Use It Every Day

Date: Thurs, 10 November 2005

The philosophy of my martial arts school is to use your art in your daily life.

There are several good reasons for this.  Namely, we don’t get in fights every day, but we face (or avoid) challenges everyday.  Those challenges include staying in good physical, mental and emotional health.  Dealing with school and career, etc.

My son auditioned for Honors Orchestra last night.  He’s ten and has been doing violin since he was 4 1/2 so he’s auditioned before.  All the same, he was nervous.  I saw his sheet music and couldn’t blame him.  It made me nervous just looking at it.  It looked like calculus, with a little Martian thrown in.

So I reminded him of the keys to dealing with nerves before a martial arts competition.

Picture yourself doing well.

If you’re able, do some relaxed practice - form or shadow boxing before a tourney, playing before an audition until you’re called.

When you step into the ring, take a deep breath and relax as you let it out. Lock eyes with your opponent.  Be in charge and in the moment.  In a blind audition, focus on your stand, your music, your instrument.  Again, just be in the moment – instead of everywhere but.

When you start to move, have a few key words in mind to keep you focused.  For sparring they could be Footwork!  Explosiveness!  For Violin it could be Double Stops!  Don’t overwhelm yourself with things to remember, but having one or two boosts performance and crowds out mental clutter.

Our martial arts isn’t just for self-defense.  It’s for quality of life – so let’s use it everyday.

Take care.

Train like you mean it,

Rob LaPointe