Here's the latest Newsletter, for those that haven't read it.
QUOTE
In This Issue
> Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
> The A, A’s of Karate
> Your Best Kata Starts In The Mind
Have you ever completed a class where you felt like you didn’t perform at your
peak? Perhaps even where you have gone a few classes, or few months, where you perform below your expectations?
It’s often the case of poor preparation. When we are prepared properly we set our selves up to succeed. The same can be said that if we don’tprepare, we are subconsciously setting ourselves up for failure.
Preparation starts in the 24 hours prior to class and the better you prepare
the more likely you are to have a awesome class. Possibly the most important aspect in the lead up to class is being hydrated, ie, drinking plenty of water - at least two litres.
I think of water as petrol, if your car has little or no petrol, you’re not going to get far. It’s the same with your body and water, without enough water in your system, your body will soon become dehydrated and your muscles will feel weak and lethargic.
Some of us like to train on a full stomach while others prefer to eat after
training. You’re the only one who will know which you are. Bananas are a
great snack to have before class as they have lots of energy that will keep
you going through your training.
Next on my list is to feel good. I find that if you look good you
generally will feel confident and ready to perform well. Make sure your gi
is in good condition, it also makes a big difference if you put the iron
over it also. Putting you hair back or sticking some product in will not
only keep it out of your eyes but make you stand out of the crowd and feel
great. When you think of the top people at tournaments, they always look
sharp, why not bring that back to your dojo?
I have found that listening to some upbeat music in the car on the way to
class putts me in the right mood for training. You can take a chance on hearing a good tune on the radio, however this takes it out of your control. What you could do is make cd with your top 5 or 6 motivating songs and make that your Karate training cd. Or put them on your MP3 player and listen while warming up also.
Once at class don’t stand around gossiping (keep that for after class), start warming-up by doing some skipping, push ups or kata. A good quote to
remember is “Motion Creates Emotion”
By following this preparation I’m sure you will have less of the training
sessions you would rather forget.
We all strive for perfection. We all strive to be the best. But what really makes us good?
The A, A that I am going to talk about stands for ‘Ability and Attitude’.
We all enter the dojo as students with a willingness to train and give our all. These are attitudes we must maintain throughout our training. Sometimes these attitudes can be hard to sustain as we may have had a bad day prior to entering the dojo, but we should never take any personal attitudes into the ‘sacred ground’.
We all have different abilities; we may be strong in one area yet weak in another. As Kancho says, “Your greatest strength comes from your greatest weakness”. We must realise our weaknesses and do whatever it takes to change them in order to become our best. This could come under attitude or ability. You can have a person with good ability and bad attitude, or vice versa, or even both.
It’s no good standing in line in long forward stance and the instructor explains to push forward on the front knee and you stand there and change nothing. This isn’t ability this is attitude. It would be like wanting to catch a bus and waiting on a derelict road, thinking that if you wait there long enough a bus will come by, when all the time you know there is no bus stop there!
Turning up to train every week and working up a great sweat does not necessarily equal progression,
In order for our karate to grow we must make the necessary changes whether it be towards our attitude or our ability. Imagine where the butterfly would be if the caterpillar never changed.
The ability side of this is in all of us, two guaranteed ways of improving your ability are:
1. Be at class
2. Do everything your instructor asks of you.
After all every instructor wants every student to be great. An instructor will not ask a student to do something that firstly they cant do (this would be a bad attitude) and secondly that isn’t beneficial to the improvement of their ability.
Remember the person teaching you has been in your position and has probably gone through the same challenges with their karate. You have the advantage of their experiences and learning from their mistakes.
To summarise, when you enter the dojo check the attitude at the door and be prepared to change as many abilities as physically possible.
Which do you choose, caterpillar or butterfly?
Enjoy your metamorphosis.
Ask a karate-ka what they find to be the most nerve-racking part of karate training, and most will respond back with ‘performing kata in front of others’.
Negative Triggers
Most hate performing kata in front of others for two reasons. Firstly, whether it be at a grading, a tournament, or even in front of the rest of the class, nothing brings on the nerves like having to get out in front of the ‘judgemental’ eyes of others. Secondly, we never seem to perform to our usual level as our nerves cause us to rush and miss the detail in technique.
So why does this happen?
Its not complicated, when performing in front of others we focus on our fears; fear of looking slow (so we rush), fear of looking inept (so we rush), fear of having bad stances (so we rush).
