greatness, karate, martial arts, mind, pain, philosophy, thoughts, zen

Train like its your last day

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There is a concept in martial arts called ren ma. Loosely translated it means: To cultivate and achieve perfection through tempered training. When going into more detail the definition exceeds the adage of “practice makes perfect”
The classic saying – “Practice makes perfect” may seem similar in meaning to what ren ma is about however, ren ma has a much deeper connotation, particularly to those who are serious about their training, development and achievement. ren ma reminds us that to achieve perfection in martial sciences or any biomechanical endeavor requires extremely diligent and never ending tempering, polishing, and refinement.
Kata embodies the idea of ren ma, or “always polishing” – with diligent practice, the moves of the kata become further refined and perfected. The attention to detail that is necessary to perfect a kata cultivates self discipline.
Why should we strive to continually polish?
To quote one of the founding fathers of karate: “The ultimate aim of the art of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the characters of its participants.” — Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan Karate-Do.
Ren ma goes beyond practice and speaks to the attitude we must possess when training. Train like its your last day, means that in each training opportunity, in and out of the dojo, you give it your all, holding nothing back and keeping nothing in reserve. Every technique is real, every moment is life and death.
When you train like this, you cultivate the character and spirit to overcome any moment of adversity. This translates directly into every facet of life outside of the dojo. When you are constantly polishing, tempering your character, no matter what life may throw at you, you will be able to withstand it because you have done the work, and prepared yourself.
Sensei Orlando
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
business, karate, life, martial arts, mind, pain, tradition, zen

The Discipline of Repetition

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Why do we practice? More importantly why do we practice so often? In an earlier post I discussed diligent practice(see http://www.nascentnovel.com/?p=147) Today I want to discuss why we have to do so many of the same techniques over and over and why this cultivates discipline. Webster defines discipline as: training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. When we execute techniques over and over we are forging a certain type of character in ourselves. We live in a society that gets easily bored and our attention spans have been shortened considerably. In a society where everything has to happen “yesterday”, the practice of martial arts forces you to take the slow track to excellence. You cannot earn a black belt overnight or even in a year. On average it takes 4-5 years for a first degree black belt depending on where you study. In order to achieve this you must have discipline. In order to pursue any endeavor with excellence, it requires discipline. I’m sure Tiger Woods still practices his swing even though he is a champion. If you look at any person who is in the elite of their respective fields, you will see one common theme- discipline.
Do we need discipline? Not really. We can all “get by” even when we aren’t disciplined. We can make ends meet, train every so often, and cruise through life. The question is do you want to excel? If your answer is yes, then you need discipline. If you want to achieve great things and impact others and the world, you need discipline. It means doing things over and over. It means not getting bored easily, but understanding that each time you do that same technique, practice that speech, have that conversation, you are getting better and moving closer to mastery.
On whatever path we choose to embark upon, mastery should be our goal. Take the first step today and discipline yourself each day to keep taking those steps.
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body
Sensei Orlando

business, coaching, community, creating, goals, ideas, life, martial arts, pain, philosophy, power, thoughts, tradition

No Pain-No Gain?

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This is a saying that is heard often in gyms and other types of training halls. I would like to say that its quite inaccurate. If you are experiencing pain, its very unlikely you will continue training to make gains. Pain at its very basic level is your body signalling that there is something wrong or that it has suffered some type of trauma. The distinction I want to make here is that there is a marked difference between pain and discomfort. In addition every persons pain threshold is different.
When we are referring to making gains (i.e. growing stronger, moving more weight, being more flexible, adding muscle, greater cardiovascular capacity) there will be times when we will experience discomfort. The body being the amazing adaptive machine that it is, requires us to stress and push it if we want to make significant gains in certain areas. What we may consider to be pain may only be discomfort. When I train students, I always tell them, pain usually stops you in your tracks, while discomfort, allows you to work through it.
This is not to say that you cant train while in pain, and certain situations may require you to work through the pain. These occurrences however are not the norm and you should listen to your body if you are in pain.
Discomfort on the other hand should never stop us. If we let it, we will find ourselves making excuses at every turn because we are no longer in what we may consider our “comfort zone”. This not only applies to training, but to life. You will never have any gains as long as you remain in your comfort zone. In order to grow you have to stretch yourself, try new things and be willing to risk the comfort.
Any new endeavor will have moments of discomfort, that is when you are growing. Any training regimen contains moments of discomfort, if you are not willing to work through them you will not see the gains on the other side.
Ultimately the decision is ours to make. Are we willing to be uncomfortable in order to grow and make gains in every part of our lives, or will we strive to remain in our comfort zones- comfortably stagnant?
Sensei Orlando
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

karate, life, martial arts, philosophy, power, self-defense

Circular vs Linear

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Life is a circle. The fastest way between two points is a straight line. I’m sure all of us have heard one or both of these sayings. In martial arts many styles are defined by the way you attack or defend. Aikido for example is considered a circular art, redirecting attacks and using an opponents energy against them. Karate, and styles like it are linear going directly to the opponent in the fastest way possible. Many times in life we encounter situations that may be resolved with a linear approach, but require us to be circular. Sometimes it seems that being circular, taking the longer route, is less efficient.

