First, you can't just talk about the Martial Arts, you have to do them. To talk about is like thinking about, to know is to actually do. It is the difference between the definition of the word 'wet' and actually going surfing.
Thus, if you read books about the martial arts, if you watch movies about the martial arts, if you talk to people about the martial arts, it doesn't work. The only thing that works is to actually go to a school, a dojo, and experience them. To put on a karate gi or kung fu uniform and step onto the mat and find out how they really work.
Interestingly, they don't always work the way they seem to work in the movies. Bruce Lee may be incredible on the screen, but he had two arts, one was a movie art for the camera and creating the WOW in the audience, and the other was designed for combat. These two arts often don't even look alike, they are greatly different.
When you take yourself onto the mat for the first time you are walking into a strange, new world. You won't know what to do, you will actually be a in a state of awe, and you will have butterflys in the stomach. You will learn how to dress, tie the belt, and the manners necessary in this strange, new world.
The fun starts when the instructor shows you your first moves. Everything you do is going to seem unnatural, weird, but it is really just unfamiliar. You'll do everything wrong, you'll even be confused by such simple concepts as right and left.
Eventually, you'll have copy catted your techniques enough, and you'll face a real opponent. Oh, Lord, you have to actually throw somebody to the ground, block somebody, hit somebody! How in heaven's name are you going to manage this without falling on your fanny?
Time passes. You keep at it, and things start to make sense. The techniques and forms become workable, and even able to be applied in the great chaos of freestyle.
And you learn that the most important lesson of the dojo...you won't learn anything if you don't start. What's that old saying...a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the single step you took, through the dojo doors and onto the mat, will end up being the most significant and important step you will ever take in your life, for this is the step that brought you discipline, good health, confidence, and the ability to take on and defeat any problem in life.
Thus, if you read books about the martial arts, if you watch movies about the martial arts, if you talk to people about the martial arts, it doesn't work. The only thing that works is to actually go to a school, a dojo, and experience them. To put on a karate gi or kung fu uniform and step onto the mat and find out how they really work.
Interestingly, they don't always work the way they seem to work in the movies. Bruce Lee may be incredible on the screen, but he had two arts, one was a movie art for the camera and creating the WOW in the audience, and the other was designed for combat. These two arts often don't even look alike, they are greatly different.
When you take yourself onto the mat for the first time you are walking into a strange, new world. You won't know what to do, you will actually be a in a state of awe, and you will have butterflys in the stomach. You will learn how to dress, tie the belt, and the manners necessary in this strange, new world.
The fun starts when the instructor shows you your first moves. Everything you do is going to seem unnatural, weird, but it is really just unfamiliar. You'll do everything wrong, you'll even be confused by such simple concepts as right and left.
Eventually, you'll have copy catted your techniques enough, and you'll face a real opponent. Oh, Lord, you have to actually throw somebody to the ground, block somebody, hit somebody! How in heaven's name are you going to manage this without falling on your fanny?
Time passes. You keep at it, and things start to make sense. The techniques and forms become workable, and even able to be applied in the great chaos of freestyle.
And you learn that the most important lesson of the dojo...you won't learn anything if you don't start. What's that old saying...a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the single step you took, through the dojo doors and onto the mat, will end up being the most significant and important step you will ever take in your life, for this is the step that brought you discipline, good health, confidence, and the ability to take on and defeat any problem in life.
About the Author:
Al Case has practiced the martial arts for forty plus years. He offers Video Lessons at Monster Martial Arts.
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