Research shows that people who train martial arts are more alert and focused than those who have never trained before. It also shows that the longer a person has trained, the more enhanced his or her cognition becomes.

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But you need to have an insatiable desire to continually improve your skills.

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Martial arts require a person to continue to practice and improve upon their skills. For some, once they’ve earned their black belt, they figure that their ultimate goal has been achieved and that there’s nothing left for them to learn.

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This is just not the case. All professionals are constantly learning new skills and improving their techniques. Martial arts professionals are no different.

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The myths that surround the martial arts are not exclusive to one system. Common to all myths, it depends on a person’s level of ignorance about the subject as to whether that person believes — or worse, spreads — those myths.

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There will always be a minority who will dogmatically stick to the karate they experienced in a given time period. “My sensei says (insert dogma), so it must be true and I will not change my mind”. One problem which constantly crops up is that often students have an idealized image of a sensei. Once a student gives his, or her loyalty to an instructor it may become blind obedience and belief.

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The sensei’s role was to create situations so that the student learned by experience; he was not expected to explain the intricate details of every technique. Training was a thing of the heart, not of the mind.

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Of course you must believe in your sensei, but at the same time you must never surrender the right to think for yourself. Western society stresses the rights of the individual and all karate students and instructors must be aware of that fact.

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Karate can only express itself though the karateka that practice it. The current generation of karateka contain many who are thoughtful, open-minded, pragmatic and enthusiastic. This in turn manifests a karate that has a deep and true tradition, is open to new ideas, appreciates the value of self-examination and is functional. Of course there are those who remain stuck in the doctrines of others.

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So continue to develop each technique, so that you can instinctively perform it with absolute competence. Once you have this instinctive ability, your mind is free to start focusing on the deeper layers of karate, the applications, the self-defense strategies and the principles behind them.

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Challenge yourself; go farther than you think you can go. ??

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Photo Credit: The Martial Arts Muse & Patrick McCarthy Hanshi Koryu Uchinadi.