While I’m all in favor for direct approaches there have been many times in my life where I have had to take the longer path because it was required of me or because there were things I needed to learn. Let me apply this to being fit. Many of us, on day one of our workout routine are excited to begin, we start with the knowledge that it will take some time to get to our goals. After some time though, about a month to three months we get disenchanted with the circular path of being fit. We want a direct path, maybe even resorting to drastic measures like fasting or trying whatever product is the fad now to get you the body you want in just a few short weeks. What we don’t realize is that in this case the circular path is the most direct path.

In life sometimes the path of taking shortcuts can turn out to be longer in the end. We pride ourselves in being in a society that is overwhelmingly fast. We have fast food, fast service, and everything must occur yesterday.

I encourage you to slow down and appreciate those things that take longer to achieve, when we focus on the journey and not just the goals we find that its the journey that makes it all worthwhile, even while achieving our goals.

Sensei Orlando
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

creating, goals, greatness, ideas, mind, power, thoughts

The Power of Intention- Mind Over Body

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The subject of the power of intention has received much attention as of late. I would like to suggest that this is not a “new ” trend, but something that has existed as long as humans have been on this planet.
It was brought to my attention many years ago that everything you can see, touch or feel was once an idea in someones head. Obviously this points to man made objects not nature. That being the case its quite a profound thought if you take a moment to ponder it. Where ever you are if you look around you will see things that were in some one’s head. If you are sitting on a chair while you do this, the very chair you are sitting on was once an idea. The ramifications of this thought process is that we exist within a world of ideas, some in a gestational stage and some fully developed and still some evolving and ever changing. How is this applicable to how you train? If you have goals as something to strive for(being fit , stronger, ripped, more flexible, whatever the case may be) the goals that are attained are the end result, and the genesis of these results have to be your thoughts, your ideas.

Everything we do begins and ends in our heads. Sometimes we may talk much but do little. We can be full of great ideas but if they are not acted upon, they remain ideas. I also believe that if you sit on a great idea for too long, it occurs to someone else who will act on it and then you can be one of those people who can say ” I had that same idea!” The only difference being that you chose not to act on the idea you had.
One example that I deal with on regular basis is in my own training. I have found that if I quit in my head, my intention being that one more set is too much or I’m too tired or its too early (fill in the excuse) what occurs is that my body follows suit and shuts down. The power of intention is so powerful that whatever you give voice to (even in your head) comes to pass in your life. This means that the thoughts we have need to be empowering ones, thoughts and ideas that further us along our goals in our lives.

May all your thoughts be powerful and full of greatness!

Sensei Orlando
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

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Restful Activity

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After taking a week from writing and blogging I realized something very important that we seem to neglect in our lives. The need for restful activity. We have a tendency to run at breakneck speed and in many cases, disregard the messages our bodies send us. We trade off hours of sleep for imagined productivity, and we quickly descend into the mindset of “everything has to happen yesterday.”

Every so often we need to take stock of the situation and engage in some restful activity. It sounds like a paradox- being active while resting, but making time for rest while being less active helps us to de-stress and recharge. Restful activity can be any activity you can do while still maintaining a posture of rest. Reading a good book, having a great conversation, meditation, kata practice, and writing are a few of many activities you can enjoy. You may notice I did not mention any activity where your mind is not engaged. This is not what many consider “vegging out.” Your brain and mind should be part of whatever activity you undertake, while your body benefits from the lowered demand and rests. If we practice restful activity at least once a day we will notice that we have more energy and vitality. With this practice in place we can offset the effects of stress, and enjoy the benefits of a centered life.

Sensei Orlando

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

karate, martial arts, philosophy, self-defense, zen

What is Zanshin?

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There is an old story about a young man who sought teaching from a great swordsman. After being accepted, the student endured several years of personal service — cooking, washing and cleaning for the teacher. Then his lessons began, but not practice with a sword. His teacher began to surprise him with incessant attacks with a practice sword — when the student was cooking, sleeping, anytime. Over time the student’s pains and bruises lessened as he gradually learned to avoid and dodge the attacks. Finally the student asked the teacher when actual sword training was to begin. The teacher then replied that he had been taught all that he needed to learn. This was zanshin, such total awareness that the student could sense and then avoid the attacks.
The story illustrates the awareness we all seek to attain. Zanshin loosely translated means the state of total awareness. It means being aware of one’s surroundings and enemies, and also being prepared to react. It is what I call developing radar and taking in not only the person that seems menacing or off, but your surroundings as well. The only way to cultivate this type of awareness is through practice and being immersed in the type of situations that would warrant using and needing this type of awareness. In many schools attacks are non linear or you face several opponents at once. In other schools, blindfolds are used to heighten the remaining senses and create a state of Zanshin.
Whatever your method we can all benefit from walking around more aware of our surroundings. Take stock of where you are and who is around you. Take in the surroundings. Are they dangerous? Do they have the potential to be dangerous?
There is an old samurai saying, “When the battle is over, tighten your chin strap.” This refers to constant awareness, preparedness for danger and readiness for action.
Even when it seems things are not dangerous, maintain a state of readiness. It is always better to be prepared and not need to take action than needing to take action and not being prepared.
strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando
class, community, jackson heights, self-defense

