As a young and inexperienced Martial Artist, I had completely relied on my dojo and instructors for my development.  After several years of training and developing my Martial Arts skills, there are things that I wish my former self had known.  It would have made all the difference in how quickly I could progress and maximise my Martial Arts education.  These are elements that I feel every serious Martial Artist needs to keep in mind so that they can truly reach the highest levels in the skills they acquire.

Stress, depression, PTSD … These are just a few issues plaguing our minds and that of our friends and family.  These issues don’t discriminate, and it would have impacted all of us in one way or another at some point in our lives.  Many of us fight daily battles.  I can attest to this.  I find myself at odds with myself every day, struggling with confidence and feeling insecure in my ability to deliver high-quality outcomes in my high-paced and stressful career.  Moreover, I carry the trauma of suddenly losing my child only months after having him.  He is in my thoughts constantly and the adage that time heals everything doesn’t seem to hold to true in this case.

As a Martial Artist, one of the most daunting and difficult elements of training is sparring or fighting.  It spurs on feelings of anxiety and excitement at the same time.  The dangers are real, and a mistimed or misplaced strike can lead to injury.  Yet, it is for the reason of developing our fighting abilities that we train Martial Arts and not cross-fit or weightlifting.  We want to prepare ourselves for the possible dangers that may arise and an integral part of this is to learn how to fight and train for these types of situations.

An effective Martial Artist is one that is technical, strong, fit, flexible and possesses the mental fortitude and confidence to overcome difficult situations.  These are a diverse array of attributes that require targeted training approaches to develop them.  How can you make sure that your Martial Arts training covers all these aspects?  How do you know if your technique is effective?  Is your mind tough enough to get you over your next hurdle?  Well, you will never know unless you are incorporating all these components into your training.  Each one needs to be trained deliberately and with specific goals in mind.