Here is a video on this! It’s entertaining, because I steal content….I mean, edit in clips from other videos to make my point!
When you start taking martial arts classes, you are teleporting into a new universe. Not only are you learning techniques and training methods for self defense, you start seeing that because it is so strongly intertwined with philosophy, that it starts becoming a way of life. Before you know it, your martial arts universe and your regular day-to-day universe start blending into each other! So let’s look at five things you probably didn’t know about the martial arts lifestyle.
You Apply Techniques Into Everyday Activities
You’ll find yourself brushing your teeth standing on one leg. You may find yourself turning off the light switches in your house with your feet! You might find yourself closing the car door with your elbow. You might dip into your legs and push the grocery cart into the cart return section from a little farther away. All of this is so much fun, because you start seeing that you can use martial arts techniques in everyday life activities!
2. You Start Analyzing Action Scenes
You start identifying the techniques, and internally say the techniques in your head (sometimes you might blurt them out), such as, “Side Kick. Back Fist. Sweep. Duck. Straight Punch. Round House Kick. Over Hand Punch. Arm Lock. Rear Naked Choke. Backwards Breakfall.” The beauty of this is that what may have once seemed like a violent image before you understood what was happening, you now view it more from a technical angle, and then you start evaluating the execution, and the sequencing of the moves. It might be something you bring to your class or training partners!
3. You Start Quoting Bruce Lee
The third one is that you may start inadvertently quoting Bruce Lee! Bruce Lee is a timeless icon in martial arts. Not only did he reach epic heights of delivering techniques and physical fitness, but he also a deep philosopher, who spoke a lot about motivation. When people first study martial arts and find out about Bruce Lee, they generally watch his films first, and then they start delving into his books and philosophy. Some of his most famous quotes are:
Be like water.
It is like a finger pointing to the moon - don’t concentrate on the finger or you’ll miss all that heavenly glory.
Boards don’t hit back!
Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and create what is essentially your own.
Knowing is not enough. We must apply.
4. You Apply Martial Arts Strategies in Negotiations
The fourth one is that you may start applying martial arts principles in negotiations. You start using “verbal” martial arts. For example, if someone is being dominating in the conversation, you might think to take an approach of letting them talk, and not respond at all, until they are done and have said everything they needed to, and then respond. This is akin to letting an aggressive opponent try to get you with everything they have - and all you are doing is evading and blocking, but never counter attacking, yet. Once they have slowed down, and have gotten tired, then you start throwing attacks of your own. Another example is if the person or group is being too timid, to the point where no decisions are being made, you start initiating ideas, strategies, plans, and timelines. This is akin to an opponent who is not committing to any attack, so you initiate, and set the tone and tempo.
5. You Use Martial Arts to Help Yourself Fall Asleep
The fifth one is that when you are finding it hard to go to sleep, you tend to run through your martial arts routines, and visualize yourself going through it, step by step. Chances are, before you finish the routine, you’ve drifted asleep! Martial arts is arguably more mental than it is physical. When you start running through a visualization session, you start realizing that it takes a lot of effort, and eventually your eyelids may grow heavy!
There is taking martial arts classes, and then there is really getting into it. Martial arts is a very special combination of movement, self defense, and philosophy. The more you train, the more you see and apply martial arts in all aspects of your life. It can be in the form of doing techniques during day to day tasks, analyzing action scenes in movies, quoting Bruce Lee, applying its philosophical principles in negotiations, and a method to help get to sleep!