Danny T
Senior Master
Something asked in one of our classes last night. As an individual what mentally, environmentally, or physically is preventing you from being a better martial artist? There is no right or wrong answer. This is to inspire you to look inward and to honestly assess yourself.
In my case, there is no real environmental issue other than distance from those I wish to continue to train under. I own my school and it is 10 minutes away from my home. There are physical aspects like age (over 50) and injuries that have begun to slow me down. Strength is still good but Im no where near as strong as I was at 25-35. My cardio is good but my recovery time is much longer. For example, on Sat. I do 4 hours of instruction. Last Sat. one of my students who trained the complete 4 hours asked, How do you do it? Im exhausted! I stated that Im tired also; the difference is you are going to go home, take a shower, eat something and then go out to do something. Im going home to shower, eat and sleep!
Over the years I think the greatest factor limiting my growth has been my comfort level with my abilities. I am fortunate to have been a very good athlete with a strong body and the exercises came relatively easy for me. I still have good flexibility and agility. Due to this I have been able to, for the most part, simply overwhelm most and have learned over a long period of time to feel rather than to force my techniques. As the ageing process and the many injuries have begun to weaken me physically I realize how much I have missed in my journey. I have learned to be a bit more cunning and that timing and proper positioning is far more important than speed and strength. Also mentally I tend to stay where I am comfortable. Though I train and instruct several different systems I tend to gravitate to those movements which are similar rather than work more on the ones that are different. I do have an open mindedness toward training but tend to anally work that which I know works for me rather than work something new. If it is new I look to find what is already ingrained and simply expound on that.
How about you?
In my case, there is no real environmental issue other than distance from those I wish to continue to train under. I own my school and it is 10 minutes away from my home. There are physical aspects like age (over 50) and injuries that have begun to slow me down. Strength is still good but Im no where near as strong as I was at 25-35. My cardio is good but my recovery time is much longer. For example, on Sat. I do 4 hours of instruction. Last Sat. one of my students who trained the complete 4 hours asked, How do you do it? Im exhausted! I stated that Im tired also; the difference is you are going to go home, take a shower, eat something and then go out to do something. Im going home to shower, eat and sleep!
Over the years I think the greatest factor limiting my growth has been my comfort level with my abilities. I am fortunate to have been a very good athlete with a strong body and the exercises came relatively easy for me. I still have good flexibility and agility. Due to this I have been able to, for the most part, simply overwhelm most and have learned over a long period of time to feel rather than to force my techniques. As the ageing process and the many injuries have begun to weaken me physically I realize how much I have missed in my journey. I have learned to be a bit more cunning and that timing and proper positioning is far more important than speed and strength. Also mentally I tend to stay where I am comfortable. Though I train and instruct several different systems I tend to gravitate to those movements which are similar rather than work more on the ones that are different. I do have an open mindedness toward training but tend to anally work that which I know works for me rather than work something new. If it is new I look to find what is already ingrained and simply expound on that.
How about you?
