Have you learned any thing??

[Jenna]

I am interested to know of any one here..

What has doing your MA taught you about your self as a person?

And if the answer is not a thing or you do not much care or MA has no business teaching me about my self as a person, I would also be interested to know because I am not certain whether other practitioners stop to evaluate personal self learnings from their MA or is it just me..

Thank you very much for your input, Jxx

 

[donald1]

Yep ive learned lots of things. Enough where if I written it down it would be a really long paragraph or an essay . (5 years of learning) and still going

 

[Andrew Green]

Sure, plenty. Then again I own a school, so saying martial arts shaped me a little is rather obvious.

But martial arts changes people, sometimes in a small way, sometimes in a big way.

But how it changes you depends on how you approach it and the culture of your school. I've seen martial arts give people confidence, I've seen it help people quit smoking, quit drugs, I've seen it keep people out of gangs, I've seen it help get anxiety under control, help manage ADHD, help people manage stress (not just release it, but control it).

Of course it can go the other way too, in a negative environment it can make a person have a inflated ego, make them super competitive, paranoid of random attacks, etc.

Having some sort of school philosophy that promotes a healthy mindset, positive attitude and aspirational messages (as oppose to fear based) is important.

 

[Jenna]

@donald1 Thank you for your reply! Goodness yes I am sure you have learned many things over 5 years though what have you learned specifically about your self? Let me ask it differently, have you found out any thing about your self as a person that you maybe did not even know before you began 5 yr ago?? Thank you, Jx

@Andrew Green thank you Andrew. It sounds like you walk the walk as an instructor and owner I have no doubt from those many cases you have hinted at that you have seen the worth of your art as more than just a fighting form. I wonder beyond this Andrew either of you your self or of those you have trained, what personal changes have happened. For example, if a student has been able to control anxiety (which is absolutely fantastic btw!) what is the learning that that person has gained specifically about them selves? Forgive me if this is unclear.. I know what I am trying to ask.. I hope it come across! Thank you again, Jxx

 

[Danny T]

Can't say that I have learned much about myself as a person but without the martial arts I truly believe I would not be the person I am today. It is what I have gained and how I have changed that is more important. I have learned a lot about my body and over the years how much it has changed due to the aging process and injuries. The training when it is good, if one stays with it long enough, will transform the individual.

 

[Jenna]

Can't say that I have learned much about myself as a person but without the martial arts I truly believe I would not be the person I am today. It is what I have gained and how I have changed that is more important. I have learned a lot about my body and over the years how much it has changed due to the aging process and injuries. The training when it is good, if one stays with it long enough, will transform the individual.

Great reply Danny I am getting a real sense of the transformation in you through your MA. I am really interested in the positive aspects of this. It sounds from here as if you have an inkling of the kind of person you *might* have been had you NOT done your MA? In what way do you imagine todays MA-trained version of you might differ from the you back then who would not have done MA? Thank you, Jx

 

[Danny T]

I would probably be either dead or incarcerated.
Suffered with ptsd for years, hid it for a number of years. As anger and violent tendencies manifested the martial arts was a tremendous asset and release. Today I am a calm, patient, happy go luck yet responsible me and I strongly believe it is because of the martial art lifestyle I have lived.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I have learned many things about myself in my time in the arts.
I have learned I have little tolerance for bullies, and frauds.
I have learned that I will instruct a child or an adult if they are willing to learn but have no patience for those that do not listen or think they know more about what I'm teaching than I do
I have learned my personality changes when I do not practice ( his has been confirmed by family and friends as well as fellow workers)
I have learned I will learn from almost anyone who has knowledge to pass on
I have learned Im not as young as I was once and my body dose not seem to want to do some of the things I want it to anymore
I have found some of my closest and dearest friends in the arts as well as a couple people that I truly hate (no I will not given reasons for this)
I have learned that hard work is rewarded and that sometimes sweet and blood is required to learn ( many mistakes have lead to me bleeding)
I have learned people can say anything but sometimes it is only words or boasting and sometimes just pure BS
there is more but this is enough for now

