{"id":146,"date":"2016-01-25T14:32:45","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/?p=146"},"modified":"2016-01-25T14:32:45","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T14:32:45","slug":"comfort-in-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/2016\/01\/25\/comfort-in-training\/","title":{"rendered":"COMFORT IN TRAINING"},"content":{"rendered":"

I find these days that far too many people treat martial arts like a comfort-driven, athletic hobby. Now I know the stereotypical hyberbole I\u2019ll get for this: \u201cdifferent people practice for different reasons\u201d (true), \u201csome train just as a social activity\u201d (also true), \u201csome just want to stay in shape\u201d (true again) and \u201cmany just want the traditional aspect, to learn about a culture\u201d (true, true, true). However, this being said, I find so many want the comforts of home. Not to challenge themselves. Not to have to face themselves in the mirror and deal with their demons-not an easy task, to be sure. To not get tweaks, bruises, pulls, strains. To have a nice big beautiful dojo covered in expensive mats and the latest technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now maybe I\u2019m just jealous (I\u2019m not but I digress) but I have a very old-school bothoan (club in Tagalog)-basic, hard floors, thin mats, paint cracking, no A\/C with none of the comforts of your living room. My training tools are basic yet difficult, explosive and creative as I use what I have and what\u2019s at my disposal. Combat (and, therefore, combat training) is not a comfort zone. It\u2019s gritty, dirty, grimy, ugly and chaotic. I choose to train this way and have my students train this way. Hot, uncomfortable, unpredictable, grueling and sometimes downright intimidating. Safe? Yes, no question. I don\u2019t want my tribe to go out on the street (where they really need these skills) injured or decimated due to the training. But I do want them to be hardened\u2026battle-hardened, prepared mentally-physically-spiritually-emotionally-psychologically-on all levels for the realities of the worst-case scenario of what they may encounter from the modern criminal. I can assure you the modern criminal is not in an air-conditioned lodge with top-of-the-line mats, $2000 equipment and a hot shiny floor, getting ready to attack you. And, if it\u2019s good enough in the old-school Filipino way of training, it\u2019s good enough for us now. It\u2019s an experience.<\/em><\/p>\n

My top students have told me they never know what they\u2019re going to get when they walk in the door. Which is how it should be. No preparation given, no alerts sent out, no time for emotional psyche-up. And when they complete the task, they\u2019re euphoric, because they\u2019ve overcome an obstacle thoroughly by using their adaptive, think-outside-the-box, honest-to-goodness gut instinct survival skills. Real pragmatic functional skill is built. At times through discomfort, anxiety and stress. Like a river over time wearing away rocks, their skills become ingrained, instinctive, natural, explosive and without thought. It\u2019s a teaching methodology I realize not all are proponents of but inevitably the proof is in the pudding. What you put in, you get out. No forms, no pre-arranged sequences, no static response to static attacks. A problem-solving approach. Ironically (or perhaps not) the training is much like the bothoan. It\u2019s there to serve a very specific purpose. Chosen for this very reason. <\/em><\/p>\n

In conclusion, I guess my point is that for all the fancy equipment, state-of-the-art training tools, expensive new gym, top-of-the-line weights and machines-at the end of the day it\u2019s the training methodology (concept-based) that makes the difference, not all the rest. Many will agree but few will practice what they preach.<\/em><\/p>\n

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copyright 2016, Mandirigma Filipino Martial Arts Academy & Civilian Preservation Technologies<\/p>\n

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I find these days that far too many people treat martial arts like a comfort-driven, athletic hobby. Now I know the stereotypical hyberbole I\u2019ll get for this: \u201cdifferent people practice for different reasons\u201d (true), \u201csome train just as a social activity\u201d (also true), \u201csome just want to stay in shape\u201d (true again) and \u201cmany just … Continue reading COMFORT IN TRAINING<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.mandirigmafma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}