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.