What we don’t realise is that the idea of getting out in front of others ‘triggers’ a negative response in our mind and as a result – we get a negative response from our body.
The two most common errors people make when they perform solo kata are: The rush, and they are too stiff. If only they took their time and relaxed, and the kata would be twice as good.
Switching to Positive Triggers
Our mind is working automatically 24/7. The subconscious mind-response for public kata is negative. So if we are to perform kata at our best, we must ‘consciously’ switch our mind-response to a positive.
To do this, EVERY SINGLE TIME you bow into a kata, while bowing slowly, say three things to yourself. These three things will be quick coaching tips that will help switch your mind to a more positive strategy.
Considering the two primary errors of solo kata are rushing and being too stiff, make the first two tips you say to yourself, “Relax” and “Take your time”. Saying this will act as a reminder and help you perform at your best. The third can be something more applicable to you and your kata habits. Some examples could be: “Flow” “Breathe”, “Explode of the mark”, “Stances”, “Enjoy it!” etc.
Kata Is As Much Mental As It Is Physical
Of course you can use all of these, but you don’t want to take 5 minutes to bow while you coach yourself. Three quick tips will be enough to do the trick, but the key is to do it every single time you bow in…this way it becomes habit.
Try it and see just how much of a positive effect it has on your solo performances.
GIGO is a computer phrase meaning ‘Garbage In, Garbage out’. Our kata is no different. If we throw a pile of mental garbage into our mind (negative thoughts), then we can only expect garbage to come out (negative techniques).
And this is the very problem that most karate-ka face with their kata. They may blame a lack of coordination, their age, weight, sporting past etc, but the single biggest problem with most karate-ka is their mind.
Negative thoughts fill their mind throughout their kata, “That stance was hopeless”, “Your too slow”, “This is not my best kata”
So how do we turn this around?
Simple; if subconscious thoughts throughout kata are negative, then we must replace them with consistent positive coaching.
This takes practise. You might find you start coaching yourself, “Take your time…pause here…lets get into a nice sumo here…now explode!…” etc but soon find those regular negative thoughts start trying to take over again. If they do, simply “shush” them and get back to positive coaching.
Try it and watch the difference it makes in your solo kata.
> Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
> The A, A’s of Karate
> Your Best Kata Starts In The Mind
Have you ever completed a class where you felt like you didn’t perform at your
peak? Perhaps even where you have gone a few classes, or few months, where you perform below your expectations?
It’s often the case of poor preparation. When we are prepared properly we set our selves up to succeed. The same can be said that if we don’tprepare, we are subconsciously setting ourselves up for failure.
Preparation starts in the 24 hours prior to class and the better you prepare
the more likely you are to have a awesome class. Possibly the most important aspect in the lead up to class is being hydrated, ie, drinking plenty of water - at least two litres.
I think of water as petrol, if your car has little or no petrol, you’re not going to get far. It’s the same with your body and water, without enough water in your system, your body will soon become dehydrated and your muscles will feel weak and lethargic.
Some of us like to train on a full stomach while others prefer to eat after
training. You’re the only one who will know which you are. Bananas are a
great snack to have before class as they have lots of energy that will keep
you going through your training.
Next on my list is to feel good. I find that if you look good you
generally will feel confident and ready to perform well. Make sure your gi
is in good condition, it also makes a big difference if you put the iron
over it also. Putting you hair back or sticking some product in will not
only keep it out of your eyes but make you stand out of the crowd and feel
great. When you think of the top people at tournaments, they always look
sharp, why not bring that back to your dojo?
I have found that listening to some upbeat music in the car on the way to
class putts me in the right mood for training. You can take a chance on hearing a good tune on the radio, however this takes it out of your control. What you could do is make cd with your top 5 or 6 motivating songs and make that your Karate training cd. Or put them on your MP3 player and listen while warming up also.
Once at class don’t stand around gossiping (keep that for after class), start warming-up by doing some skipping, push ups or kata. A good quote to
remember is “Motion Creates Emotion”
By following this preparation I’m sure you will have less of the training
sessions you would rather forget.
We all strive for perfection. We all strive to be the best. But what really makes us good?
The A, A that I am going to talk about stands for ‘Ability and Attitude’.
We all enter the dojo as students with a willingness to train and give our all. These are attitudes we must maintain throughout our training. Sometimes these attitudes can be hard to sustain as we may have had a bad day prior to entering the dojo, but we should never take any personal attitudes into the ‘sacred ground’.