 

[tshadowchaser]

I forgot to mention I learned that if there is only one changing room for both men and woman you really should know who is in there before entering and changing ( no I differently will not tell this story over the internet)

 

[ks - learning to fly]

I have learned a LOT of patience
I have learned that I have the confidence to lead a class
I have learned that in order to lead - you have to follow
I have learned that until a kid trusts you, they won't listen to you
I have learned that I am capable of more than I ever thought possible
Most importantly - after getting jumped almost 12 years ago - I have learned to stare fear in the eye and fight back

 

[donald1]

@donald1 Thank you for your reply! Goodness yes I am sure you have learned many things over 5 years though what have you learned specifically about your self? Let me ask it differently, have you found out any thing about your self as a person that you maybe did not even know before you began 5 yr ago?? Thank you, Jx

@Andrew Green thank you Andrew. It sounds like you walk the walk as an instructor and owner I have no doubt from those many cases you have hinted at that you have seen the worth of your art as more than just a fighting form. I wonder beyond this Andrew either of you your self or of those you have trained, what personal changes have happened. For example, if a student has been able to control anxiety (which is absolutely fantastic btw!) what is the learning that that person has gained specifically about them selves? Forgive me if this is unclear.. I know what I am trying to ask.. I hope it come across! Thank you again, Jxx

Never thought id be able to do 20 good pushups now im doing 75 good pushups, got better balance, I have learned several forms(one person sets, two person sets, empty hand, weapon forms) ... weapons, I could talk about that for hours. Practicing some of the various forms, techniques and applications really helps get more endurance,balance, an understanding of what the techniques, and knowing martial arts would probably boost anybodies confidence in the form are used for or my favorite thing. What else could they be used for? Or how to apply it in a self defence situation? I also learned I really like weapon forms! especially the niuwei dao. Im currently learning a second form almost finished! ive already gotten down the hard parts now just add the last few moves and make improvements! I know ive become more fit other wise I provably wouldnt have been able to do the ground moves smoothly or even correctly

Theres also those hard lessons... im sure everyone has them. Do something bad and you see your instructor on the far side of the room with a menacing glare. Its even scarier when he is walking the back lines... you never know when he is standing right behind you and nobody wants to turn around and find out!


Just curious though, what about you jenna. Im sure you have learned a lot too?

 

[Orange Lightning]

Great idea for a thread.

To prevent myself from rambling, I think I'll just make a list off the top of my head. I will try not to write a book about it.
For the record, I started really young. Or at least, I started doing something similar to MA when I was young. So some of these are kind of young person lessons. Probably not the ones you think though. Regardless, it's how I learned them.

Things about life and myself.

-To be ever evolving. Thinking and growing, learning more and reaching higher, etc.
-Life is a path. Not an elevator. You need to walk it. Not wait to reach greater heights. Don't assume it will all come. Seek it out.
-People have opinions. Often times, there isn't a right answer.
-The unknown is scary. Less scary if you feel prepared.
-The world is a zeitgeist of knowledge and experiences. You will never learn it all, but you can choose what to learn and experience. Making that time count matters.
-Confidence is awesome. Everything about you functions better with confidence.
-Anyone else arachnophobic? Spiders, however creepy they are, can be killed in a variety of nearly instantaneous ways.

