Austin Kung Fu Academy Blog

I’ve been teaching martial arts for 15 years now. I’m always learning new ideas and updating my teaching methodology.

While there is a lot I could write about particular techniques to yield specific results, I want to share 2 core ideas that make a huge difference.

One is to debrief all activities, and another is to be lighthearted.

Students tend to appreciate brief, yet poignant explanations as to why they are doing a particular activity, and in any learning environment, a lighthearted nature from the teacher tends to yield a safe space to make mistakes and grow.

More often than not, a martial arts teacher has to go through some training or trial and error before s/he realizes that these concepts are a vital part of keeping students engaged to what they are learning.

The reason why we teachers have to be taught this is that we were the few in our classes who were very self-motivated, and self-directed. We were the ones that went above and beyond the call of duty. We obsessed over the material and practiced it to perfection. We were very serious about our practice because we wanted to get it right and achieve high marks.

As we climb the ranks, we get thrust into a leadership/teaching position, for which we hold a lot of honor.

The fatal mistake we make is that we think everyone is as interested and will be as dedicated and motivated as we are. When that reality check smacks us across the face, we realize that we have to make major adjustments to our approach, or step away from leadership/teaching.

Leadership/teaching is not for everyone. Although it is teachable to anyone, the first step is you have to want to do it. And that may require some swallowing of bitter pills, and taking large steps outside of your comfort zone initially.

Teaching martial arts is an art unto itself, especially in a business setting, where customer service counts. It requires constant practice and evaluation and updating…just like martial arts training. Feedback from students and mentors is a critical component to improving.

Teaching martial arts can be one of the most rewarding experiences, and if a teacher views it as such, then chances are, the students will enjoy learning from that teacher. As teachers, we have to love what we do, and then the rest will follow.

There is a difference between going with the flow of situations and being bullied into doing things against your will.

Martial arts is known for giving people a sense of empowerment to stand up for themselves, but in a sense, that isn’t going with the flow, it is actually being confidently defiant.

The whole concept of going with the flow has an implication. The implied meaning is to accept the current situations and conditions when you would instinctively rebel them.

And as a side note, there is indeed a difference between that and being bullied into accepting what is happening. Being bullied to accept a circumstance or situation means you emotionally do not accept what is happening but you are letting it, anyways because of a confidence issue.

Going with the flow means you are emotionally and physically accepting the circumstance and situation and working with it. You can identify reasons for why it would make sense to not fight it or not think too negatively about it (notice, I said, “too”, meaning, you can think negatively, but not excessively).

Physical illness is a really good example, and very current for me. I recently became ill for a short period of time. Probably a bug my son brought home from daycare, combined with allergies and whatever else illness is floating around in the air that everyone’s been getting lately.

As a generally healthy person, my instant inclination is to deny that I am sick, and fight against it, and not acknowledge it. And I’ve done that many times.

This time around, I didn’t do that. When I felt I was sick, I knew I was and I drew boundaries of what I could and couldn’t do, and took time off, and just let myself be sick. I admitted to myself that I’m not at my 100% so take it easy.

Part of the martial arts discipline is to overcome the weakness of the mind that all too easily gives into laziness and an “I can’t do it” attitude. It is a very default way of being in humans, and martial arts is the art of combating that state of mind.

So as a disciplined martial artist, by persevering through pain and a head cluttered by negative thoughts, it is a challenge sometimes to recognize when to stop and let yourself heal, and not view that as being lazy.

But martial arts also teaches how to go with the flow of the energy around you. So if you’re sick, let yourself be sick, and come back stronger.

Going with the flow has another implication, and that is to find opportunity with challenges. Since going with the flow is accepting a situation that we normally would want to resist, the mental capacity to view that as an opportunity gives it a positive atmosphere.

I’ll use two examples. One of getting physically pushed, and another one of getting sick.

Getting Pushed – If someone physically tries pushes you, yes you can knock their hands away and push them back. Or, you can absorb their push, grab their arms, twist your hips and waist, and they will end up falling by the momentum of their own push.

Getting Sick – If you are sick, it is very easy to have a lot of internal dialogue basically saying, “Man it sucks being sick. I hate being sick. Being sick sucks!” Or you could have a thought process that is more on the lines of, “I didn’t realize I took my good health for granted. Being sick is reminding me to never take my health for granted again. I need to be more proactive about appreciating and respecting my health by eating better and exercising more.”

So the idea of martial arts teaching you to go with the flow is a pretty profound concept that has a few layers and dimensions to it.

To your health!

I don’t look back too fondly of my days in PE (Physical Education) classes back in my k-12 experience.

