This week’s word of the week is Organization, which is ironic considering we are a little late getting it posted. That and some website issues preventing us from working, but I digress. The problems are fixed and it leads me right into why organization is important, especially when learning martial arts. In order to get anything done, it is usually best to have a plan, a sort of pathway to your goal. Without this plan, even though you may have a goal, you may attempt to take several roads at once to get there. This will of course lead you down many paths, some of which can get you lost or worse, take you back to the start.
Learning martial arts usually has a set structure and ours is no different. We have one path that is set forth to progress through the ranks and ultimately you as the best martial artist you can be. While some minor things may change here and there over the years to adapt to new knowledge, for the most part, the baseline structure remains the same, White Sash through Black Sash and beyond. This is to allow you to formulate pathways in your mind during training so that when you learn more advanced techniques, you have already learned the basics of those techniques prior to this new one. For example, it would very difficult to teach a jump spinning hook kick if you did not know what a hook kick was in the first place, let alone how to do one well enough to also add jumping and spinning to it. While a relatively simple example, the point is made. Organize your mind as you would your training. Take things step by step. Try to remember to crawl before you walk, walk before you run, run before you jump. Each progression will be that much better and more meaningful when you have already accomplished the first steps.
Train hard and fight with meaning,
Head Instructor Shawn Morris