Martial Arts teaches the balance of being Goal Oriented and Process Oriented
Martial arts and Kung Fu training methodologies require both types of work ethos, Goal directed engagement and Process directed engagement.
This is a tricky balance, but a necessary balance. Too much of one or the other tends to result in not-doing. By that I mean if you are exclusively goal oriented, then after you meet all the goals you set up, a very common tendency is to stop. For example, after someone gets their Black Belt, it is not uncommon for that person to stop their training.
On the other end, if there are no goals set in place, and it is exclusively about being in the moment, enjoying the journey, finding peace in the practice, then there's not a lot of structured discipline to keep the focus. It is not uncommon for this way of thinking to abruptly stop the training, then restarting, then stopping again. There is a much less sense of commitment.
A good martial arts school will guide the students towards achieving goals, but also that the training is a lifelong endeavor that becomes a routine part of one's weekly activities.
So while you are training for your Black Belt, you are also finding peace in your practice.
Kung Fu and Martial Arts classes can be a child's first exposure to leadership
In many kid-friendly Kung-Fu and martial arts schools, there is a structure in place to teach kids about being leaders.
Once a child has learned a set of techniques, or a particular routine, many times, that child will be asked to come to the front of the room and lead the entire class through the movements, calling out the names.
This can be very powerful for the kids, especially if the instructor nurtures that, and gives the appropriate encouragement, feedback, and guidance.
In my classes, when it gets closer to testing time, I ask each student to lead us through something. And even if they don't remember everything, I'll help them a little and prompt them. I want them to know that I will throw them a "life preserver" when they are first doing this.
Public speaking has been said to be one of the top fears people have - some have concluded that it even surpases the fear of death! This is why I want all of my kids to have the experience to get up in front of people and lead them through something they have confidence in. Even if they might not love doing it, that experience will hopefully carry through their lives, and can be something they reflect back on (in a positive way) when they are older, should a need arise to address a group of people.
For those kids who love being in front of others and leading, there is even a leadership training program in place, where they are taught what to say, how to say things in ways for people to best understand, and how to motivate and encourage, and give constructive feedback.
One of the reasons some organizations fail is because of lack of good leadership. Teaching kids about leadership at a young age will hopefully be setting a foundation for potentially developing good leaders for the future.
Good leadership is not necessarily academically hard, but as far as executing its principles successfully, it requires repeated practice and experience - just like martial arts training. Kids tend to be sponges for new experiences and knowledge. For them to develop a leadership schema at a young age, will likely result in a more successful execution of leadership principles and strategies when they are older.
It is also important for parents to recognize the importance of developing leadership skills and support their kids attaining them, as those attributes and qualities are taken into consideration for school admissions and employment.
Martial arts teaches you to adapt to changing situations
Martial arts is the art of adaptation.
The only constant in life is change. Things are always changing. Martial arts is in my opinion the best tool to train you to deal effectively with changing situations because the art itself adapts to its practitioners.
What I mean by this is that if you look at the reasons people get involved with martial arts, they are incredibly diverse. Let's list some of them out:
-Some folks want to know how to defend themselves.
-Some folks want a physical activity that keeps them in shape in a unboring way.
-Some folks want the discipline aspect of it.
-Some folks want the cultural aesthetics aspect of it.
-Some folks want to feel a general sense of empowerment from it.
-Some folks want to compete with it.
-Some folks want the group atmosphere's social aspects of it.
-Some folks want it for introspective-philosophical reasons.
-Some folks want to perform with it.
-Some folks want to emulate what/who they see and are inspired by media figures who do it.
-Some folks cross train with it to enhance another physical activity.
-Some folks want it as a way to heal themselves physically from an injury in another endeavor.
-Some folks want it to release stress.
-Some folks want it as an activity the whole family can do together.
-Some folks do it because they want to earn that black belt.
-Some need it to calm down and develop focus.
-Some need it to get more energy and confidence.
The list goes on and on. It is rare to find one activity that can adapt itself to meet all of these differing needs. The diversity of needs that martial arts can meet is reflective of the training you will get to be able to handle the diversity of situations and circumstances that come your way.