-I work better in inspirational bursts than routines. Better for me to just do as much as I can when I feel like I can (which is quite a bit) than have a routine. The reason - Prevent myself from doing something today so I can do more of it tomorrow. Like a split routine. Turns out, tomorrow didn't work out so well (for whatever reason). Plus, burnout. I do better just saying "Chest Shoulders Quads and Biceps!" and letting the rest of my week work itself out.
-I don't suck. Like, as a human. I had issues before I got into MA.
-Sometimes, there aren't reasons for things. Technically, everything has a cause and effect. That's not what I mean. People often tell me I'm always overthinking things. For me, MA was always there. Before I even knew what it was. For whatever reason I just always was driven to it and fascinated. Instinctual maybe? Anyway, I enjoy it. I don't know precisely why. It's just in my code.
Point being, not everything that everyone ever does is a calculated thing. Plenty of things aren't a master thesis, witty, complete representation of a person's intentions, feelings, or personality. It isn't all technique. - A hard lesson for young me to learn. A lot of things were easier after that. Difficult to explain, but after learning this taught me my personality. It gave me....liberty of expression. In that sense, you could say MA taught me quite a bit. Gave me a solid base for everything after.
-Perspective. It is sometimes difficult to see things....objectively. Thoughts can be easily clouded with many forms of bias, and your emotions can push you further from the truth.
-I should listen to my body. There are reasons why your body tells you to do things. You'll want your brain's second opinion sometimes, but often, there's a good reason.
-I should trust my body. More of a MA concept than a personal one. Different from the last one. Don't think too heavily about things like moving around. Just do them. Don't send your brain to do your body's job.
-I like mobility. I like to be able to be able to move around, in any direction, at any time. I mean this literally and figuratively. I can move out quickly, evading danger of any sort, or move in when I feel it's safe enough. I don't like being stuck. I don't like not having choices.
-Being judgmental is malarchy. (Yes. It's malarchy. xD. Great word) There are so many billions of variables that exist for both you and that person in your minds and in your environments that affect how you think and make decisions. Judging other people's actions is particularly pointless when you don't understand their motives. And you likely don't. It does neither party good. It only makes you more closed minded and cynical. Really, it's not unlike style bashing. When you don't understand what you're looking at, it can seem foolish to you.
- I don't like hurting people. Physically or emotionally, but more so emotionally. Too many problems are caused for a person by uprooting their worth. It can bleed into other aspects of their life. It can even get in the way of developing further. To that end, I've developed more control than I otherwise would have to avoid hurting people. Unless they reeeaaaalllly have it coming. I've been fortunate in that sense. I haven't met too many people that make it their mission to cross the line.
- I second tshadowchaser's intolerance for bullies and frauds. As well as the fact that not practicing changes my personality.

Oh look. I rambled anyway. Well, that's all off the top of my head. I'll post more if I think of more.

-

 

[Buka]

Great question, Jenna. Great answers, too.

I'm wondering if the the things I've learned about myself through martial Arts, are the same things I would have learned through other life expereinces. I'm going to think about this for a bit.

 

[Jenna]

@Buka That is a good point.. I believe the way we find out does not so much matter? Interested to hear your thoughts in either case Jx

 

[Jenna]

@Danny T, thank you so much Danny for your reply.. takes some courage to deal with the horrors of PTSD, it is a testament to your personal strength and adaptability and frankly I am thrilled and inspired to hear your MA proved so useful in helping you gain some relief.. truly great to hear such a real life endorsement of MA! It sounds as if the you who might have been dead or incarcerated is such a different person to the you of today who is easy going and posts up advice and wisdom here. I would be so interested to know more though I appreciate not all is for open discussion. Still, thank you for your replies, I am grateful Jx


@tshadowchaser, wow mixed gender change rooms? Another country this was? There are so many points here S, each with the depth to merit their own discussion! Thank you for taking time to list these out, they are great thought provokers too.. Let me put one to you that fits with learning of our selfs.. you have said that you have little tolerance for bullies and frauds and I might be similarly minded so this will help me too.. Assuming there are people out there who CAN tolerate bullies and frauds, HOW do you think they are able to tolerate such people? What do they do that we do not that makes them able to tolerate bullies and frauds? Thank you again! Jx


@ks - learning to fly, I think the ability to stare OUR OWN fear in the eye and fight back take quite some doing, it is so encouraging to know that you have been able to overcome that terrible event with the help of your MA! I believe as you do too that we are all capable of more than we might first conceive!! I would like to ask you some thing if that is ok.. you say in order to lead you have to follow.. and intuitively it feel to me that there is a wisdom in this statement and but I cannot quite get to the meaning or example of it.. can you say how you mean this please? I am keen to know this. Thank you again! Jxxx


@donald1, it is awesome to hear of how your belief in your self has grown since beginning your MA! Your enthusiasm for your art and learning is obvious and wonderful to hear so well done you and keep going! My wishes for you D1 is that your desire to learn and improve does not stop Let me ask you this.. you have learned much from your instructor even though he some times glares menacingly and paces the back lines.. so do you think you would have learned as much as you have if your instructor smiled much of the time and sat on his rear while class proceeded? The big question is of course, what does this tell you about your self and what style of teaching suits you best so you learn in the best way possible?