We all have different abilities; we may be strong in one area yet weak in another. As Kancho says, “Your greatest strength comes from your greatest weakness”. We must realise our weaknesses and do whatever it takes to change them in order to become our best. This could come under attitude or ability. You can have a person with good ability and bad attitude, or vice versa, or even both.
It’s no good standing in line in long forward stance and the instructor explains to push forward on the front knee and you stand there and change nothing. This isn’t ability this is attitude. It would be like wanting to catch a bus and waiting on a derelict road, thinking that if you wait there long enough a bus will come by, when all the time you know there is no bus stop there!
Turning up to train every week and working up a great sweat does not necessarily equal progression,
In order for our karate to grow we must make the necessary changes whether it be towards our attitude or our ability. Imagine where the butterfly would be if the caterpillar never changed.
The ability side of this is in all of us, two guaranteed ways of improving your ability are:
1. Be at class
2. Do everything your instructor asks of you.
After all every instructor wants every student to be great. An instructor will not ask a student to do something that firstly they cant do (this would be a bad attitude) and secondly that isn’t beneficial to the improvement of their ability.
Remember the person teaching you has been in your position and has probably gone through the same challenges with their karate. You have the advantage of their experiences and learning from their mistakes.
To summarise, when you enter the dojo check the attitude at the door and be prepared to change as many abilities as physically possible.
Which do you choose, caterpillar or butterfly?
Enjoy your metamorphosis.
Ask a karate-ka what they find to be the most nerve-racking part of karate training, and most will respond back with ‘performing kata in front of others’.
Negative Triggers
Most hate performing kata in front of others for two reasons. Firstly, whether it be at a grading, a tournament, or even in front of the rest of the class, nothing brings on the nerves like having to get out in front of the ‘judgemental’ eyes of others. Secondly, we never seem to perform to our usual level as our nerves cause us to rush and miss the detail in technique.
So why does this happen?
Its not complicated, when performing in front of others we focus on our fears; fear of looking slow (so we rush), fear of looking inept (so we rush), fear of having bad stances (so we rush).
What we don’t realise is that the idea of getting out in front of others ‘triggers’ a negative response in our mind and as a result – we get a negative response from our body.
The two most common errors people make when they perform solo kata are: The rush, and they are too stiff. If only they took their time and relaxed, and the kata would be twice as good.
Switching to Positive Triggers
Our mind is working automatically 24/7. The subconscious mind-response for public kata is negative. So if we are to perform kata at our best, we must ‘consciously’ switch our mind-response to a positive.
To do this, EVERY SINGLE TIME you bow into a kata, while bowing slowly, say three things to yourself. These three things will be quick coaching tips that will help switch your mind to a more positive strategy.
Considering the two primary errors of solo kata are rushing and being too stiff, make the first two tips you say to yourself, “Relax” and “Take your time”. Saying this will act as a reminder and help you perform at your best. The third can be something more applicable to you and your kata habits. Some examples could be: “Flow” “Breathe”, “Explode of the mark”, “Stances”, “Enjoy it!” etc.
Kata Is As Much Mental As It Is Physical
Of course you can use all of these, but you don’t want to take 5 minutes to bow while you coach yourself. Three quick tips will be enough to do the trick, but the key is to do it every single time you bow in…this way it becomes habit.
Try it and see just how much of a positive effect it has on your solo performances.
GIGO is a computer phrase meaning ‘Garbage In, Garbage out’. Our kata is no different. If we throw a pile of mental garbage into our mind (negative thoughts), then we can only expect garbage to come out (negative techniques).
And this is the very problem that most karate-ka face with their kata. They may blame a lack of coordination, their age, weight, sporting past etc, but the single biggest problem with most karate-ka is their mind.
Negative thoughts fill their mind throughout their kata, “That stance was hopeless”, “Your too slow”, “This is not my best kata”
So how do we turn this around?
Simple; if subconscious thoughts throughout kata are negative, then we must replace them with consistent positive coaching.
This takes practise. You might find you start coaching yourself, “Take your time…pause here…lets get into a nice sumo here…now explode!…” etc but soon find those regular negative thoughts start trying to take over again. If they do, simply “shush” them and get back to positive coaching.
Try it and watch the difference it makes in your solo kata.
As always, thoughts and comments welcome!
Tom.
