Tang Soo Do classes help students by challenging them both mentally and physically. A sharp mental edge helps you endure the strenuous demands of training and sticking to your goals. Here are some tips to get in the right frame of mind:
Visualization: Once you learn a new movement, imagine yourself performing it perfectly. Make sure you sit quietly and concentrate on the entire sequence of the move as you were really doing the movement. This stimulates your thought patterns which enhance your perception of the movement. Also, visualization helps you master skills and improves your perception.
Relaxation: First, sit or lie in a comfortable position, then consciously tense and relax your foot muscles. Continue this technique by doing your legs and continue throughout your body. When you become adept at this try and relax each part of your body without tensing up first. This exercise improves the communication between the nervous system and the muscles. Also, relaxation helps you obtain discipline and patience.
Meditation: Begin by sitting in a relaxed and upright position. Then, with your eyes closed take deep, but natural breaths. Your mind should be clear and flow freely, do not force yourself to focus on anything in a particular move to another thought. Start by concentrating on the count of your breathing. Breath in for a count of four; hold your breath for a count of four, and exhale for a count of four. Do not use your chest and shoulders to breath. Instead, work your stomach muscles. As time goes on you can increase the sequence to six seconds. Meditation will help you increase your mental endurance.
Whether we are talking about martial arts classes, study habits, starting a club or school, or work, you will always succeed at a higher level if you develop the habit of giving your best effort. Nobody achieves greatness by being lazy or giving a half-hearted effort. If you study champions’ training in any sport and or business, you will see them putting in hours of dedicated practice and giving their best effort to get better. The best use state management to help them succeed at an extraordinary level. I call it energetic determination—the ability to put your focus on one thing and stick with it until you achieve maximum success.
When you give your best effort and consistently push to exceed your previous best, you will get better, and you will improve. With time and training, you will excel. When you push yourself to your current best and then strive for 10% improvement or better, you will constantly raise the bar on your personal best. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is one word, “extra”!
You will take yourself to new levels of excellence if you decide in advance to give extra effort and exceptional service. The opposite is also true: if you get in the habit of giving a minimal effort and accept less than your best, this can also become a habit. If you are not careful, before you know it, your minimum will become your maximum. Ultimately, your life will become ordinary or even less. For peak performers and champions, this a place they avoid like the plague.
Look at everything you do, on and off the mat, think about how you can give your best effort and do it better. What could you do differently today to take it to a whole new level? Ask yourself, “How can I be exceptional today?” What can you do to pick up the pace to improve your skills and conditioning in the training hall? At work or school, what could you do to exceed expected and provide extraordinary service? At work, can you arrive a little earlier, stay later, improve your effort and increase your overall contribution? At home, could you help more with chores and or take the initiative to improve things?
Remember, Habits we Train are Habits we Gain!
Have you ever lost control of your emotions and done something, said something or acted in a way you later regretted? The answer for almost everyone would be “Yes!” Anger brings out a very negative and ugly side of just about everyone. Most people agree that positive emotions and attitudes are far more productive than negative emotions.
Anger is your enemy because it can cause serious damage. It can cause serious damage to your relationships, to your own health and wellbeing, to your overall happiness and joy in life. It can also do serious damage to your professional image and appearance because it is ugly! You must not allow this dangerous negative emotion to take control. Avoidance, prevention and preparation are always the best defense against any powerful and dangerous enemy. Whenever possible, avoid the people, situations and things that make you angry and negative.
You can minimize or eliminate almost any negative emotion from your life, by laughing more, keeping a good sense of humor and focusing on your positive emotions. Smile more, laugh more, keep yourself healthy and be physically active every day. Focus on happy thoughts, listen to great music, think about all the things that make you feel good and bring joy to your life. Hit a heavy bag, do some pad training or go for run to clear your head and rid yourself of any stress and tension from your day. Do as many positive things as possible that bring out your best emotional side. It’s rare that you will be angry and negative when you are feeling great about yourself and your mind is filled with happy thoughts.
Magnify the positive, shrink the negative! Learn to spot your emotional patterns, positive and negative. Train yourself to focus on your positive emotions and try to magnify them. The ultimate level of emotional mastery is when you choose in advance the emotions that best serve you and others, no matter what obstacles you encounter. Anger is your enemy! It’s an enemy that can be defeated, provided you stay strong and condition yourself daily to score a victory over this dangerous opponent.
As the year draws to an end, it is a good time to reflect on all of our accomplishments and personal victories. We have had many this year and it is in no small part due to all our collective efforts:
- We welcomed 9 new students and 1 transfer student
- We welcomed 7 new Cho-Dans into the Black Belt family
- We promoted 6 students to a new Dan rank
I am very grateful for everybody’s contribution and support in these extraordinary times. As a TEAM, we were able to accomplish some great things. The old saying (TEAM), “together, everyone achieves more”, is surely true in this case. I look forward to more of the same in 2021.