I like your curiosity, does thatr curiosity for learning extends to all areas of your life I wonder? As for me, I learned my best lessons from the “bad” stuff, being hurt, training failures, class breakdowns whatever.. because that stuff DEMANDS that I think about it more (unlike a big chocolate cake which needs little thinking about!!) and when I drag the lesson out of all my disappointment or physical pain I realise to my self.. hey that bad thing was not completely bad because I learned some thing about my self that I did not know.. then I can be grateful to the bad stuff for that lesson.. then I can even say thank you to it.. I say.. Dear “bad” stuff, even though you disguise your self as “bad” you are actually not bad at all, that is plain weird and but never mind, sincerely Jx


@Orange Lightning, I am guessing this is not the first you have thought about these kinds of things, yes? You have some clearly thought through logic and rationale which says that is true I feel though that all of this thinking you do.. it only take you so far?? That is just an impression –I should stop with the tarot readings haha- Any way I like your insight.. good that you have determined your best way of training to get the max from it.. Let me pick your brains on some particular things you have said.. you mention the unknown being scary.. can you tell me what is most worrying about the unknown for you? Then also I wonder what about it make it less scary having prepared for it?

And I want to ask about what you have said.. some times there are not reasons for things.. Can you say in what way does this belief help you manage situations or events??

And judging.. do we not all do this? If I disclose to you some thing horrible that I have done in my life will your prior judgement of me not change a bit?

Any way I am interested to hear your thoughts Jx.

 

[Cirdan]

MA taught me my weaknesses are not weaknesses at all just different kinds of strength.

 

[Jenna]

MA taught me my weaknesses are not weaknesses at all just different kinds of strength.

I like that a lot.. I can imagine how that would work with what OTHERS might perceive of us as our weakness.. Like people are not worried about saying to my face -in not such nice words- you are petite and not burly, what can you do to me? that is THEIR perception of a weakness in me not mine.. I am fine with that because it does not correspond to any short coming I see in my self.

So my question of you Cirdan if it is ok to ask would be, is it possible those traits you your self perceive as weakness in you.. that THESE can be seen as strength? if so how can that work that it is not just counterintuitive and paradoxical? Interested to know as I think you have hit on some thing very pertinent both within MA and without.. thank you kindly, Jx

 

[Xue Sheng]

I have said this before on MT. I am fairly certain that without martial arts that my view of the world would come though the bars as I looked out at the prison yard.

I have learned a lot about myself from martial arts, some of which I am amazed by, some of which I am proud and some of which I am not so proud. And I am still learning; going through a bit of a rough spot in life at the moment (nothing I care to share openly on the web) and doing a lot of thinking and self analysis and I am finding that most of this is being influenced by marital arts.

 

[Orange Lightning]

@Orange Lightning, I am guessing this is not the first you have thought about these kinds of things, yes? You have some clearly thought through logic and rationale which says that is true I feel though that all of this thinking you do.. it only take you so far?? That is just an impression –I should stop with the tarot readings haha- Any way I like your insight.. good that you have determined your best way of training to get the max from it.. Let me pick your brains on some particular things you have said.. you mention the unknown being scary.. can you tell me what is most worrying about the unknown for you? Then also I wonder what about it make it less scary having prepared for it?

And I want to ask about what you have said.. some times there are not reasons for things.. Can you say in what way does this belief help you manage situations or events??

And judging.. do we not all do this? If I disclose to you some thing horrible that I have done in my life will your prior judgement of me not change a bit?

Any way I am interested to hear your thoughts Jx.

