Toxic Masculinity.
Cancel Culture.
Addiction to food, drugs, social media, etc.
Martial arts training is more relevant and needed today than ever before. But not necessarily in the ways of the 70’s through the 2010s. That was the era of martial arts as a means of dominance either over another person, or capturing your attention through cinematography.
These were very much driving factors, in a pre-COVID world. But it’s the meta of the martial arts that is timeless, and independent of externalities. It has been written about by the likes of Miyamoto Musashi and Bruce Lee. It is about cultivation of the self. I will outline three meta aspects of martial arts training, which are very useful in today’s societal landscape: Patience, Resiliency, and Opportunism (PRO). In the quest for developing PRO, I will define the terms, how they are useful in societal application and what ills it might combat, and a physical martial arts exercise that reflects the idea.
1. Patience. Wait for it. Wait. Just wait. Don’t just do something – sit there! Patience is all about delaying gratification, to not act on impulse, and to be present without thinking about the past or future. Our senses are constantly bombarded by stimuli, especially in a hyper-commerce culture. In a fast-paced society, moving slowly or not at all can be seen as a weakness. But, in fact, the opposite is true. When we take the time to listen and observe, we tend to make more productive decisions. One way to practice patience in the world of martial arts is holding stances and postures statically. It is almost like yoga. The way static stances and posture practice has been depicted and taught over the years was more from an angle of building the physical foundation, to have the strength to generate power. That’s not wrong at all. But much of that takes the root context of dominating over another person.
The angle that I am encouraging is that it is an opportunity to practice patience, to practice being present, so that when there is a rapid fire bombardment to my senses, I have the presence of mind to hold still and observe it all, in its root form, without being baited into committing to an action, impulsively. This must be practiced regularly.
2. Resiliency. At some point we’ll need to make moves. Some will work in our favor, and some will not. When it does not, that’s when it is important to be resilient. Resiliency is the ability to overcome setbacks and failures, and keep making the effort in your pursuit. Mistakes and failure are our best teachers. Yet, they are not celebrated in our media culture. What is celebrated are the final results. That’s what captures the most attention, because it appeals to your desire to perhaps have that final result as well. But the journey to get there often gets washed away from the coverage. The failures, the agony, the moments where it seemed impossible to continue. The important aspect is to make the effort. Many times, because of our fixation on the final result, we don’t even make the effort, because it seems overwhelming. Thus robbing ourselves of the experience and the knowledge we’d gain for just giving it a try. Due simply to fear of failure, we miss out on enriching our lives.
Developing resiliency is developing the ability to overcome the fear of failure. It is an important concept of martial arts training, teaching you to get back up and try again.
A good, technical exercise of this concept are breakfalls and rolls. But what I really mean is actually standing back up onto your feet AFTER you do a breakfall and/or roll. In the case of breakfalls, you can get up using the method of the “Technical Stand Up” aka “Getting Up in Base”. Traditionally, the mindset is more about being able to fall safely when your partner throws you, so you don’t get hurt, and to get up in a way where your opponent can’t knock you down. Once again, that is definitely not wrong! But that is rooted in the mindset of externalities.
The meta of it that I’m promoting is that it can help you develop the mindset to get back up on your feet after your fall. That defeat is a state of mind. Now, obviously, there are times to change course (notice I didn’t say “quit”), but even in the decision to change course, it requires you to “stand up”, and make that declaration. Perseverance is a related, but slightly different concept, that zeroes in on being able to push through discomfort. While Resiliency has an element of that in spirit, the bigger idea is to be able to make the decision to keep trying, even though things didn’t work in your favor. Developing resiliency definitely requires a regular, mindful practice of it.
3. Opportunism. This is finding the right moment to take action. Through learning Patience, we don’t act impulsively, and know how to wait and observe. Through learning Resiliency, we know we can overcome our fear of failure, and won’t get discouraged too easily. Now, it is time to take action. We don’t blindly take action, though. We take the action that we feel will be the most beneficial. We look for the right opportunities. We may pass on some of them. Just because an opportunity is there, doesn’t mean we have to take it (Patience), because we know a better one will come. But, we don’t wait eternally because we’re scared of failing, either! Sometimes, it leads us to change course, as I’ve discussed in Resiliency. For example, if I’m trying to draw realistic images of humans, and I keep failing because it constantly looks like a cartoon, maybe I shift my gears and become a cartoonist, instead of trying to draw realistic images.
Developing opportunism is a positivistic outlook, of seeing where one can apply one’s effort in a meaningfully impacting capacity. It is noticing the strengths and potential strengths. Instead of focusing too much on what is wrong and what are the problems (important to do, but not fixate on), one finds what is right, and how to double down on it.
Some of it is having sensitivity and awareness, some of it is being very connected to what speaks to you. It is a leadership quality.
One way to practice this idea through martial arts techniques is to play a game, where you choose a technique to throw at random. I don’t mean shadow boxing, although shadow boxing is a very good drill. I mean think about a technique, and execute it with everything you have. Then, take a moment (don’t wait too long), choose another technique, and execute with everything you have. You could do this with forms/kata – choose one randomly, and execute it at full capacity. Take a moment (not too long), and choose another one. You are making a decision, and committing to it fully.
Practicing Patience, Resiliency, and Opportunism (PRO) can be the martial arts meta of the 21st century. When putting these meta strategies into action, you would probably do it in the order of Patience, Opportunism, Resiliency (POR). However, I chose the PRO order, because that is the developmental order I would take students through, when first learning about it. We can evolve from this idea of dominance over others, and truly use it as a vehicle to strengthen our mindset, attitudes, and decision-making skills. None of this is all that new, you can find related ideas in Bushido, which is the “code” of Samurai culture.
Editer’s Note: If you enjoyed this article, be sure to also check out “Being a Good Partner in Life and Martial Arts” as well!
- Martial Arts Meta Training - May 2, 2022
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