Category Archives: goals

coaching, creating, goals, greatness, ideas, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, power, thoughts, tradition, zen

Fear in the Dojo

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If you spend any amount of time in the dojo you will eventually hear me say-” this is a safe space.” Why do I say this? Because lurking in the corners is fear.  One of the first fears encountered in the dojo is the fear of being criticized by your peers. This is only natural since you are usually in a group setting and when you enter your natural inclination is to think that everyone is looking at you and your faults. Over the course of time you realize that your ego was incorrect and everyone is not looking at you ( for many its is a watershed moment) and that everyone is focused on their own progress, not yours.

Then there is the fear of letting go, of surrender. We all walk into the dojo with preconceived ideas, we also carry with us-insecurity, doubt, anger, unresolved self esteem issues, extra portions of ego and bravado, and for some an overestimated concept of our own intelligence. This is baggage that we carry around the dojo, making our training and life harder. Yet however hard it is to carry that extra weight around it is very scary to let go of it because  the weight is comforting. It is a known quantity- something we can refer back to, it is security and so we are loathe to release it. The alternative, surrender and release is frightening to contemplate. In order to progress however, we must lose the baggage. For some we lose it all at once, for others its a slower process each piece a battle hard fought. Eventually you must surrender, the training and your growth demand it. It is implacable and infinitely patient.

Another fear encountered is the fear of being hit. This is by no means a sequential list. So each of these fears can appear at any time and usually arrive when you least expect them  or want them to surface. Fear of being  hit is very debilitating for many people. Many people embark on the study of a martial art because they feel powerless and want to learn to defend themselves. Some have been abused as children or adults and feel that learning a martial art will help them overcome their history. While you may learn about techniques by reading  about them or even discussing them, in order to really learn them, you must do them. Spending years striking air will not prepare you for the first time you make contact, likewise walking through prearranged fighting drill will not prepare you for a free form sparring session. Free form sparring will not prepare you for prevailing  on the street.
 Together with this fear is the fear of getting hurt or having something broken. None of us likes to be hurt, much less go through the breaking of bones or tearing of muscles. It doesn’t sound pleasant and its not pleasant to experience. We have students that come from schools where breaking something in every class was considered normal. I don’t consider this to be the norm and it is something to be avoided wherever possible. This is not to say it will not happen, whenever you have contact the possibility of something breaking is there. We do try to minimize it wherever possible.

So how to deal with these fears?  Each person is different. As an instructor you have to assess what each person is dealing with and when. This is where the safe space comment comes from. It is not just a nice thing to say to assuage fears. You have to create a safe space for the students to go as hard or easy as they wish.  Some will have  little or no fear and will want to push themselves to the limit and beyond- and it should be available to them. Likewise some will want to take a slower and more cautious pace- this too needs to be available without recrimination. Underlying it all is the presence of a space that is safe to experiment, learn and make mistakes exists and is encouraged not only by the sensei of the school but by every student in the school regardless of rank.

Fear will always be a part of the dojo, of training. Rather than being a negative influence, its presence can spur us to greater mastery. The key is acknowledging that it exists and surpassing its influence over our thoughts and actions. That is one of the primary roles of a good instructor.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

coaching, goals, greatness, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, zen

Confronting the Wall

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Let me begin with a short story.

Somewhere in the mountains there is a temple. One day a man journeyed countless miles to arrive at this temple. When he approached the temple he encountered a massive wall blocking the entrance. On on side of the wall were several small huts, where he was directed to stay. He was given tools and one instruction; to enter the temple he must tear down the wall. He also had the option of leaving at any time he chose if he found the task too difficult. Each day he would remove part of the wall only to find it restored the next morning.

 This continued for many days, then weeks,months and finally years. Still the man would not give up. Each day he arose and approached the wall. His body became stronger along with his will and strength of  spirit. Then one day as he made his way to his wall, instead of a wall stood the abbot of the temple before the open entrance.

The man approached the abbot, who had not spoken to him in all the time he had been there.
“What happened to the wall?” the man asked.
The abbot looked at  the man and looked around the entrance and said “What wall?”
 The man clearly surprised and a bit annoyed, responded in a very unzenlike manner.
 “The one I have been toiling at for years now!”
 “Oh that wall, well it seems that you have finally realized that you no longer need it, please come in.” said the abbot as he smiled.

