Focus...it's a word we hear all the time in Taekwondo. It's a word that instructors and schools market to the general public as one of the benefits of training in Taekwondo. "Train in Taekwondo and you (or your child) will be able to increase their focus".
But what is focus? How do we improve it? Why is it important that I improve it?
In today's world of multiple, high-frequency, high-intensity distractions...we need to be able to let go. To shed all these external distractions and find a calm moment to find and enjoy ourselves and what we're doing.
Multitasking. Ever find yourself sitting in front of the TV, laptop on your lap, multiple web pages/tabs open...(of course Facebook is one of them), talking on your cell phone? Multitasking is every job seeker's testament and every employer's preoccupation. But recent studies have shown that it's actually BAD for us. Making us do a poorer job at ALL the tasks we are so efficiently multitasking on.
Being in the moment means focusing your mind on ONLY the task at hand. In the dojang, this means thinking only of the kick, block, punch, or form that you're doing. Letting all other distractions fall away. As a martial artist this is important because it is the beginning of the transition of techniques from solely a physical movement, to one that includes all of you as a being.
So how do we do it? First of all you have to realize that the mind is like a small puppy that at one moment, will be interested in something, and then the next, wonder off in search of something else. Our job is to train ourselves to come back to the item we're "in" whenever we feel our puppy wander off.
The benefit of being in the moment is an enjoyment and appreciation of that moment. I ask my students all the time what the most valuable thing they have is...the answer is time. It's so rare and precious that there is only one moment. You don't get two moments...a do over. So be in that moment, enjoy it, savor it, indulge in it.
So, being in the moment is a concept that applies not only to the dojang, but our daily lives. Be in the moment with your friends, your family, your children. Enjoy them as you experience them.
Being in the moment is a vaccine against the disease of regret. "I wish I had spent more time with her, I wish I would have paid attention, I wish I could have tried harder".
Keep training hard!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
It's just a mat...right?
A 3 foot by 3 foot, one-inch thick hard rubber square...that's a mat. Put a bunch together on the floor with some mirrors and flags and you've got a dojang (training space).
But it's more than that.
The dojang is a special place. A protected, special place for all students. It is a place where everyone is safe. Safe from the troubles, pressures and worries of the outside world. Safe from bullying, and ridicule. A place where everyone can be in the moment of their training (more on this in another post), and forget and leave the outside world for just a little bit.
The rules of the dojang ensure that it remains a special place. Shoes and hats are removed as a sign of respect and humility, as well as to maintain cleanliness. Students bow on the way in and out to show respect for the dojang itself, as well as the national flags that hang there. Excessive noise and talking are discouraged to allow students to focus attention on the Master and what they are learning. Horseplay is not allowed to ensure safety as well as a reminder of the seriousness of what is learned there.
The dojang is a mirror of life. In the dojang we experience all the emotions of life: joy, pain, pride of accomplishment, frustration, fear, failure, sorrow. By facing these feelings and emotions in the microcosm of the structured, regulated dojang, we learn to deal with them. Learn to deal with them inside the dojang, and you can deal with them outside the dojang. The dojang is a school....a place of learning. Some lessons are easy....others hard and some even painful. Most everything that is done by the Master Instructor has purpose or meaning.
The hardest part of any journey is the courage to take the first step. I can't tell you how many times people have told me, " I've always wanted to try the martial arts". My advice is always the same....Just get on the mat!
Keep training hard!
But it's more than that.
The dojang is a special place. A protected, special place for all students. It is a place where everyone is safe. Safe from the troubles, pressures and worries of the outside world. Safe from bullying, and ridicule. A place where everyone can be in the moment of their training (more on this in another post), and forget and leave the outside world for just a little bit.
The rules of the dojang ensure that it remains a special place. Shoes and hats are removed as a sign of respect and humility, as well as to maintain cleanliness. Students bow on the way in and out to show respect for the dojang itself, as well as the national flags that hang there. Excessive noise and talking are discouraged to allow students to focus attention on the Master and what they are learning. Horseplay is not allowed to ensure safety as well as a reminder of the seriousness of what is learned there.
The dojang is a mirror of life. In the dojang we experience all the emotions of life: joy, pain, pride of accomplishment, frustration, fear, failure, sorrow. By facing these feelings and emotions in the microcosm of the structured, regulated dojang, we learn to deal with them. Learn to deal with them inside the dojang, and you can deal with them outside the dojang. The dojang is a school....a place of learning. Some lessons are easy....others hard and some even painful. Most everything that is done by the Master Instructor has purpose or meaning.
The hardest part of any journey is the courage to take the first step. I can't tell you how many times people have told me, " I've always wanted to try the martial arts". My advice is always the same....Just get on the mat!
Keep training hard!
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