What makes martial artists so recognized and appreciated?  Why is it when others learn that I am a martial artist they are instantly interested in the tradition I have practiced for the past twenty-six years?  Suddenly I’m more than just a co-worker, church friend, or neighbor, I’m the lady who “does martial arts.”  People recognize martial artists as dedicated individuals who devote a lot of time and energy to their practice.  While “practice” includes the physical and mental demands of the art, there are simple, understated subtleties that make martial artists who they are; and the same can work for you in your daily life.  Here is a martial art plan to cultivate a lifelong martial art mindset.

1.  Martial Arts Plan #1:  Prepare

It’s great to have freedom and not worry about time.  I love weekends when I can sleep late and not have one single thing on my calendar for the day.  It doesn’t happen often, but I cherish it when it does. Downtime is important and that is a good lesson in itself.  In order to be productive, get through life with ease, and get done what needs to get done, you need to take some downtime on occasion.

If you’re a parent, there is always something going on. Meetings, events, school functions, after care, sports.  If you don’t plan ahead, you’ll lose sight and surely miss something.  If you are a student and you don’t plot out homework assignments and tests, chances are you are going to run into a few difficulties along the way.  To hit the mark, make ends meet, and tackle tasks, you must mark up the calendar, recognize where there is overload, and leave an empty space or two for the unexpected.

Life as a martial artist is no different.  A martial artist can be very busy with his martial arts preparations.  He might attend training, help teach, and even jump in the sparring ring when its his turn.  If he has not planned ahead or made any preparations, he may not find success.

Planning and preparing comes in many forms.  The martial artist will attend class, practice, review and use his mind to focus better.  He may need to read materials, formulate a martial arts persona, and identify his weaknesses so he can better himself.  Just attending class is not enough.  That’s what I did for a while, too, but as time passed I realized I had to plan and prepare ahead before class.  What was I going to be asked to do?  Do I know the katas I’m supposed to have ready?  Am I worthy of this belt?

In the same way a martial artist plans to continually learn, participate, and become better, you, too, are responsible to plan and prepare for many aspects of your life.  I often remind others to live in the moment and I believe that.  At times, however, a glimpse into the greatness you wish for your life is a good idea, too.

You plan birthday parties and celebrations, weddings and fairs, appointments and meetings.  You should also take some time to plan for your life.  Some call it a bucket list.  I prefer to call it a life journey; a plan that starts where you are now and leads to where you want to go.  Like all goals, it’s best to write out a few ideas to memorialize them.  Nothing is concrete, it’s just an outline of what would cover the very basics of all your dreams and ambitions.  Here’s a few examples of a simple plans that make a big difference:

• Plan to spend a few moments every day in reflections.  The martial artist, as he stretches or waits, finds a moment or two to reflect.  This is an energy boost and you need it too.
• Plan to appreciate.  The martial artist who shows up to class is appreciative to have someone willing to teach him.  About what are you appreciative?
• Plan to communicate a positive message.  A martial artist sees how martial arts can change his life and in return, how he can share that with others.  How can you share the good things you know?
• Plan to participate.  A martial artist engages fully in what he is doing and works every moment to achieve more and become better.  In what things are you engaged fully, giving 100%?

As you can see, being a better martial artist and being a better person are not at different ends of the spectrum.  When you plan and prepare, just like a martial artist, you become focused, productive, healthier, and happier.  Live in the now but plan and prepare so you can reach your dreams and goals in the future.

2. Martial Arts Plan #2:  Practice

In my younger years, I would wake up in the morning and just exist.  There was nothing exciting going on, or so I thought.  There was nothing meaningful happening.  I worked jobs and I did what I had to do but there was no hope and no particular expectation of happiness.  I suppose everyone has a phase where they feel this way, too. When I figured out how to be positive, I finally saw the light.  Like many things that are worthwhile, even being positive or nice takes work.  Do you think positive people are just born that way?  Do you think happiness just is?