As the man entered  past the doors he encountered an immense courtyard. To one side lay a beautiful lake surrounded by trees. On the other side was a serene zen garden.
” You can stay here if you like.” said the abbot “After all you have spent quite some time on that wall.”
“No I want to enter the temple, its the reason I am here.” said the man.
 Further in the distance along a winding path was the temple proper. The abbot walked along side the man as he made his way to the temple.

 As they were nearing the last bend of the path before approaching the temple, the abbot reached into his robes and produced some tools.
 “Here, you might need these, you left them at the entrance.” he said as he handed the man the tools used for tearing down a wall and left him on the path.
 “Why would I need these? ” the man thought as he walked the path and found himself before another wall…

It is inevitable that in the course of your practice you will confront the wall. Unlike the wall in the picture you will not be able to simply walk around it. How long the wall persists depends primarily on how long you need it to be in place. Many times we say would like to go deeper, train harder,or devote more time. We can choose to just embark on the path, taking the actions that lead to these goals with the understanding that along this path there will be obstacles some small, others large, and in some cases some that appear insurmountable-the wall.

 What you do when you face your wall determines if your progress or remain where you are. I say your wall because it is a wall of your own creation, just like the man in the story, we each create our walls and they become as solid as we make them.

Some of us are quite content to have a wall, it allows us a fallback position, of course I cant progress any further, cant you see this immense wall before me? It makes all our effort all the more admirable because we are striving against such a large obstacle. Some of us have walls of pride, some of ego, others still have built up walls of towering fear and self doubt. Some of us have walls that contain bricks of anger, and pent up frustration.

Whatever your wall consists of- until you dismantle it (face it), you will not be able to move past it. It took the man in the story years to get past his first wall, only to encounter another wall. It may seem disheartening to have to face wall after wall, until you realize that through this process you achieve growth, strength, compassion, fortitude, temperance,and gentleness.

There will always be walls to face, the question is how will you approach your wall each day? Will you use the tools given to you to dismantle it, or will you discard them and leave the wall intact, hiding in its shadow?

At first, form is needed;
Then doubt and inhibition must be dispelled.
Eventually, form is celebrated with joy:
And expression becomes formless.
–   Deng Ming-Dao
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando
coaching, creating, goals, greatness, ideas, karate, life, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Coherence in practice

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A few weeks ago I attended a workshop at the Open Center on martial arts philosophy. It was based on the concept of a love based martial art, led by Rick Barrett, where love is defined as a state of being that embraces what is. Fear was defined as that state which rejects what is. You can see how this may be relevant in the practice of a martial artist. It reinforced many of the ideas and concepts we already have in place at the dojo.

One such idea was the concept of coherence. One of the underlying tenets of this workshop, and when you think about it most martial arts, is that entropy is inversely related to the coherence in any given system.
Coherence being ordered focused energy and non coherence being chaotic dissipated energy. The analogy that comes to mind is that of a laser and light bulb. A light bulb while providing light is dissipated energy, whereas the laser (which is also light) is focused to such a degree that it can penetrate steel. Both are light, one is focused and coherent the other is dissipated and dispersed.
So how does this apply to practice in a martial art? I will take kata practice for example. Two people can perform the same kata and yet the one that is focused will flow through the kata, while the other will struggle through the kata. Kata is an ideal indicator of the state of mind of the practioner ( in addition to being useful for many other things).
You will hear me constantly tell my students to stop thinking so much and let their body do what it knows to do. This state is arrived at when we are coherent. At this point you are not “doing” the kata or any other technique for that matter. When you are truly focused(coherent), you are “being” the kata.
The other example where this is clearly observed is kumite. The speed that seems to be exhibited by seniors is not a supernatural ability(although it may appear this way). What is happening is that the seniors are simply more coherent, and by being this way they are connected to their opponent. This connection can be so deep that it would seem that the senior is reading their opponents mind before they attack. In reality it is just a high level of focus and not thinking, but being. It means being in the constant now. While these words are very easy to type-being in the now without distraction or lack of focus takes time and practice.
We are all connected, all one. Most of the time we are oblivious to this connection, because we have a tendency to walk around in a fog as a default. When you study a martial art and have a practice, you will find that you cannot deny the connection you have. Realization of this will make you a better martial artist, but more importantly it will make you a better human being.
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando
coaching, goals, greatness, ideas, karate, martial arts, pain, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Training with pain

