visualise the result you want and then play it in your mind repeatedly.

There you have it, part 2 and the end of our look at 10 things to do in preparation for a martial arts semi-contact open competition.

Hope you have found it as interesting to read as I have to write... This is all from experiences, good and bad. I didn’t have a guide like this in 1991when I did my first competition and subsequent competitions in the early 90’s. Come to think of it, don’t recall Google being around either.

All that is left to say is if you are just about to go out and do that first competition and you're feeling a little nervous. First make sure you have prepared as best as you can. Then... Go out and have a plan to just have fun and enjoy the experience. Good luck! 

You may be pleased to hear, or not, as the case may be. In preparing for this post the thought process has spawned enough ideas for maybe another 20 post’s or so... Watch out.

As I write, I’m thinking of a way I can put a trail marker. Bit like a little DNA in all the subsequent post’s that come as a result of this one... I’ll Google it.

Please feel free to leave a comment or ask questions in the box below.

Thank you for taking the time.

5 Habits you need in a Martial Arts Dojo

Something for Martial Artist’s of all levels from prospective student to Grandmaster. Martial Arts (MA) dojos are a unique environment. 

There is no other setting like it in our day to day lives... So what follows are the 5 habits you need in a martial arts dojo. Keep them in mind and practice them when in session.

We are starting with:

  

1. Respect

To all; young, old, higher or lower grade and the Dojo itself require respect... This is exemplified in all our interaction.

It is safe to say, in the age we live now. Respect is not taught widely as before and I sometimes have to remind myself of its importance... So, why in a dojo – Originally respect is cultural aspect of Asia which naturally spilt into their Martial Art. The two are ingrained within each other. Wherever you find traditional Martial Arts, you’ll find respect.

2. Harmony

Oneness with yourself, your fellow Martial Artist and the sport itself.

As we know, harmony is to be in tune... And it is that simple in the dojo. In tune with what is going on.

The dojo has a natural flow of movement, forces, thought, and unison and when you enter one that is in harmony. It is awe inspiring.

The first thing you’ll notice is the participants want to be there, it can be seen in their attentiveness, their participation and their volume – One big oneness.

3. Presence

Presence in mind, body and soul – put simply... As with any art, there is a getting ‘in sync’ with. ..It’s the same at the dojo. 

Your presence as an individual is mighty! Because your body is saying it, your voice is hailing it and your mind believes it.

 

4. Commitment

Shall I? Shan’t I?  My work, my rest, my this or that... With martial Arts – Once through the basics, you can pick your level of input and work on that...

You know where you are and what’s required of you and what you require from yourself... Having said that, the basics take effort and time to master. But well worth it. 

Depending on the time frame you set for yourself, or set by your school/sensei, check out “how do I choose the right martial arts school for me”. You can take this at a gentle pace. There is no rush.

5. Helpfulness

This is mainly in the running of a good healthy dojo... House-keeping, organising, grading for fellow MA’s. As well as events in and out of the dojo.

Then there is helping to teach and pass on knowledge to other students coming up in the dojo – They’ll have questions and need instruction and demonstration to learn what they need to replicate your success and find their own place in the dojo from where to rise to whatsoever sights they have set for themselves.

Here at the finish already!

That went very quickly indeed... “5 habits you need in a martial arts dojo”. Giving you an insight into the attitude of a Martial Artist, in his place of practice. The Dojo.

Hope you found this useful.

Please leave a comment, ask questions or feel free to add your insights from your own dojo, all in the comments box below.

Thanks for your time.