Solutions to 6 Common Martial Arts Training Hurdles
There lots of people who really want to take up a martial art, but think they can’t for whatever reasons. In many cases, these reasons hold people back from ever making an attempt or they start their training and then feel they have to give it up because of them. I can’t possibly know everyone’s particular situation, but I can say that there are a few common themes that can certainly be addressed. (more…)
6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Martial Arts Conferences
1. Be prepared. Bring an extra uniform, water bottle, first aid supplies, and any other equipment you might need for the weekend. Make sure you’re familiar with the schedule and locations so that you’re on time.
3. Be aware of equipment differences. When you’re training with people who come from different dojos and different styles, they may use different types of uniforms or equipment. For example, people in Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu usually wear groin protectors so we make no bones about making contact to each other’s groins. That being said, people in other styles of Jiu-jitsu or even other dojos don’t necessarily wear groin protectors, or maybe only the men wear them while the women go bare. People might also wear lighter uniforms, which may not be able to sustain heavy abuse from throwing grips or other techniques that require the use of the gi. Communicate any differences that may be relevant to what you’re working on.
4. Be more cautious training with people you don’t know. There is always a few more risks involved in training with people whom you don’t know, especially when they are from different styles. Everyone has different levels of experience, different knowledge of techniques, different levels of pain tolerance, different injuries. So when you’re training with someone you don’t know, go slower and use more caution. Communicate openly, asking questions like, “Are you comfortable with this breakfall?” or “How is this level of contact, speed, etc?”.
5. Don’t overdo it. Martial arts conferences often put you in a position in which you might train more than you’re used to. Make sure you go at a pace you’re comfortable with. If you need to skip a session to let your body recover, by all means, do it. There’s nothing worse than coming away from a conference with an injury that could have been prevented with common sense.
6. Keep an open mind. When exposed to different instructors and styles, you’re going to be taught things that are new or completely different from the way you may have been taught at your own dojo. Keep an open mind and make an honest effort to learn. Allow your cup to be empty so that it can be filled. Besides, instructors rarely favour people who think they know it all and/or ask loaded or smart-alleck questions.
Have you any other tips you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them in the comments! 🙂
8 Day-to-Day Habits to Improve Mental & Physical Health
Everyone wants to be healthy and there are a wide variety of practices that one can undertake to contribute to good health. Many people, after feeling their health take a downward slide over a period of weeks, months, even years, say to themselves, “I’m going to make some big changes and get healthy again!” But all too often, they try to do too many things or tackle such huge goals that the lifestyle is too difficult to maintain.
The Difference between Panicking & Choking
I’ve been on a bit of a psychology arc for the past couple of weeks on this blog. I started with a discussion on what it means to choke and followed up with a discussion on the importance of ‘will to win’ in the martial arts. This week I’m going to discuss what happens when you panic, which is often confused with choking. They are, in fact, very different animals.
How ‘Will to Win’ Affects Martial Artists
Last week, I discussed choking while performing in the martial arts and how it is very different from lacking ‘will to win.’ This week, we’ll take a closer look at ‘will to win’ and how it affects martial artists.
Choking While Performing in the Martial Arts (Or Anything!)
Understanding Physical Biases in the Martial Arts
We all have our own biases when it comes to the martial arts. Sometimes these biases are based on the style(s) of martial arts we’ve studied. Sometimes they’re based on how our instructors have taught us. And sometimes, they are based on your individual body types.
When it comes to self-defense, I think martial artists should strive to broaden their perspective and look beyond the biases of their style(s) and their instructors to determine the best approach for their own body types. If you’re an instructor, you should be able to look beyond your own physicality’s biases and understand the biases of other people’s body types so you can help students learn the most practical approaches to self-defense for them. (more…)
How Do Your Assumptions Hold You Back?
I was reading a book the other day called Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence by Sgt. Rory Miller
4 Factors that Affect Muscle Memory Development
The human body is a fascinating structure, an intricate set of interrelated subsystems all hardwired for our survival. Muscle memory is an interesting phenomenon, involving a relationship between our muscles and their interaction with the brain. Muscle memory is often referred to in the martial arts. But exactly how and why does muscle memory develop? And what of Muscle Memory’s often overlooked little sibling, Muscle Confusion? This blog is an introduction to a 3-part series on this topic.
What is Muscle Memory?
The theory behind muscle memory is that anyone learning a new activity, or practicing an old one we use our brains extensively. A child learning to walk is gradually building neural pathways using the conscious mind to give the muscles a sense of muscle memory. In other words, even without thinking, the child is soon able to walk, and the muscles are completely accustomed to this process. The child no longer has to tell the body to walk; the body just knows how to do it, thanks to neurons that communicate with the muscles and say, “walk now.”
Muscle memory thus becomes an unconscious process. The muscles grow accustomed to certain types of movement. This is extremely important for the martial arts. The more often you train a certain skill, the more likely you are to do it as needed, when needed. If you’ve trained to respond in a certain way against a certain attack a thousand times. You don’t have to think about the specific combination of defensive techniques. Your body knows how to do it on demand.
5 Factors that Affect the Development of Muscle Memory
There are a number of factors that can affect the development of muscle memory. Understanding them is important for an instructor as it helps them to run a class that helps promote faster and better learning. As a student, understanding these factors helps you to understand what you can do to help improve your training habits.
1. Regular Training. Instructors know that the more a student practices, the better they get. Conversely, if a student only show up to class sporradically, it’s difficult for them to make progress. Students should strive to train at least twice a week, especially in the early stages of learning.