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The first thing I discovered when I started training in a martial art is that knuckle push ups hurt. I distinctly remember the hardwood floor, forming two fists and trying to place my body weight on those very tender knuckles. That was my first introduction to pain in the martial arts. Surprisingly its not part of what is shared when a prospective student walks in the door (probably for fear of scaring the student away). You will hear that you will become stronger, develop discipline, attain focus and flexibility.

You will not hear that you will experience pain on many different levels. The truth is you WILL experience physical pain if you are practicing a hard style, its just something to come to terms with. Somewhere along the path you will sprain, twist, bruise or break something. You will not be told this when you begin, because frankly it would deter most of us from training. Could you imagine walking into a school and being told “Sure you will get stronger, but don’t forget you will also feel lots of pain!” Most of us would turn around right there and head for the nearest exit.

You will experience emotional discomfort and in some cases pain, as you are confronted by yourself, your limitations and aspirations and the gap between the two.

So how do you deal with pain? Most of us flee from pain, if it hurts we want no part of it. When it comes to a devoted practice and a mindset of training, you accept certain pain as part of the equation. Now I’m not advocating training with broken bones or in excruciating, mind numbing pain. That would be detrimental to your training and would put your sanity in question. If you need to rest by all means do so, likewise with injuries, give them time to heal. However, there are some situations when it is acceptable and even expected to continue even when in pain. Think about how our society glorifies the hero who is injured but doesn’t give up. The one who despite the pain he/she is feeling digs deep, finds a reserve of inner strength and fortitude and manages to overcome whatever obstacle lies before them. We all seek to emulate that model or at the very least admire it.
It is usually the case that what many of us consider pain is actually moderate discomfort. The problem surfaces when we must leave our comfort zone. Push ups, to use an earlier example, are not what I would consider a comfortable exercise, they tax your body to a considerable degree, but I do them until it ” hurts” because the benefits outweigh my discomfort. We each hit out threshold for pain at different points, the question is not if but when. What do you do when you hit the place where whatever you are doing is no longer comfortable and just downright hurts. Do you quit? Do you rationalize that it wasn’t really for you anyway? Do you create an elaborate story to reconcile the fact you couldn’t face the discomfort and more importantly, yourself? The alternative is to accept the presence of pain, adapt and get stronger.
I have always believed that if you quit in your head, your body just follows suit. you have to learn to train with pain. My first hand experience of this was taking a promotion with a broken hand. A concerned sensei pointed out my condition to the head instructor and I was informed that I had another hand with which to strike. Again this is an extreme example and I don’t suggest training with broken limbs, but I have seen individuals whose practice is as important as breathing to them, these people let very little stop them from training, including pain.
The dynamic of pain is an interesting topic which I wont explore in its entirety here. Suffice to say we each experience pain differently. How this impacts your training rests with the reaction you have to the pain you will experience. You can embrace it, realizing that its a facet of the training, something else to overcome. You can reject it and the training making it something to avoid at all costs.
Even though I belong to school of thought that pain is part of the process, I don’t advocate pain for pains sake. Pain is always a byproduct of pushing ourselves harder and longer, making our bodies and minds stronger, each and every day.
You will get stronger, you will be more focused, you will improve your flexibility, you will develop discipline and you will feel pain.
What will you do when that moment arrives?
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando
creating, goals, ideas, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Progress not perfection

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“It takes a thousand days to make a fist, a thousand days to learn a stance and a thousand days to learn to strike”. Its possible this saying isn’t shared by many martial artists, nevertheless its important to understand what is meant by this saying. You don’t hear this shared in many schools because it can be disheartening to the western mindset of ” I need everything yesterday”. If you listen closely and are fortunate enough to be in a school where this philosophy prevails you will hear it in every class, in one form or another. I have to admit that if someone told me at the beginning of my training that it would take over three years just to learn how to make a fist, I may have seriously reconsidered the whole endeavor. It is the kind of lesson that is self affirming. By that I mean you understand it to be true after you have realized that it took you a thousand days to learn how to make a fist.

