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!