Efficiency

We live in instant times, we can speak instantly to someone half a world away as if face to face, we can send documents in a fraction of a second and prepare food in a matter of minutes. We can get what we want almost as soon as we realize what we need.

Although this is very convenient and makes us able to do more, we have become impatient with the natural pace of things and often seek out ways to make our time more productive. One such way is multitasking. We spend hours a day, producing more in less time. Most call this efficient, however it tends to be over emphasized and truly becomes counter productive. Rather than adding twice the stress of the day doing half of two projects at the same time, it is much more beneficial to take one task head on with full devotion. This is how you should approach your martial arts, rather than learn ten things at once, develop and build one factor to be strong that when you should shift focus, it still naturally progresses with you.

Focusing on the moment and the task at hand is more than something to talk or think about, you owe it to yourself to let your body and mind work together on the same project for the best results. If you can do that, you have already taken a large step in your training. 

Mind with body

As we train in the martial arts, we find ourselves focusing on solely the physical aspect and rightly so. After all, movement is the essence of the martial arts, but we must put just as much emphasis in forging our minds. Many classes are spent punching and kicking pads, bags and even other students, but this is done in a casual environment. Our training partners are our friends, and even in the most intense moments in the studio we still manage to maintain composure and compassion for one another. This in itself is a beautiful thing, that we can learn something so dark as combat yet focus on the preservation of life itself.

But when it comes down to the moment of attack, when your own life is at stake, will you be mentally prepared to do whatever it takes to stay alive? Muscle memory will take us only so far, the rest is intention. A perfect example of this is board breaking. A board is broken by applying the right amount of force at the right location, at the right angle of approach. A six year old is physically capable of doing this, yet many adults suffer through numerous failed attempts. This is because the mind is not in sync with the body. Self doubt or hesitation will result in failure, and all energy applied to the board will bounce back into the students hand which can result in injury. When one is able to clear the mind of doubt, and focus all intent on passing their hand through the board, the body will follow, and the board will break. In essence, the mind breaks the board.

But boards don't hit back, or attack us in dark alleys. Boards don't even move. Thus to be prepared to address a moment of chaos, we must train our intention and mental stamina to handle any situation. Practice your forms seriously, with intention: visualize your techniques, where and how your strikes will hit. Push yourself during class, do one more push up, hold that square horse stance ten seconds longer, don't give up. That is how intention is built, and hopefully it will never need to be tested.