In our school there is a mantra that is shared by one of our instructors. “Progress not perfection”, which is usually followed by “gradually and eventually”. Both are related to each other but they are not the same. What they convey is the attitude needed to excel at something like the martial arts. You do not develop proficiency in what we do overnight, it takes years and years. Years of progress not perfection, moments (long stretches) of frustration followed by brief flashes of insight and ability. One example that comes to mind: A student was working on an evasion for the better part of a year, in essence learning to move the head out of the way of an incoming fist.
Time and again that student kept getting hit, but one moment (and I was able to witness this), a fist came and the student moved effortlessly out of the way, no thought- just pure reflex. It was graceful, efficient, and quite amazing to see. That is progress. The fact that the student continued to get hit in the head afterwards does not negate the fact that the evasion occurred. Progress not perfection.
This is not to say we should not strive for perfection, of course we should. Its a worthwhile goal. It has to be done prudently though, with the knowledge that perfection is difficult(many would say impossible) to attain. In my decades of practice I have yet to do a perfect kata, it doesn’t stop me from striving to do so each and every time I practice.
Progress reveals to us that perfection is ever elusive, once you think you have gotten closer to perfection, the bar is raised yet again, the target shifts to a level that is even more difficult, one you didn’t even know existed before that moment. That is how progress works and that is why we never quit. If we do quit and settle, then we admit to ourselves that we no longer are seeking perfection, we have grown complacent. In our school we have a character that reads constant polishing. Each day no matter how brightly we have shined in the past we must continue to polish, remember it takes a thousand days just to begin.
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando
class, goals, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, thoughts, tradition, zen

The potential of each person

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Jigoro Kano, Gichin Funakoshi, Morihei Ueshiba, Chojun Miyagi, Masutasu Oyama, Kenwa Mabuni, Anko Itosu, Hironori Ohtsuka, Yu Niu and Ng Mui. What do all these names have in common? If you study any type of martial art you will be at least familiar with some of these names. What they all have in common is that at one point in time they were all unknown students.

This very short list is not by any means comprehensive and I deliberately left out names and styles, not that they were any less pivotal to the development of martial arts, but for the sake of being concise, otherwise this would be a post of names.
Each one of those mentioned above (and no they aren’t all male) has had a far reaching impact that is felt even to this day. In their time they weren’t exactly notable or even famous. Some of them may have been known, but most of them studied in relative obscurity with the goal of perfecting the art that was handed down to them. In their time, training was viewed as a normal part of life and was devoid of mystique, it was simply part of their make up and was done diligently and with intensity.
So how does this pertain to you? If you are an instructor, then you have to understand that EACH student that trains with you, has the potential of impacting thousands of others as a direct result of training with you. You should possess the vision to see that the student that trains with you each week can, if they continue, can go on to transform the lives of many others. Each of those named above understood that to be a transformational agent in the world, they had to be willing to sacrifice personal ambitions and desires for the good of the many. This is your role as an instructor of a martial art.
If you are a student(and this applies to the instructors as well) then you should be cognizant of the fact that each of those listed above were men and women just like you. Which means that everything they achieved is accessible to you as well. The only caveat being that you must possess the same level of dedication, intensity of focus and willingness to train as they did. Qualities that are not the easiest to cultivate, but that are not impossible to attain either.
Each person is a potential multitude. when viewed this way, every time you train, every interaction you have with fellow students and instructors will enrich your life to a greater degree.
Teachers open the door but you must enter by yourself-Chinese proverb


strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando
coaching, goals, karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Why not Ichidan?

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The term shodan literally means beginning degree, as opposed to the term ichidan which would be translated as first degree. It is a term used to describe the lowest rank of black belt in most modern japanese martial arts. The question I always asked myself was; why isn’t this rank called ichidan? It would be the most appropriate form of address for the first degree rank. Shodan implies that all the basics of the style have been mastered.