Active Self Defense – Working from your Center

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In our most recent Self-Defense class we worked on using the center. It is an easy concept to understand, while also being one of the most difficult concepts to practice.

The premise is that if you are being attacked or are fending off an attack you want your opponent off balance and off center. You never want your opponent squarely over his base of power and at the same time, you want to remain over yours.

What comes into play is learning how to gauge distance, how to use your body and learning how to apply torque and twisting movements as well as when to take a step back, forward or to either side. Everything we do in self defense uses the concept of centering. When an arm is presented, if you allow the attacker to keep his arm close to his center, this provides leverage and makes it difficult to apply the correct biomechanical response to your advantage. When the same arm is moved away from the center, it becomes much easier to apply force and reinforce the biomechanics of the body, this allows for an easier execution of the self defense technique.

Likewise if you are being attacked, you should remain over your center and control where your balance and power are derived from. Remembering that much if not all of the power is generated from your hips using torque, centering becomes even more important. A lack of awareness in this area will result in poorly executed techniques and a lack of power in strikes.

Remember to always stay centered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

class, community, jackson heights, philosophy, self-defense

Active Self-Defense – Learning to fall

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Last week, we went over some of our previous techniques, but I had a little surprise in store for the class. I brought out our tumbling mat and when it came time to learn our new technique, we practiced falling. It’s quite a sight to see a child at play, fall. They can run, fall, use the momentum and get up and keep running as if nothing happened. As we get older we have a tendency to forget some of the things that are natural to us as children. Falling is something children can do with style. If you have ever seen a child unleash a temper tantrum you know what I mean. The interesting part is that they can fling themselves to the ground, but not hurt themselves. When it comes to the realm of self defense, it’s important to know how to fall without hurting yourself, should you ever need to go to the ground or are taken to the ground. Intially we are rigid, but after some practice everyone in the class was getting the concept of “rolling to the floor”. The idea is to think of yourself as a sphere and rather than fall back flat on your back, roll yourself to the ground letting the shock and impact “roll through you” rather than your body absorbing the impact.

The other ability children seem to have inherently is making themselves “heavy”. We have all experienced this. A child is busy having fun and it’s time to cut the fun short. The child is not having it, he wants to continue having fun! You go to pick up your child and find that instead of weighing twenty pounds, he has discovered the secret of super gravity and now weighs one hundred pounds! We all have this ability and many times its essential in defending yourself to displace your weight in such a way that you are “heavier” than you may seem. If someone wants to grab you and lift you from the ground, from any angle of attack, you can displace your weight so that you are heavier.

As adults there are many things we have to “relearn”, but with enough practice we will find that these things, like falling and being heavy are part of us waiting to be rediscovered.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

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The Bowl vs. The Pot – The Art of Flexibilty

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I was sitting at my computer, when my wife asked me if I could clean a bowl for dinner. In my mind I wondered why would she want a bowl cleaned for dinner if she was going to start cooking? Wouldn’t it be better to clean the pot she needed instead? Now let’s look at this from a different point of view: my wife is in the kitchen cleaning some vegetables and meat for dinner when she asks me to clean a pot for dinner. I answer “which bowl?” The ensuing discussion became somewhat heated as we both felt that the other had said bowl and not pot. She claims I said bowl, I claim she said bowl. After a few minutes of this we both laughed (not before the temperature was raised as well as our voices) and we both realized how silly this argument had become.

After giving it some thought, I realized that many times we are inflexible. We stick to our ideas, not budging, not open to dialogue or discourse. We are so certain that we are right that we don’t entertain for a second that the other person feels that exact same way. When we are rigid, we lose sight of the many opportunities that life presents to us. When we fail to bend, we have a tendency to break and shatter. In life, as in martial arts we must learn to adapt to new situations. Approaching each circumstance with an open mind and heart as to what the possibilities may be. When we do this and become flexible, no matter what storms life may bring us, we can weather them.

As for the bowl vs. the pot, well to this day it still remains a mystery, I’m going to settle on “powl”.

strong spirit-strong mind-strong body

Sensei Orlando

A journey into creative warriorship