Look Outside Yourself

Date: Weds, 20 April 2005

When we train in martial arts it’s easy to begin thinking we’re 100% in charge of our own training.  Even if we attend a school, we fit the school workouts into a routine we establish.  Once that happens, our training is less subject to the benefits of chance, mixture, and spontaneity.

As a school owner, I’m especially at risk.  My Sifu is retired, so I don’t attend regular lessons. I run a full-time martial arts school, have a growing internet business, and am raising a family, so what time I have is booked solid.  The result is that my training can begin sliding sideways instead of forward.

I avoid this by making a point of attending seminars, buying books, videos and DVDs, and inviting guest instructors into my school.  As long as I keep the fresh ideas coming in, I’m growing.  I may not assimilate the new material with 100% efficiency (who does?) but that’s not the point.  The point is to keep learning.

Here are 3 ways I’m doing that this year:

1. I attended an outstanding Kettlebell workshop on Saturday, April 2nd with Mike Mahler.  It was 5 hours of instruction and training.  I left sweaty and smiling. I also made some new friends and one of them – Dylan Thomas, one of the best KB and strength trainers in the D.C. area – is now set to come to my school on June 11th  at 2:30 to lead a 2 hour Kettlebell workshop.  He’s only charging $35 a person because he’s doing it to help me and my students improve our KB skills and build the KB program here at White Birch.  It’s almost booked full – if you want in call me today at 703-920-9746.
2. I’m reviewing my notes and doing some research on Internal Energy – especially as it relates to hip and spine movement.  This is good for me because “moving forward” usually means “back to the basics,” which is just what I’m doing in this case.
3. I’ve invited a guest instructor into my school to teach a workshop on the Chinese Tiger & Dragon form called Tu Gi.  It’s a very cool 2 person fighting set that I used to teach, and then stopped teaching . . . and then got rusty . . . and then forgot . . . so I’m starting from scratch with it.  My old friend Sean Marshall will lead the seminar.  It’s set for Saturday May 28th at 3 p.m. and only costs $50.00  It’s also almost booked full so call me if you want to attend.

A lot of school owners won’t invite other instructors in to their school because they’re afraid of the competition.  I’ve always had a very open policy about inviting other instructors in and it’s worked to the great benefit of me, my school, and my students.  The only time it didn’t go well was when I had a fellow leading some grappling classes.  He made some remarks and bullied some people, I put him on notice, he moved on.  I’ve paid more attention to my instincts and boundaries ever since, so can’t say I’d call it a loss.

In each of the above examples I looked to outside sources to keep my training fresh.  In the long run, it doesn’t take time to do that – it saves time, and it keeps me honest in my training - I wouldn’t dare show up for a 5 hour KB session if I was overweight and out of shape, nor would I invite someone into my school if my own stuff wasn’t up to speed.

The Japanese have a saying about seeking outside sources:

“Water which is too pure has no fish.”

Take care,

Rob LaPointe