“One must make the warrior walk his everyday walk.”
Miyamoto Musashi
Beyond the Quote (126/365)
One concept that gets focused on intensely in Martial Arts training is balance. Having good physical balance is important, of course, as you need to be able to kick, punch, and block without falling down or getting tripped up in poor technique. But, balance runs much deeper than just the obvious ability to execute moves without falling. In order to perform optimally in self-defense situations and, more importantly, in life situations as a Martial Artist, we need to be balanced physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Being able to execute techniques optimally isn’t just about being well coordinated. We have to learn how to be heavy in our foundational stances, but light on our feet when moving. We have to build our muscles so that they are strong and rigid, but stretch them equally to make sure they are soft and flexible. We must ensure that our kicks, punches, and blocks are well coordinated and can be precisely executed on our dominant side, but also on our non-dominant side. In Martial Arts, we are constantly working to improve that balance from hard to soft and soft to hard; from rigid to flexible and flexible to rigid; from right-side to left-side and left-side to right-side, so as to emerge in an optimal, balanced, readied state. All of these components contribute to that ideal execution of devastating techniques.
What about mindset? As a Martial Artist—a person who is training their body for combat—we need to make sure our mind is trained just as well, if not better than our bodies, so that these tools—these techniques—aren’t abused or used for the wrong reasons. The mind is the controller of the body and if the mind is out of whack then the body will be similarly used out of whack. This is why, one of the almost universal concepts that gets taught in practical self-defense (from any reputable school or facility) is minimum force necessary.
We must learn to balance our instinct to fight and learn to “flight” when possible, just as we have to balance our instinct to “flight” and learn to fight when necessary. And if we need to fight, then we do so using the minimum force necessary to neutralize the threat and escape safely. Training is what allows us to operate from that balanced perspective so that we can think clearly, yet swiftly, and we can make the proper decision that will allow us to click into “fight-mode” or “flight-mode” appropriately and with our full life force.
Balancing our emotions is one of the most challenging components in the picture. Physical and mental balance is something that you can build and have pretty much ready once you get to a certain point in training. The emotional response is what, in my estimation, will fluctuate the most when you’re in a situation that requires your defense. The mood of your day could be any which way, the situation will likely be adding unique and wild variables, plus, you will likely have all sorts of hormones being released that you’re not used to that will throw you off balance as well—it’s a lot.
But, if we are to respond optimally, we can’t fall victim to the fear, anger, rage, or otherwise adrenaline-induced emotions and resort to destroying people into a pulp or otherwise freezing up and laying victim out of fear. We have to balance our aggression with compassion. We have to balance our fear with bravery. We have to balance our actions with our words. We have to balance our nervousness with calmness. We have to balance our focus with our awareness. Emotional balance requires focused mindfulness and keen awareness of the self and the greater situation at large.
When any one of those domains isn’t properly balanced, not only will our training and self-defense ability suffer, but our performance in life will suffer as well. When you really think about it, how often are we really ever going to actually and legitimately going to have to defend ourselves? Hopefully, never. Practically speaking? Hopefully not more than a few times throughout our entire lives. How often though, are we going to need to defend ourselves against life?
How often are we going to need to defend ourselves against the physical threats of living a sedentary lifestyle? What about against the threats of sugar and sodium? How often are we going to need to defend ourselves against the mental threats of passive entertainment? Or gossip? Or media marketing? What about the emotional threats of less physical connection and more digital communication? Or untamed anger? Or learning how to deal with the feelings of sadness or aloneness? THIS is what you have to defend yourself against every single day.
So what do we do? We need to learn how to, as a Martial Artist would, look at our daily routines and make the proper adjustments so that we can live a more balanced life across the board. We must make the warrior walk our everyday walk. Your house IS your dojang. Your inner circle ARE your instructors. You do not step into the Martial Arts Academy and suddenly start focusing on being more balanced. You don’t turn into a different person when you put on a uniform with a specific colored belt. The training is all one and the same.
The challenges are all of the time and everywhere. What you need to do is look at your life with new eyes. How can you defend yourself against bad foods? Bad physical habits? Bad people? Bad media? Bad influences? You’d be surprised at how many of these answers you already know. Start here. Ask the right questions. Challenge yourself accordingly. Defend appropriately and to the best of your ability. Then improve your skills so that you can defend better tomorrow. That’s what Martial Arts training is all about. Good luck.
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