Do you want to experience your martial art in all its fullness? Become the martial artist you envision yourself to be? Then here are ten simple tips you can use to improve in every which way. And, if you’re creative, you’ll find away to apply these tips to not just your practice or style, but to your life, too!

1.  Expand your horizons.

Your style is great, but it is not the only style in the world.  Do not get stuck in thinking that you can only study your own martial art; that is like thinking you can only appreciate one genre of music or one type of painting.  Expand your horizons. Take a seminar or weekend workshop, read some articles, add a weapon.  Variety will keep you interested and on your toes.

2.  Remove the boundaries.

Whatever it is you can’t do, or whatever illness you have, remove it from your thought process.

Don’t remind yourself constantly that you have a medical situation or a limitation that makes it difficult to participate in certain aspects of learning your style. You may be placing boundaries that do not have merit.  Try falling, just once.  If you learn it correctly, it may not be so difficult.  Try that jump kick just once.  As long as your instructor has a good methodology to his teaching, you may be able to do much more than you think.

Before the walls go up, give yourself a chance.

3.  Stop skimping.

Look, there are certain steps to follow in each style that are absolutely necessary.  I don’t want to see you do a stretch kick when I want a regular kick.  I want to see your knee up and ready before you shoot your foot forward, the way a good kick is done.  I want to see your fists clenched as you practice your kata.  Show each intricacy every time.

Don’t be a wet noodle when you practice.  Use power and be consistent.  Don’t cut corners and don’t leave anything out.

4.  Be yourself.

Yes, that guy over there has incredible flexibility.  Yes, that one can break 3 boards.  Yes, she can do a back flip in her kata.  There are many who are better, more creative, and more experienced than you.

Who cares?

You bring your own unique abilities and talents to the table.  There are small bits of you that stand out, like the way you look confident when you are done demonstrating a skill, or the way your kick sticks so strongly in the air during practice, the way your fierce focus intensifies while practicing, or your speed on the punching bag blows everyone away.  You will not have the same strengths or weaknesses as any other and it is time you recognize your own contributions.

Don’t focus on what you can’t do, but what you can do; not on who you are not, but who you are.

5.  Practice Everything.

Don’t just practice your favorite things or the things at which you are already good.  You must face the fact that there are some elements to your martial art that need more practice than others.  When you go home after a good class, do you think about where your weaknesses are or do you think about rehearsing what you like the most?  Naturally, where you find success is a nice place to start your off-hours practice; but, don’t leave out the hard stuff or the elements that make you struggle a little bit.

6.  Close Your Eyes.

Practice your kata with your eyes close.  Do you end up where you should be?  Try breaking a board with your eyes closed.  You will have to rely on the voice and instructions of your instructor.

You will be more aware.  You will notice your breath pulsating and the quiet of the room.  You will really see where you are in your skill set.

Closing your eyes is a real eye opener (pun intended!).

7.  Set Your Martial Arts Goals.

Yes, you want to be a black belt.  That is a great goal!

There may still be quite a bit of time between now and achieving your black belt, especially if you’ve just started.  There are a lot of steps yet to take before you get there.  If you really want to get to black belt, then it cannot be your only goal.  You should set smaller, attainable goals along the way.

Fist, what is your reason for taking a martial art?  Always stay true to that and it should be your first goal.  Getting fit, losing weight, self-defense, focus, confidence, strength, flexibility, mindset?  It may be a combination of those things.  The important thing is that you tick off each and every goal that you reach along the way.  Each person learns a martial art for different reasons.

You will be surprised at your accomplishments if you meet the smaller goals along the way.

8.  Visualize.

No time to practice?  No place to practice?  You are not out of luck.  You still have the benefit of mindful practice through visualization.

Whatever techniques you have learned, you can make them better through the skillful insight of visualization.  It is your chance to see yourself as you’ve always wanted to be; a strong, powerful martial artist in the making.  Any difficulties you have in your techniques can be eliminated in your visualized view of yourself.  Visualize yourself in proper form and near-perfection.

Visualization gives you the opportunity to win the competition, beat the opponent, or see yourself as the incredible martial artist you are meant to be.

9.  Breathe.

Breathing is an important part of the process. Often when I am stretching the class, I can see that some students are  doing the opposite of breathing – they are holding their breath!  I have to remind them to continue breathing in and out as they elongate and warm up their muscles.

Breathing is important for many reasons.  During kata, the breath can control a lot of the movement, not the other way around. Learning to utilize the breath, instead of fighting it or forgetting about it can make a big difference in your intensity and your endurance. Think of a runner.  He must pace his body and his breathing in order to run a long distance.  The martial artist needs to do the same, but often it is overlooked or is an afterthought.  Whenever you are practicing in class, take a moment to analyze how you are breathing. If you are holding your breath you will not be able to unleash your power, so you still have some work to do in this area. Once you make good breathing a priority in your martial art, you will reach a new level of efficiency in your practice.

10.  Share and Teach.

You’re not a black belt?  That doesn’t mean you cannot share or teach some of what you know to others.  In fact, it will help you tremendously.  Having to explain something is a lot different from listening and learning.  You need to actually understand the technique and be able to communicate it to another person. The teacher-student relationship and communication path is as important as any other relationship.  How you impart your knowledge to another helps you learn to communicate in a different martial artist type role.

Can you share or teach if you are not an instructor yet? Yes.  You understand the nuances of your school, right?  So, when someone new starts, greet them and let them know what’s expected.  Bow in and out of the dojo, arrive fifteen minutes before class, always make sure you wear your belt…you might share.  That is a form of teaching.

Give encouragement when you see someone needs it. Everyone has a down day.  Everyone understands defeat.  You can share your wisdom, friendship, and guidance when another classmate is struggling.  That is sharing and teaching.

Sharing and teaching make you better because to teach you must be compassionate, knowledgeable, and helpful all in one. The more you know and the more you do will help you develop into a well-rounded, well-respected martial artist.

 Yes!

So, there you have it.  Ten tips to improve in your martial art. None is rocket science and none is difficult.  It all comes down to how much effort and how much passion you want to infuse into your style.  Make a few good, solid changes or just try something new. Expand your horizons, check out another style, close your eyes and breathe.  There’s nothing wrong with what you are doing now, but there is so much more out there.  Don’t limit yourself.

Be open to explore the world of martial arts around you and up your game.  There is always room for improvement.

Andrea