I’m not sure what exactly I learned. What I do remember is being taunted, being the last to be picked on a team, being yelled at by other team mates by not being very good at something, having to play the opposite gender when they were trying to teach us square dancing because there weren’t enough girls in class, etc.

Indeed, PE was very Darwinian. Survival of the fittest. You get thrown into an activity and hopefully you knew what the heck to do.

Where exactly was the education?

I was fast, flexible, agile, strong for my size, and had pretty good coordination. But PE did not nurture any of these physical attributes.

Contrast this to Martial Arts. It is very regimented. There is a curriculum. You build a solid foundation first on which you get graded, and progressively and incrementally more advanced skills from that, taking tests to demonstrate your progress along the way.

It is a true education. You don’t (or shouldn’t) be told to spar right away. You must prove that you have your fundamentals first. It is always about proving to your teachers that you are ready for the next phase of techniques, drills, etc.

You’re not allowed to take trigonometry if you haven’t passed geometry. You cannot take geometry without having passed algebra. You cannot take algebra if you haven’t demonstrated competency in basic mathematics/pre-algebra.

A Martial arts education works the same way. It is a logical structure that builds upon itself, layer by layer. You are truly learning something.

That’s why anytime someone who is interested in taking martial arts classes from me says that they have done martial arts before, I get excited for them. Generally, a lot of people will say, “But that was such a long time ago, I was just a kid.” But chances are, it was a pretty well structured program that built upon itself. So while you may not remember the specifics of the curriculum, it gave you a solid foundation, that built important physical attributes systematically. Because of this, your ability to learn and grasp the material will be faster (usually) than someone who has not gone through the process.

So could martial arts really ever be part of a public school formal education curriculum? Probably not. It may be seen as teaching violence (which is usually not true), but more importantly, unless it is a sport-martial art like Judo, it is very hard to standardize martial arts, mainly because of the many different styles and politics.

It’s a bit of a paradox, really. For such an organized and structured process of learning, organizationally, martial arts is an administrative mess, as there is no one body of standards. Anyone can claim themselves a master and open a school. That actually makes it good for the private sector economically.

But unfortunately, people miss out on the opportunity because of it. We do however live in a ubiquitous age of information sharing, so it is more accessible now than it has ever been.

And that is exactly why I write these pieces, to help share and spread the over arching benefits of it, explained to people without any experience in a tangible way why this is such a beneficial activity.

So martial arts indeed is a physical education in its logical structure and learning process. It is also a very holistic education, but that is for another post!

No doubt about it, if you do martial arts, and you meet someone who also does martial arts, you are instantly connected. There is a lot you can talk about.

The conversation will generally include discussion about styles, techniques, drills, rank progression, martial arts in the media, and anecdotes from the training process.

There is something special about going through the process of martial arts training that is unique, and it can bring people together.

But, there is something that can make it very divisive among people, as well – STYLE. Styles unfortunately can sometimes cause rivalries, unhealthy competition, and downright cynicism.

Is that the style’s fault? You know the answer. It is NO. People cause the rivalries, the unhealthy competition, and cynicism. So the impetus is on the teacher to channel this into positive energy.

We as teachers have to recognize what is good, productive, and beneficial of all martial arts styles, not just our own.

However, we As business owners, need to be able to say why our style is different from the others, and why it is beneficial, but not at the expense of another style.

It is a balance we teachers need to walk, and promote to our students. It is important to recognize the good in all style of martial arts, and understand the different reasons people connect to it, as well as the good in your own art, and why people connect to yours.

Now this might make all the sense in the world to the common student reading today. However, many of us who trained martial arts in the 80’s did so because of some sort of sense of inadequacy or a sense of insecurity. When we developed a sense of ourselves through our martial arts training, we had a tendency to be very attached to the art that gave us that sense. In the process, we became very proud and cynical of what we studied, and in those days, information was not so much accessible as it is today. Thus our experiences tended to be sheltered.

The funny thing about that is Bruce Lee in the 1960’s was telling everyone that “style” is a mental construct that divides people…that it is important to learn what is useful from all styles, to ultimately find your own expression.

He created his own system, Jeet Kune Do, which worked for him, but that became a style that his students packaged, marketed, and sold, and his point was lost.

I have a great deal of respect for my style of Kung Fu, and I do my best to honor my teachers and Grandmasters before me. But I try not to hold any pretenses about what I teach. My curriculum is based out of my experiences with just about every style and teacher I studied. I draw drills from Escrima, Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, Wing Chun, and Taekwondo.

But when I meet someone and we talk about martial arts, I don’t say that I am a Choy Lay Fut teacher. I don’t even say that I am a Kung Fu teacher. I tell them that I teach and practice martial arts. I am also always a student, and I bet that person has a perspective that is different from mine, that I could learn something from.

It is because of this way of being, I have an easy time connecting with other martial artists.