What was expressed to me by my sensei when I asked this question was, that once I reached this rank then I was ready to begin training in earnest, hence the name beginning degree. Let’s look at this for a moment. What I was told in essence was that all of the kyu up to and before black belt were basically preparation for the real training that would start once I reached first degree. It did not sit well with me at the time of this revelation that I would invest years of my life only to be called a beginner after attaining my black belt. However, it is typical of many martial arts, that the real training begins after years of learning basics. The problem (which I didn’t see at the time) was that I was approaching my training with a western mentality. I figured, in my youth and with ample doses of hubris, that once I attained the rank of shodan that I would have arrived, right? That upon attaining my shodan some mystical black belt prowess would be conferred upon me and I would have reached IT, the summit.

It was a rude awakening after my shodan promotion. I discovered firstly, no mystical transference of powers took place, much to my chagrin. Then the realization hit me, as a shodan I was expected to train harder, longer, and with more intensity than the kyu who came after me. I was expected to be a model to those who came after me, no longer was I given special consideration; the kid gloves were off, revealing the rock hard fists of serious training. Everything radically shifted overnight. The classes were longer and harder. The only word that comes to mind is grueling. When there was any question in our eyes (it would never dare escape our lips) the only explanation given was, you are shodan now, time to really train. So what were the previous years about getting to this point? Preparation.

The term is shodan because the mindset required at this stage of training is that of a beginner. You have prepared for however long it took you to get here, and now you are ready to truly train. In our school, for a few months before the actual shodan promotion takes place, the student must don a white belt again. This is not a demotion (how can you demote years of training?), but rather a symbolic gesture that prepares the student for the transition to begin yet again. Even though there is a white belt around the waist, the body does not lie. I have had the privilege to wear a white belt in other martial arts. I get questioned during class as to what I have studied before, because it’s apparent. The purpose of the white belt is to tie the belt around the students mind, that no matter the actual belt being tied around the waist, we are always just beginners.

I eventually embraced being shodan. I don’t think I would be where I am if I had not. I was recently informed by a Hachidan (8th degree) who has been teaching longer than I have been alive, that out of every thousand people, one makes it to shodan. I would add that the numbers of those who progress past shodan are just as small, because many become disheartened to learn that black belt is not the summit but rather the base of the mountain. What about all the ranks that preceded shodan? Those are the paths that lead you to the mountain.

Stay on the path, the mountain is usually just around the next bend.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando

coaching, goals, greatness, ideas, jackson heights, karate, mind, philosophy, power, zen

Be Like Bamboo- Flexible in the midst of stress

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I have taken up running as of late. This is not to say that I didn’t run before, but unlike my running in the past, the running I am now undertaking has a certain sense of purpose to it. Inevitably at some point in my running, I encounter the moment that I feel every runner has faced. The moment when you hear that voice that says, maybe you should stop now, this is too difficult, why are you doing this? More on this later.

In our classes which, thanks to a very hot summer have an added challenge since several of the senior students don’t endorse running the air conditioner (much to the dismay of the junior adult students) it can be very easy to give up. It gets very hot very quickly and we train hard. What to do? Aside from the expected ( hydrating and stretching) what we need to do is be flexible and adapt, like the bamboo we can bend but not snap. There are many occasions in our lives when we are faced with situations that threaten to push us to the snapping point. What we must strive to do is bend with these situations, while keeping our centers and our senses of humor.
If we are to be like bamboo, we must be versatile. We must learn to adapt quickly and thrive in any type of situation. Bamboo is capable of growing 24 inches in one day depending on soil and climate. This makes it one of the fastest, if not the fastest growing woody plant. In terms of versatility, bamboo is a food source, used in construction, has medicinal properties, and is used in the textile industry. Musical instruments are made from it, and water can be desalinated with it.

We are taught in martial arts that force meeting force is not the ideal situation, but rather blending or creating an opening is what we should aim for. Being like bamboo is very much like this. When a stronger opposing force presses down on the plant it yields, and in so doing preserves its integrity. By bending with the wind or the storm it can weather these rough moments, to emerge whole and stronger afterwards. We would do well to take this lesson from bamboo, when a stronger force confronts us, do not meet it headlong, find a way to bend and overcome. By so doing you to will emerge whole and stronger.