I've gotten to a point where I can relate martial arts to just about anything. Because anything that is in motion requires energy. Martial arts is a lens to view that energy.
Kung Fu Games - it's not just for kids!
While many martial arts schools focuses their more playful activities for children, it doesn't necessarily need to stay exclusively in the kids' classes. It can find a very relevant place in adults kung fu classes!
I found something very interesting over this summer. I started learning about games for kids in martial arts classes, and started incorporating them in, and found that they added tremendous value to my kids kung fu classes.
When I decided that I would do kids martial arts summer camp for four weeks, I realized that I would be with kids for 4 hours every day, which is much longer than a typical class that meets 2-3 times a week. So, I had to get more games, and found myself creating my own games. I tend to have a creative mind, so when the time came, I created many, many games!
I was very much in "game mode" this past summer. So, just for fun, in my adults kung fu classes at the very end, I thought I'd have the adults play some of these. Everyone was loving it, and smiling and laughing and having a good time. And, they were using either kung fu techniques or a physical skill set that kung fu training has sharpened in the game.
So as summer camp was winding down, I became less games oriented. For the adults kung fu classes, I did it sporadically and not in every class, and then the eventually stopped.
Until one day, one of my adult kung fu students came up to me and told me that a number of them had been talking and really would love to bring back the games in the classes. They told me that they really enjoyed it, it was a nice way to end the class, and as adults, there's not many opportunities to play with each other. It's just not emphasized or promoted in our society, typically, that adults should spend some time playing fun physical games with each other.
So I have now incorporated a brief 5 minute game time at the end of all our adults kung fu classes. Everybody has been enjoying it, and it keeps me challenged to find new games to keep it stimulating.
Most of the adults that come to martial arts classes generally come for stress relief and what I've found are basically three forms of stress release:
1. The physical part of martial arts training provides for physical stress relief
2. The curricular part of martial arts of learning something new provides for mental stress relief - it provides an escape from the worries of the "outside world" by focusing on the class content, and can become the source of introspection.
3. The games part of martial arts classes provides an emotional stress relief, where you have time to play.
So the bottom line to all this is:
RECESS - IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS!
Here is a video of two people from our adults kung fu classes playing a game we call Kung Fu Tether!
Kung Fu is an Art - a creative art that can make artists out of kids and families
Anyone can become an artist with Kung Fu. It is one of the most visceral ways of exercising the artistic side of your brain after some fundamentals have been set.
One of my students asked me the other day, "When do you find the time to practice and do your workouts to keep in shape?" That was a really interesting question that made me think for a second.
I don't really "practice" and I don't really "workout". I create. Sometimes, I rehearse. You see, I treat my martial arts literally as an art. Not too different from playing a musical instrument. I also play the bass guitar.
I'll use my process with the bass guitar as an analogy. I've been playing bass guitar for 20 years. I don't really "practice" the bass anymore. I make songs. I jam and improvise. I look for new ways of producing sounds from it. The only time I "practice" is if I have to rehearse for a performance.
That is exactly how I approach martial arts. I have been doing martial arts for over 22 years. I don't really practice a lot. I create combinations and routines. I improvise. I look for new ways of expressing and arranging the foundations. The only time I really "practice" is if I have to rehearse for a performance. Otherwise, it is very much free forming and creating.
In my opinion, the creative side of martial arts is not as emphasized as it could be. There are many explanations as to why this might be the case, but I'll save that for another post.
But the bottom line to this is once you have the foundations set in place, martial arts should be your own expression. Sometimes, that is hard, because it is easy and we get used to being told what to do and how to do it by our teachers, coaches, and mentors. So guiding someone down the path of the artist part of martial arts is nuanced and tricky.
But when you're there, it never leaves you. It is fantastic for kids to get right brained about physical activity like this, as it is not something very often taught or encouraged. It is great for adults to get right brained about creativity like this, because it is very logic based and very visual with instant feedback.
This is why the martial arts is a never ending journey. After you learn foundations, you then create.