I have student who also has this way of being, and she has started a vlog on her training process on youtube. She is very humble, genuine, and sincere in her approach, and will continue to be this way even when she becomes a Black Belt.

While it is true martial arts teaches you to adapt to changing situations and unpredictable circumstances, you never start out learning that way.

In order to learn anything, there must be a sense of safety in the learning environment.

This seems like a no brainer, right? You’d be surprised. A lot of martial arts schools will give you some basic movements, a few sequences, and then tell you to go fight/spar someone to apply the learning.

That methodology may work for some, but sparring is what makes people quit the fastest.

It has been found that doing drills that are relevant to sparring are more effective. They start out choreographed. Then the next phase has a little bit of randomness to it, but within defined parameters. Once those two phases have been done enough times, you can move into full randomness in that particular drill.

It is building confidence through safety. It’s a 3 Stage process that works like a charm. Let me reiterate the steps:
1. Fully choreographed
2. Some LIMITED randomness with defined parameters in the choreography
3. Fully random

Taking this safe approach will build the confidence one needs to be able to take on more and more challenging situations. That is how martial artists develop the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and situations. It is actually a very logical, step-by-step process that anyone can do.

Are there some people who are just naturally better at it than others? Sure. But the methodology is such that regardless of your talent or level of experience, you will gain skills from it regardless.

Many times we hear especially for children that martial arts builds confidence. Is the confidence in the punching and kicking? Yes, that is indeed part of it, that is the empowerment aspect. But I believe the true confidence comes from the methodology of systematically learning physical skills step by step.

So here it is, the Karate Kid trailer! So much for the title being Kung-Fu Kid…cuz it sure looks a lot like Kung-Fu in this movie!

Get him a body bag, Johnny!

One of the beautiful aspects of how martial arts can develop skills in people is through its process of mini successes. As a child, I was always very energetic and very athletic. I had a lot of natural athletic abilities – I was quite strong for my size, I was very flexible, I had natural vertical and long jump abilities, and I was very quick.

But there was a problem. I was not a very competitive person. Also, I didn’t like playing sports. Mainly, it was due to the Darwinian nature of how sport games were conducted in physical education classes. You just got thrown in, and maybe you’ll figure it out, maybe you won’t. 

So I was always the last to be picked on teams for any team sport activities. I was yelled at by other team mates for fouling things up. Not exactly the best thing to help develop confidence and a greater sense of mind-body awareness. Interestingly enough, if we had any sort of relay drill, such as how fast we could sprint a distance, or dribble the ball back and forth, I’d always come out on top.

But the lack of pedagogy in Physical Education and group sporting activities drove me far away from any of it. Which in hindsight, is a big shame because if someone bothered to nurture my talents, I could have been a great athlete.

When I discovered the world of martial arts, it was such a revelation. A hierarchical structure for learning physical movements! An emphasis on developing foundations and pre-choreographed sequences before doing more advanced and free-forming activities! You can actually practice at home by yourself, and get better!

These incremental successes, the mini-achievements were extraordinarily effective in helping me develop confidence in my ability. I learn how to stand on one leg. Success! Then I learn how to do a kick. Success! Then, I learn how to kick while jumping. Success! Then I learn how to kick while spinning. Success! Then I learn how to kick while spinning AND jumping. Success!

With your mini successes, you then go for a big challenge, which is to pass a test to earn a colored belt, which requires putting together all your mini successes in one basket. Eventually, you go through this process and eventually become a Black Belt, which is the equivalent of earning a degree in academics.

In short, martial arts training is a very real physical education, where there indeed is a very specific pedagogy implemented. It is geared towards learning very specific material in a very specific way. And then, the knowledge is evaluated, to see if you are suited to learn more.

The mini successes that you experience in martial arts helps develop not only a proper foundation to support advanced techniques and concepts, but also gives you motivation, confidence, and a greater sense of self-awareness. So it undoubtedly affects both the mind and the body in the learning process.

With such a structured approach towards understanding and developing a sense of mastery over your physical movements, it’s no wonder more and more kids and adults are getting involved in martial arts classes all over the country!

One of the things I hear repeatedly from people who USED to do martial arts is that when they would train, they would go hardcore, and do full intensity, full contact, full body conditioning, etc, etc. And they end by saying, “When I do something, I want to do it all the way and commit, and not do anything less. Otherwise, I just don’t do it.”

To me, that is failing to understand what the true lesson of martial arts is. Martial arts training is about longevity. It is about preservation. It is about perseverance over the long term. It is about discipline.

Just as we typically think of a lazy person who lacks motivation to do any work as someone who has no discipline, the person who is a workaholic is also one who lacks discipline. They lack the discipline to stop themselves, switch gears, and round themselves out so they don’t burn out.

