Focus Your Mind/Go with the Flow: Martial Arts Training Tips
I just finished reading a great book, Slowing Down To The Speed Of Life
Analytical/Processing Mode
This mode is most useful for learning new skills and concepts. It allows you to deliberately think through each step and consciously learn a physical technique. When you first learn a joint lock, throw, or other martial arts technique, the instructor breaks it down into steps to make it easier to follow along, and offers corrections along the way for you to process and analyze, so you better understand the fundamentals of the technique. As you practice in this mode, you’ll often find that the technique feels slow and chunky, especially ones requiring fine motor skills. This could also be thought of as the conscious mind. (more…)
What Martial Artists Can Learn from Animal Fight Videos
Humans are animals. This is a fact we often forget in our day-to-day lives. We have instincts and behaviours that are very much linked to our bestial ancestors. Legend has it that a number of ancient martial arts masters observed animals to develop their techniques and fighting styles. If it was good enough for the masters, it’s good enough for me. So without further ado, I bring you the lessons to be learned from some of YouTube’s most popular animal fights. (more…)
How to Make the Most of Being Laid Off
When I was growing up, I never knew any adults who were laid off or lost their jobs. My parents both had stable jobs for the government and were never laid off even once in their entire careers. Boy, was I in for a shock when I entered the full-time work world myself. When I first started my adult working life, I began with a full-time career in marketing. Since then, I got laid off 3 times in 4 years as poor economies induced cutbacks in companies I worked for.
The first time I was laid off, I was devastated, but since then I’ve learned that being laid off can be a wonderful life-changing experience if you approach it the right way. Below are some tips for getting the most out of lay-offs. (more…)
How Do Your Negative Behaviours Reward You – Part 2
In ‘How Do Your Negative Behaviours Reward You – Part 1‘, I introduced the concept that the reason people have trouble kicking certain negative behaviour patterns is that they provide some sort of emotional reward. The key to ridding yourself of the pattern is to identify the reward and replace it with something better. In the last post, we applied this concept to 4 negative behaviour patterns, including negativity, being too hard on one’s self, overconfidence and arrogance. Today we’ll apply the concept to four more patterns commonly found in martial arts schools and in general life. (more…)
How Do Your Negative Behaviours Reward You? – Part 1
We all have certain negative behaviour patterns that interfere with our productivity, happiness and peace of mind. Some people are completely unaware of how these behaviours affect their state of mind, simply allowing them and accepting them as an every day reality. Other people recognize the negative affects, but struggle to get these behaviours under control.
The reason why negative behaviour patterns are maintained is that they reward you in some way in the short term, even if there are greater costs in the long term. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t keep doing them. The first step toward gaining control of your negative tendencies is to recognize how they reward you, so that you can realize this as it is happening and try to replace it with a more positive behaviour. (more…)
Music as a Tool for Motivation, Relaxation & Happiness
Music is a great tool for stimulating emotions, whether you want to pump yourself up and get motivated to focus on a task (physical or mental), relax and let go of the tensions of your day, or simply shift your mood to a happier state. It continually amazes me how much of an emotional response I get to certain pieces of music, whether it’s the melody, rhythm, lyrics, or connection to personal memories, or a combination of the four. (more…)
How to Train the Use Adrenaline for Martial Arts & Self-Defense
Produced by the adrenal glands in our body, adrenaline is released when the body experiences high-stress mental or physical situations. It stimulates a variety of bodily functions, including increased heart rate, increased blood to muscles and increased oxygen flow to the lungs, etc. It can be used to increase your performance in sport or self-defense, making you faster, stronger and less affected by pain. It can also enable you to process information while taking actions at a rapid rate, making you more responsive to threats. These reactions, however, are not a given. Everyone has different reactions to adrenaline and the stressful situations that causes its flow. This article explores these reactions and how to train yourself to have more useful reactions for martial arts and self-defense. (more…)
Size/Strength vs Technique vs Spirit in the Martial Arts
Have you ever gotten frustrated at being unable to apply a joint lock, do a throw, or get good shots in when sparring against someone much bigger or stronger than you? You’re not alone. Many people come to train in the martial arts because they’re looking for something that will help level the playing field for them if they should ever have to raise their hands to defend themselves physically. But after they’ve been training for a while, they still find themselves struggling to do the same techniques that bigger, stronger people seem able to apply more easily. They become disillusioned and often quit because they don’t realize what it takes for smaller people to be successful in the martial arts. (more…)
How to Keep Adrenaline Under Control for Martial Arts (Or Anything!)
Adrenaline can be a great tool for self-defense or martial arts sports. It can give you an extra rush of energy when it really counts. It can help you cope with taking hard hits. It can make you more aggressive when aggression may be needed to give you the edge. But it also has its downsides for self-defense, sport or even when you’re just training. It can narrow your field of vision, make it difficult to hear (whether it’s your attacker’s buddy coming in to help or instructions from your coach while in the ring). It can even cause you to use more force than necessary to quell an attacker. (more…)
The Benefits of an Accountability Buddy
I’ve always found that having a friend or colleague who is working toward similar goals is helpful when it comes to achieving your own goals. Often referred to as an “accountability buddy” in success circles, they can have a specifically defined relationship with you, or they could just be along for the ride providing general support. However the relationship is defined (or not defined), the idea is that your accountability buddy helps you stay motivated in your training. Each relationship is specific to the people involved in the partnership, but the benefits, for the most part are the same. Here are 4 that I have found in my experience: (more…)
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.