It is indeed not the first time I've thought about this.
Thinking can only take me so far...that would be a fair statement. You know how, with your eyes, you can only see so far. And there can be obstructions to your vision that change the picture. The mind is the same, but it's harder to tell what those obstructions are. You need to walk to see farther, and look around the obstructions to see the whole picture. You need to do. Absorb. Critically analyze and study. Practice. Get second opinions. Etc.
By all means. Pick my brains. Ask whatever you want.
The unknown is scary for all people. It's an inherent human fear. Do you know what the uncanny valley is? Take this picture. Creepy right?

It looks like a human face. Particularly, one with a big eyes and other features that would normally be considered normal and good. But your mind knows there's something.....not quite human about it. It's wrong somehow. It could be a threat to you. But you don't know for sure. It would be better if it was just a picture of something you either knew was friendly,

or something you knew was dangerous.

But since it sets off both the recognition and fear responses in your brain, it's disturbing. You don't know if it's friendly or means harm. You're mind will have a hard time making something concrete out of it or letting it go. This is the uncanny valley. Humans, generally, are afraid of things they don't understand or know about. Like the dark. Or communism for most Americans.
Essentially, if I don't know what can happen, I'm afraid. I need a solid set of skills and contingencies for things that could go wrong. Actually, I believe that's what martial arts are. Since you can't possibly think of everything at once and react perfectly to everything, and we know this, a cohesive system that protects you and lets you dish out some....protection, allows you to respond more effectively. You know what to do, how to do it, and what to look for to avoid have it being done to you. You can protect yourself from the unknown world. Wherever you find yourself on Earth or life, you have this system with you. If I knew beforehand everything my opponent was about to do, would they be a threat to me?
If I'm prepared to react quickly without much thinking, use what I can, and to adapt to the situation, then I'm prepared for the unknown. Indeed, you could almost say it puts the shoe on the other foot. You become the unknown, and the targets weaknesses only continue to be exposed.

Sometimes there are not reasons for things - Well, for one, helps to not be judgy. I'll explain that in a second. Sometimes, people are smart. Sometimes people are stupid. People that are either smart or stupid can act as either at any time. They can behave out of accord with their normal personality. They can say or act without too much thought, or with too much thought. Logical or illogical. Sometimes when a lady says hello, there are no ulterior motives or meanings. How many times have you seen someone or yourself just say "screw it" when making a decision?
Sometimes there isn't rationale. It situation very well, and actually quite likely will not in my experience, be totally rationale. You don't need to read too deeply into everything. Sometimes you really just need to shoot from the hip so you can react to things better. Or, to help you expect the unexpected, understand that all the participants in an event are not rational people. They might say something rational, or not. xD
This is basically chaos theory. The butterfly effect and all that. Technically, everything accounted for, there are reasons for everything. But some of them are so infinitesimally small that you can't take them into account. Like a person's mental state and bio chemical condition when they make a decision. Plus their personality, experience, motives, genes, and how they interpreted a situation. So on and so forth. Chaos is a massive and constantly continuing unknown in every day life. Making sense of it, sometimes, doesn't make sense. Sometimes it does. Good judgement (xD) is necessary to know when to apply which.
And this is why judging people is foolish. Yes, we all do it. We can't help ourselves. It's part of our nature. To the person making the decision, it was the best one they could think of to make at the time. Usually. To another person, it could be seen as stupid, irritating, naive, or brilliant. But to them, they might have been unsure. They might have thought it stupid or brilliant or what have you. Or thought nothing of it at all. A person can be terribly wrong to do something, and they can be criticized and that's all well and good. But judged as a human? Of that person's traits and worth? No. We can't possibly know well enough to make that critique.. If anything, this is a learning phase for them. An experiment. We've all been foolish before. Plenty of us probably still are. It would be folly to judge someone for not sharing the same point of view. Or being in a learning phase that you've passed. That's even assuming you've correctly appraised someone. No. I'd rather experience people for the experience they are. Not to make assessments on how I compare.
I can say with complete honesty that I wouldn't judge you for something you did in the past. Or present even. On the contrary, I would be curious about why you made the choices you did, and how you feel about them now. It likely part of the human condition that I haven't experienced or understood yet. If anything, it would only help me understand myself and other people even more, rendering me even further unable to judge people.