2. Repetitive Practice. Within class training time, students need to get sufficient opportunities to repeat techniques in order to develop muscle memory. This is why it’s important to curb the desire to discuss the performance of a technique at length in class, both as an instructor and as a student. While a student does need to understand the fundamentals of what they’re about to practice, an instructor that talks too much robs the student of valuable opportunities to develop muscle memory. An instructor also needs to let their students practice a technique enough times to get a feel for it before calling the class to order to introduce the next technique. Students, on the other hand, who like to discuss the technique during their practice time are also inhibiting their ability to develop muscle memory for the technique. It is also important to remember that repetitive practice ingrains a physical skill, whether you’re doing it right or wrong, so a student should always aim for perfect technique or as close to it as possible while practicing, even if it means doing the movements slower.
3. Age. It is widely known that children, once they have reached a certain age of motor skill development, are able to learn new physical skills fairly quickly. This is true of the martial arts too, but due to some of the mental apsects of training like focus, control, comprehension of application, and memory, they don’t necessarily advance as quickly as adults. This is why a lot of dojos refrain from teaching more complicated martial arts techniques to children at too young an age. And while there are few studies examining the development of physical skills in older adults, from experience, I can say that it usually takes them longer to develop muscle memory, especially when the skill is entirely new to them. They have to reprogram their bodies and unconscious minds to do things, fighting ways of moving that have become ingrained over decades of life.
4. Previous Physical Experience. I’ve always maintained that students who come into the martial arts with a previous background in dancing tend to learn martial arts more quickly. Dancing uses the body in a wide variety of ways and gets the person used to putting together strings of movement. Even though on the surface dancing seems completely different, it is actually very complementary to learning a martial art. Of course, there are other physical activities that share these qualities, but dancing stands out strongly in my mind. Conversely, if a person has previous experience in a different martial art, if there is a lot of cross-over, they may find the initial learning experience to be a little frustrating as their body has a tendency to do what it has already learned in a similar context. That being said, if one is patient enough to get past the early difficulties, a student with prior experience that is relevant to the art they’re currently studying may see an acceleration in their learning process.
The next two posts to follow will discuss ways to take advantage of the body’s ability to develop muscle memory and how to play off the concepts of muscle memory and confusion to develop technique and strength for the martial arts.
Reducing Time-Wasters for Efficient Living
New Year’s is around the corner and at that time people all over the world make resolutions of what they’re going to do to improve their lives. Inevitably, many of these resolutions will fall flat. One of the most common reasons people give to explain why is lack of time. We’re all guilty of wasting time, of not making the most of the time we have in our lives. In continuing with last week’s blog “How to Live Life Efficiently and Effectively“, I’ve written about four time-wasters people frequently engage in. Think you can help “make time” by reducing your engagement in these?
1. Watching TV. The average person in Canada watches TV 16.9 hours a week. In the US, the average is approximately 21 hours. Personally, I don’t have cable or satellite TV. I’m not saying you should NEVER watch TV, but at the very least, it’s good to be selective. I have a few shows that I choose to watch, but I either watch them on DVD or through the Internet when I’ve made a conscious choice to watch them. I don’t really sit down and turn on the TV because I have nothing better to do. I turn on the TV because I’ve decided that I want to watch an episode of one of my shows to relax, usually with my husband. On average, I don’t watch more than 3 hours of TV in a week.
2. Surfing the Internet. The average person in Canada surfs the Internet more than 18 hours a week. In the US, the average is approximately 29 hours. Granted, the average is higher because a lot of people use it for work, research and communication, which is not necessarily time wasted. How do you spend your time on the Web? Are you using it to enrich your hobbies, relationships, work, etc? Or are you spending the time checking out Failblog, watching inane videos, reading/forwarding chain letter emails, etc? I try to use the Internet mostly to enrich my life, minimizing “clutter” surfing when I can avoid it. I’m not 100% consistent, but I am very aware when I am doing clutter surfing, so that I don’t get carried away doing it.
3. Playing Video Games. I used to be an avid video game player. Back when I was in high school and even university, I could play video games for hours at a time. I found them very addictive. Nowadays, I still have an Xbox in the house, but I limit my video game playing to social activities. I don’t really play games by myself anymore. I can’t afford to get caught up in them like I used to. I will, however, play Rock Band at parties or play co-op games with friends every so often.
4. Spending Time People Who Aren’t Worth Our Time. This one is a tricky one. We may not always know when our friends aren’t worth our time. Sometimes we spend time with people out of habit not realizing that those people aren’t good for us. Some people drum up pointless drama for themselves, creating problems that don’t exist, both for themselves and others. Other people are negative and nasty and point out the problems with people and things around them constantly. If you find that a person you hang out with causes you a lot of stress or brings you down, you may want to reconsider the amount of time you devote to that friendship. There may be some exceptions, like maybe your friend is going through a rough time and needs the support of people around them to pull themselves out of it, but if it’s not something like that, it’s worth considering.
It’s amazing how much time you can free up for the things you want to do most in life, whether those things are training in martial arts, writing a book, or spending special time with your loved ones.
What are your worst time-wasters and what steps can you take to reduce them?
We're proud to announce that Lori O'Connell Sensei's new book, When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-jitsu Strategies & Tactics for Self-Defense, published through international martial arts publisher Tuttle Publishing, is now available in major book stores and online. More about it & where to buy it.