Mental Preparation

When people hear the term mental preparation they immediately think of not freezing or going blank under duress, and while that is what is usually meant people don't realize that they can mentally prepare for a situation in other ways. Martial arts practitioners need to realize that while being physically fit is important inorder to survive or "triumph" in a  real situation your going to depend on 70% to 80%  mental and only 20%- 30% physical.

Today I would like to talk about a few things that you can ponder on or meditate on (what ever terms float your boat). First, do you know your natural weapons? No, not your hands, feet, knees and elbows. Your height, weight, speed, reach and strength. Consider this, if you are a shorter person how practical is high kicking? Not practical at all if you spend your time learning high kicks even if you are awesome at it, if your opponent's head is higher than you can kick what would you do. If you are slow and you know it then maybe techniques designed for speed aren't going to work for you. If you are short assume all of your attackers or opponents are going to be taller than you and train accordingly.If your are really tall then assume that most of your opponents will be shorter than you, in this case maybe doing some higher kicking isn't such a bad idea (remember never sacrifice power or stability for height fancy doesn't equal effective). That is what I mean by know your natural weapons.



Mental shadow boxing: the next thing I want to discuss is mental shadow boxing, please don't confuse this with day dreaming or fanciful thinking where you are gonna beat up 10 ninjas and save the girl. Think over your techniques break them apart and see how effective each piece is. Start with the block, parry, trap or dodge and consider if this is stylized. Run through real attacks and real defenses. Never just take what an instructor tells you as dogma or law, question and experiment with everything you learn. And remember that you can synthesize and refine your own techniques, all martial arts originally came from some one who was mental shadow boxing. Don't forget all styles, systems and techniques started as an idea, insight or revelation were refined, tested and finally implemented.

Remember
Real Violence needs Real Solutions
M.U.C.T