 

[donald1]

@Danny T, thank you so much Danny for your reply.. takes some courage to deal with the horrors of PTSD, it is a testament to your personal strength and adaptability and frankly I am thrilled and inspired to hear your MA proved so useful in helping you gain some relief.. truly great to hear such a real life endorsement of MA! It sounds as if the you who might have been dead or incarcerated is such a different person to the you of today who is easy going and posts up advice and wisdom here. I would be so interested to know more though I appreciate not all is for open discussion. Still, thank you for your replies, I am grateful Jx


@tshadowchaser, wow mixed gender change rooms? Another country this was? There are so many points here S, each with the depth to merit their own discussion! Thank you for taking time to list these out, they are great thought provokers too.. Let me put one to you that fits with learning of our selfs.. you have said that you have little tolerance for bullies and frauds and I might be similarly minded so this will help me too.. Assuming there are people out there who CAN tolerate bullies and frauds, HOW do you think they are able to tolerate such people? What do they do that we do not that makes them able to tolerate bullies and frauds? Thank you again! Jx


@ks - learning to fly, I think the ability to stare OUR OWN fear in the eye and fight back take quite some doing, it is so encouraging to know that you have been able to overcome that terrible event with the help of your MA! I believe as you do too that we are all capable of more than we might first conceive!! I would like to ask you some thing if that is ok.. you say in order to lead you have to follow.. and intuitively it feel to me that there is a wisdom in this statement and but I cannot quite get to the meaning or example of it.. can you say how you mean this please? I am keen to know this. Thank you again! Jxxx


@donald1, it is awesome to hear of how your belief in your self has grown since beginning your MA! Your enthusiasm for your art and learning is obvious and wonderful to hear so well done you and keep going! My wishes for you D1 is that your desire to learn and improve does not stop Let me ask you this.. you have learned much from your instructor even though he some times glares menacingly and paces the back lines.. so do you think you would have learned as much as you have if your instructor smiled much of the time and sat on his rear while class proceeded? The big question is of course, what does this tell you about your self and what style of teaching suits you best so you learn in the best way possible?

I like your curiosity, does thatr curiosity for learning extends to all areas of your life I wonder? As for me, I learned my best lessons from the “bad” stuff, being hurt, training failures, class breakdowns whatever.. because that stuff DEMANDS that I think about it more (unlike a big chocolate cake which needs little thinking about!!) and when I drag the lesson out of all my disappointment or physical pain I realise to my self.. hey that bad thing was not completely bad because I learned some thing about my self that I did not know.. then I can be grateful to the bad stuff for that lesson.. then I can even say thank you to it.. I say.. Dear “bad” stuff, even though you disguise your self as “bad” you are actually not bad at all, that is plain weird and but never mind, sincerely Jx


@Orange Lightning, I am guessing this is not the first you have thought about these kinds of things, yes? You have some clearly thought through logic and rationale which says that is true I feel though that all of this thinking you do.. it only take you so far?? That is just an impression –I should stop with the tarot readings haha- Any way I like your insight.. good that you have determined your best way of training to get the max from it.. Let me pick your brains on some particular things you have said.. you mention the unknown being scary.. can you tell me what is most worrying about the unknown for you? Then also I wonder what about it make it less scary having prepared for it?

And I want to ask about what you have said.. some times there are not reasons for things.. Can you say in what way does this belief help you manage situations or events??

And judging.. do we not all do this? If I disclose to you some thing horrible that I have done in my life will your prior judgement of me not change a bit?

Any way I am interested to hear your thoughts Jx.

He does smile at times as for my curiosity? Almost too curious cor my own good I ask my instructor questions every day and even ask some of those questions here too Questions and then some MartialTalk.Com - Friendly Martial Arts Forum Community

Its good your learning, keep learning there is always going to be so much to learn.