Martial arts training definitely requires commitment. But how do you commit to something without giving it “your all”?

It’s called moderation. There are a few  sayings about moderation:

-Everything in moderation
-Moderation is the key to longevity
-There is such thing as too much of a good thing

It’s all part of the way things work naturally in just about everything. Fast and intense beginnings tend to have very quick endings.

In my view, that is not success in martial arts. Success means you are with it for a long time. Maybe even the rest of your life.

Compare these two people:

The person who has a fast and furious career, where they trained intensely, advanced quickly through ranks, competed in all sorts of events, and year after year gained a lot of notoriety, eventually comes to a point where they stop it all together.

vs.

The person who came to class twice a week, took a long time to earn ranks, never won any trophies or received much public notoriety, never really competed, but does it to a ripe old age.

The second person is the one who never quit. They were committed, but, they were moderate. Martial arts has become part of their weekly routine for life.

THAT IS HOW YOU SUCCEED IN MARTIAL ARTS.

They pace themselves. They don’t get overly enthusiastic or overly ambitious. They don’t lack those things, but they moderate it.

They may not be the most physically talented with all the executions all the time, but they can do everything technically correctly. These are the people who pass on the art to others. They never quit. They never burn out. Martial arts is their routine for life – they have committed 100% to it, and they stay with it all they way because they moderated their involvement with it.

Indeed commitment requires a great deal of self-evaluation. As well, moderation also requires a fantastic amount of self-evaluation.

Incidentally, the concept of moderation is not very widely promoted in American culture. Our society values hard work, so by default, the idea of the harder you work, the more you will be rewarded.  This concept is not necessarily mutually exclusive with the concept of moderation, but when moderation is not discussed, then anything short of all-out, full intensity can be viewed as being lazy.

We see many images in the media of the person who is rewarded for “going full tilt”, but not very many images of people who exercise moderation.

Finding the right balance of commitment and moderation is the key towards understanding the true path of martial arts.

And, it starts with the teacher.

It is very important for a martial arts teacher to help the students process intellectually what they are learning. This is mainly and traditionally done through debriefing.

Sometimes, in martial arts classes, you engage in exercises that may be very challenging, that may have you outside of your comfort zone, and/or may have you feeling frustrated.

These are not uncommon emotions to experience in martial arts training once in awhile.

The instructor must take that extra effort to help mentally process this. It is important for the teacher to re-iterate the purpose of the exercises, acknowledge the common roadblocks to the exercises, and say a few encouraging words to keep up the motivation. In fact, it’s not a bad idea for instructors to keep a log of motivation quotes.

One of the quotes I may be using in the future, as our training regimen will have some new challenges, is that “most things worth having don’t come easily.”

Contact can be one of the scariest parts about martial arts training. It is up to the instructor to really train and prepare the students to deal with contact in a progressive manner.

1. First prepare the student to deal psychologically with something coming at them. To stay relaxed and not freak out.

2. Second, prepare the student on how to get hit, to have the courage to not be demoralized if something makes contact with you.

3. Third, teach the student how to counter back with spirit, but not emotion, and in a controlled fashion.

Going through this process is very valuable and is a life learning lesson. If you can relax when you are being attacked, if you can mentally and physically take a few attacks, and also be able to counter back, there’s nothing in this world that can hold you back.

Indeed, losing the fear of losing is completely and totally the art of victory.

A good martial arts instructor needs to be able to properly explain this and help the students through this process.

Sometimes I find myself when I’m working on day to day tasks that it helps my mind when I take a break and practice martial arts for a few minutes, and then get back into it. It really helps break the monotony, and sends my mind and energy in a totally new direction. This, in turn, helps me improve my focus on the tasks I have on hand.

I’ve heard some of my students actually practicing their Kung Fu techniques at work, when no one’s watching, or if they have downtime and some privacy.

When practicing martial arts becomes its own reward, you have just reached a new level of your relationship with martial arts. You are finding peace in your practice.

Just like with any discipline, practicing can seem tedious, boring, undesirable, because we would rather have quick results.  Often times, having a physical goal to achieve, such as earning a belt or getting ready for a demonstration or competition is the impetus for practicing without being told to.

But when you come to the place of just practicing because it feels good to practice, that practicing is fun and its own reward, you have started understanding martial arts in a way very few people understand. You have made an intimate connection with it, where the reward is completely intrinsic. This is where you are no longer separated from martial arts, it is literally a part of you, a part of your essence.

It takes most people a while to arrive to this place. It takes a series of tangible accomplishments and achieved goals. So people are indeed nurtured towards this path. If they are of the few who actually get to this point, chances are, they have a life long relationship with their martial arts practice.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run through a form!