When I began an experiment many years ago to see if changing my behaviors would actually make me happy, I was in for a big surprise.  I really did feel better.  Hiding my shyness, I would smile, shake a hand, say hello, listen to a story.  I opened my mind to a bigger picture and realized then that practicing made those behaviors seem more natural.  The more I practiced, the more of a change I felt.  For you negative thinkers out there, positive thoughts are not abundant.  You must practice finding good and positive messages in your everyday life and positively influencing others.  Once you find a positive internal message upon which you can rely, the rest will fall into place.

Do you worry about making mistakes, lack focus or energy, or just live each day as if it’s the same as the next?  Then, it’s time you practice “opposite day.”  Every time you do or think something ask yourself if the opposite of that is a better choice. This can help shake negativity.

A martial artist is a “practitioner.”  He strives to learn an art that will benefit him mentally and physically.  He struggles with perfection and with mistakes.  He wants to learn and soak up as much knowledge and skills as possible.  To become better requires commitment and dedication and effort and it’s something he’s willing to earn in order to call himself a “martial artist.”  Give your life the attention it deserves, just as the martial artist delves into his own practice.   Realize that you must practice thinking good thoughts and sharing good messages.  Like the martial artist whose reward comes in the form of self-fulfillment, happiness, and power, in return you will be awarded with a mindset that will lead you in the right direction.   Any martial artist knows that what he puts into his practice is returned two-fold and that’s the lesson here, too.

3. Martial Arts Plan #3:  Communicate

It’s important to be a positive person, but almost equally important is how you communicate with others.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at a table with a group of people or even just one person and asked how they were doing, what is new, what their plans are, and I NEVER received an inquiry back about me. Not that I needed one, but on occasion it would be nice to have someone ask about me after they explain everything about them.  I love to hear others stories and I enjoy friendships and new beginnings.  I’m just saying…a little reciprocation is part of communication.

I was on a cruise and sat with several people I didn’t know at breakfast.  After I asked each one, casually, around the table, where they lived or what they did or how they liked the cruise, the table again fell silent. No one ever asked a single thing about me.  This, friends, is just a lack of communication and even more so, a reflection of the ego-driven society in which we live.  This type of half-hearted communication affects our daily lives and our work spaces in a negative way and I encourage you to make an effort to share and receive.  Share yourself, your stories, your feelings, but engage in the rich expressions and diversities of others.

In martial arts, communication is promoted in a very basic and literal sense, expressed through teaching and learning between the teacher and the student.   The teacher instructs, the student learns.  The teacher asks questions, the students answer.  The students ask questions, the instructor answers.  The student practices, the instructor corrects.  And, on it goes.  Without strong bonds and good communication efforts, there is no learning.  In the dojo there is a two-way relationship that flows back and forth in a learning-teaching-learning fashion. Even the instructor learns from the student.  If the communication is a stifled one-way method where the teacher instructs without the ability for reciprocation, then there is no true communication.

As the instructor and student foster a strong bond of communication, so must you find a way to foster better communication in your own life.  Don’t just reply.  Don’t just talk about yourself. Don’t just speak. Take a moment to ask another how he feels, what he likes to do, where he is from.  I have spoken to so many people while writing my blogs and have learned so much about other cultures, personalities, preferences and desires that I cannot imagine my life without the fullness of those conversations.

Think of every person as a new teacher.

Prepare, Practice & Communicate

There’s no mystery, no secret, not even any rocket science in how a martial artist conjures up what appears to others as a very fascinating life.  What makes him stand out is not just that he is a martial artist, but rather how he prepares himself, how he practices with diligence and how he respects a relationship with his instructor.  Each of these very simple concepts are life changing on their own; so, when blended together, they create a powerful entryway to a martial artist’s life.

Your life has a gate, too, and it’s ready to swing wide.  Perhaps it’s a little rusty or maybe even stuck, so give it a good kick and see if it will fall open.  Once through, you have all the tools you need to better your life.

Get out of the rut of just existing or thinking hope is for someone else.  When you prepare, practice, and communicate, everything changes.

Andrea