Getting back to the running and that little voice that says you should quit. Barring any real injury ( I dont think performing any activity while injured is healthy), you need to evaluate where that voice is coming from and why. Is it an attachment we are dealing with? A perspective that is skewed? When you can ascertain why, then you can deal with the source of the voice or attitude that threatens to undermine you. Once the source is dealt with you can truly be like that plant that can weather typhoons and hurricanes and still remain standing.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

business, goals, greatness, karate, martial arts, mind, pain, philosophy, power, thoughts, zen

The Power of Thought Part II

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Today I want to discuss procrastination. The death knell of many hopes and dreams can be described by this one word. I understand that this is human nature and that we have all put things off. What I want you to consider is that the future you are living into is taking place right this moment. One of the more grounded analogies that comes to mind is the author. He imagines a story and a written and published work. Unless he sits down to write, that book will remain just that, a thought. I have found that we do this in every aspect of our lives.

We put things off because they are difficult or we want to avoid confrontation, or simply because we just feel lazy that day or given moment. Whatever the reason, when you procrastinate you set in motion a way of being that has the potential to be ineffective, frustrated, unhappy, stressed and generally dissatisfied. We all know the adage about not putting things off for tomorrow that can be done today. How many of us actually practice it? If our thoughts have the ability and power to become manifest, what does it mean when we procrastinate? Thought must be coupled with action, it isn’t enough just to have great thoughts. The thoughts must be given wings, and yes, we must dream and desire.

The second part of the process requires taking the actions that will set those dreams in motion. It is not enough to dream of being a great author, if fail to write down any words, the dream will remain a dream. Use the power of thought but don’t get caught up only in the thinking phase, structure it so that the thoughts give you impetus to take action. Make the time you need to get what needs to get done, done.

Remember:

Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin. ~Victor Kiam

strong spirit strong mind strong body

Sensei Orlando

business, coaching, goals, greatness, ideas, life, mind, philosophy, thoughts

The Power of Thought- Part I

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Consider for a moment that everything that is around you(that is man-made), started out as an idea. Give it a moment. The chair you are sitting in, the car you may drive, the clothes that you are wearing, even the monitor which you are using to view this blog, all of them started out as a thought, as an idea. Now consider for a moment that you can shape what you call “reality” by taking control of your thoughts.

I know this sounds radical but let me give you a very simplified example. You wake up in the morning, dreading the day. You say to yourself I think I’m coming down with a cold. Very shortly afterwards, the symptoms of the cold have fully manifested in your body. Here is the other side to that scenario, you wake up feeling achy, but rather than succumb to the feeling, you tell yourself, “there is no way I’m getting sick”. I have too much to do or I have a deadline to meet. Amazingly the “cold” that was coming on disappears.

What I want to share with you is that our thoughts have real power. If you gave the opening paragraph some consideration, you have realized by now that we live in a world of manifested ideas and thoughts.

So, in your own life, if you desire to have the life of your dreams, you must learn to shape your thoughts and way of being so that you are that which you want to eventually become, right now. If you eventually want to become, for example, the CEO of a successful company, you must right now begin to present yourself to the world as if you already were the CEO of a successful company, in terms of your overall self-presentation to the world of dress, speech, and manner.

Projecting your future into the present through utilizing your thoughts, will have the effect of the world responding to you as that which you are projecting, and before you know it, “the future” will merge into your present reality. To make it simple, think of reverse-engineering your life. Picture the life you want to achieve, say being a successful (fill in the blank). Now imagine what it would require for you to live that life. Think about it everyday, and just as important as the thought, take the actions necessary to bring those thoughts to reality.

You will find that your greatest obstacle in this process will be procrastination. Putting things off until its “just right” or until the planets align or until you are completely ready are just a few of the excuses we create to spin our wheels and get nothing done. Remember thought is power, and action manifests those thoughts.

More on procrastination in Part II.

Think powerful positive thoughts everyday, and act on them.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando