Tag: Martial Arts Inspired

It’s Never Just About Us

Published on January 19, 2025

Some of my martial arts students celebrated one of the biggest accomplishments in their lives today by achieving their black belt or higher degree.

And at the end of it all… when it was all said and done… every single graduate who I saw was looking to celebrate their big moment with family, friends, and loved ones.

Not a single graduate (who I saw) got their belt, patted their own back, and just left without any kind of exchange.

This should tell us something about our journeys… it’s never just about us.

Our biggest accomplishments feel empty without having someone to share them with… all of our growth is for nothing if nobody is there to feel the impact of it… and when you boil it all down… nothing we ever accomplish in life is done so alone.

Create space on your journey for others to join in. Keep loved ones looped into your journey and connect with them on both your high points and low points. And always try to balance growth with contribution and gratitude.

This is how the great accomplishments of our lives are made great—by the great people we’re surrounded with, supported by, and able to share our greatest moments with.

What To Do In The Calm Before The Storm

Published on January 17, 2025

Tomorrow there’s a black belt and higher degree test for almost 50 of my martial arts students.

Tonight, we had one final open workout.

At the end, I gathered them together and gave them three simple pieces of advice:

1. Drink lots of water. Hard physical performances are made proportionally harder based on how dehydrated our body is. And hydration doesn’t happen 20 minutes before a really hard physical performance… it happens 20 hours before.

2. Don’t forget electrolytes. Many of the students will be fasting prior to the test so this reminder is key. Without electrolytes our muscles won’t function properly and can oftentimes lead to cramps, spasms, less fine motor control, and general fatigue or dizziness. Electrolytes are the key to strong performances and can be consumed in a capsule.

3. Get as much rest as you can. The day before the test is not the day for hard practice. It’s the day to trust in your hard practice. It’s the day to take your mind off of the hard practice. It’s the day to appreciate all of the hard practice you’ve done and just allow your body to… soften.

…In the calm before the storm, we need to learn how to allow ourselves to be calm.

…So that when the storm comes, we can RAGE and give it our undeniable all.

I Was Being Selfish

Published on December 9, 2024

There’s a major martial arts tournament happening this upcoming weekend in Toronto, Canada.

And one of the biggest draws for this tournament is that they’re offering around 15-20 full one hour seminars with the best of the best in the sports martial arts world—that are all FREE for competitors.

Recognizing the unbelievable value in this, I immediately started to make plans where I could go for the seminars and have my instructors cover for me (teaching classes at our martial arts school), and then come back to run the school and cover for them while they went down to compete.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized… I was being selfish.

I wanted to go to the seminars so that I could come back and teach them all that I learned—and be the bearer of knowledge.

When really, I should be taking myself out as the middle man and allowing them to go and get the information first hand. They’re the ones who are competing and they’re the ones who are on the “come up” part of their journey.

I’ve had my time to compete in these tournaments and attend these types of seminars. It’s time for me to check my ego and humbly step aside so they can experience what I fell in love with first hand.

And besides, even if I retaught every seminar verbatim when I got back, it still wouldn’t be anything like the original experience. First hand learning will always blow second hand learning out of the water.

…And if I (we) really cared about our team’s growth, we’d be willing to make some sacrifices to prove it.

Embracers of Challenge and Masters of Perspective

Published on November 19, 2024

When I write about “embracers of challenge and masters of perspective,” here’s what I mean:

One of my teenage students was telling me about how she fell down in the middle of her martial arts weapon performance. It was a form she decided to make more difficult the week of the tournament and yet, even though she fell and felt “so embarrassed,” she also said she was so glad she did it and can’t wait to own it at the next one.

A group of my adult students were telling me about how they all—maybe five or six of them—forgot the memorization of their traditional weapon form. All of them. Blanked. And yet, this is the email I got from one of them: “Our group of competitors learned a lot of humility when attempting and failing our weapon forms. We all knew we didn’t do it correctly and immediately cheered on our competitors to not quit. We all finished and were able to laugh at ourselves and cheer each other on for our next tournament. This group of competitors is just so amazing. We all strive for nothing but our best but do not break each other down. Love this family!!!!”

Another one of my adult students (48 years old), decided to compete in her first ever tournament. She’s a mother of two, a wife, has been training for 2+ years and simply hadn’t pulled the trigger to do one. And when I asked what her ideal outcome would be she said, “just getting through it—place isn’t important, getting this first one under my belt is the real victory.” …And I couldn’t agree more.

Competition Success vs Life Success

Published on November 18, 2024

Competitions aren’t designed to build confidence, they’re designed to challenge competitors.

When I think about confidence, I think about success remembered. Remembering a time (or many times) when I successfully did the thing I’m about to do—that I’m scared to do—is about as reassuring as it gets… because it’s tangible, evidence-based proof.

And when I think about traditional settings of competition, where there’s one first place winner and a group of three or more competitors, more competitors will end up losing than winning. And “losing” isn’t the foundation that confidence is built upon.

But—and this is a BIG but—losses learned from IS the foundation that life success is built upon.

As I mentioned in the beginning, competitions are designed to challenge the competitor. And what is life but a disproportionate amount of challenge compared to ease? And what makes challenges so challenging…? The fact that we keep losing when we’re trying to win!

See, when we learn how to manage the “losses” appropriately… when we learn to contextualize what’s really happening when we compete (is it really about the first place trophy?)… when we learn to roll with the punches, extract the lessons, and return to our practice with fresh insights—better insights than we had before…

How could we ever really lose?

Demanding competition success isn’t helping with life success—especially if it’s removing the challenge from the experience. Teaching competitors how to become embracers of challenge and masters of perspective… now that is a foundation that will set them up for life.

The Opposite of Human

Published on November 17, 2024

I’ve competed in hundreds of martial arts tournaments throughout my life.

And while the goal was always to perform my routine perfectly… or fight my fights flawlessly… or do my demos without even the faintest of mistakes… I can’t think of a single time when I actually did any of that.

What I do remember are highlight moments when I nailed a really hard move or scored a picture perfect point… but most of all… I remember the feelings…

I remember the intensity of the nerves… the shakiness of my legs… the feeling of being in a foreign body that felt nothing like it did in practice…

And I remember the intensity of the highs when I triumphed… the sense of accomplishment when I’d finish a long day of competition… the feelings of pride and dignity when I was recognized by others as having done well.

And I think to myself about how many potent life experiences I would’ve missed out on if I waited to compete until I felt perfectly ready… or if after my first few experiences of not having flawless performances—I gave up…

The reality is this: perfect is the opposite of human.

And if you feel like you’re living a lackluster existence… like you’re missing depth in your life… like the days feel more gray than colorful…

Then maybe you should question what kind of role perfection plays in your life. Because as tough as it might sound… embracing imperfect action is the path that’ll lead you the other way.

P.s. ICYMI, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week here.

Clawing Tooth And Nail For Status

Published on November 15, 2024

When most people hear tournament, they think competition… they think going up against others to score some kind of win or victory… they think comparison opportunity.

This past weekend, while hosting a martial arts tournament, I was thoroughly impressed with one of the visiting masters who brought an entirely different kind of energy to the event.

Rather than a, “let’s see how many of their students we can beat…” kind of energy, what he brought was a “let’s show appreciation to those who are helping promote the spread of traditional martial arts…” kind of energy.

And he showed up, not with an intention of taking as many of our trophies as possible, but with official certificates of appreciation that they honored several of our staff with.

…What he brought was honor and dignity to our event. More than was there before.

And in a world where so many people are focused exclusively on social hierarchies and clawing tooth and nail to improve their status… this was exactly the kind of breath of fresh air I—most probably we—needed.

Inner Work Prompt: Rather than focus on how you might be better than others or how they might be worse… how can you bring honor and dignity to those around you instead?