San Do Kuen Martial Arts

Martial arts training is a life-long journey of self-discovery and improvement.  Over time, the training causes physical adaptations in the human mind & body.  Martial arts training changes the way we think about ourselves and our perception of the world around us.

Habitual martial arts training gives us insight into our own strengths, weaknesses, biases and tendencies.  The value of this awareness is that it translates into increased confidence, discipline, fitness and focus.

Awareness

Awareness is not just looking both ways before crossing the street, it is a state of being, our way of interacting with the world.  Before we can become aware of other people or complex situations we have to be aware of ourselves.  Martial arts training is based on self-defense techniques, so who is it that we are defending?  Our self is not just our body, it is our knowledge, our relationships and values.  If we do not know what our knowledge means, or what kind of relationships we are in, or what our values are, how can we defend them?  Similarly, if we do not understand how our body functions and what it is capable of, how can we use it to defend ourselves or our loved ones?

Martial arts develops our awareness because it makes us get to know ourselves.  During training we can learn what two our two arms, hands, legs, elbows and knees can do for us.  Once we discover the amazing range of possibilities, we begin to explore how the techniques work for us.  To find what works, we have to be aware of our opponent and our surroundings.

Confidence

Self-confidence, or belief in one’s own worth and ability is a complex concept that is affected by many variables outside the dojo.  References to confidence as a benefit of martial arts are made in almost every martial arts school or system.  Interestingly, there is no way to practice confidence during a martial arts class.  One cannot learn confidence from a lecture about the topic.  So how does martial arts build confidence?

Martial arts training develops confidence because, over time, students prove to themselves that they can learn & improve.  Learning martial arts is essentially a Pass/Fail system.  Either we learn to punch, or not; either we can do the push-ups, or not; either we commit to training, or not.  In this environment, students improve their own confidence by striving to meet the difficult challenges of training.

After enough experience and “pass” experiences, people tend to approach the martial arts learning process with more enthusiasm & excitement (confidence) rather than self-doubt and self consciousness.  This new attitude then translates into more confidence in other aspects of life.

Discipline

In martial arts we cannot think our way into skill, we have to develop technique over years of repetition and trial and error. The martial arts master will practice the same simple movement for hours or years, not because it will increase his skill, but because that is his skill.  Mastery is not a result of training, it is the ability to withstand the training for life – no matter what other variables might seem to interfere with or distract from it.

This kind of discipline is uncommon, but very useful.

Fitness

Martial arts workouts develop all aspects of fitness: aerobic capacity, anaerobic power, explosive strength, balance, flexibility (range of motion at all joints), leg strength, pelvic stability, core strength, upper body strength, coordination, reflex speed, grip strength, and hand-eye coordination.  See my Martial Arts & Fitness & FIT TO FIGHT pages for more details.

Focus

During martial arts training, focus is essential.  Every moment of training can hold an amazing amount of value if we are present enough to recognize it.  So often, students bodies are in class, but their minds are somewhere else.

Americans tend to to treat mental learning and physical learning as distinct tasks and this is why they think that they can think of one thing and ask their body to do something else. Martial arts students must focus their mind’s and bodies on the same task in order to succeed.

This requires us to let go of our mental control of the process and concentrate on ourselves as we practice.

• Focus requires humility and forces us to put all our energy into training.