Are You Using the Discipline of Martial Arts Outside the Dojo?

 

Are You Using the Discipline of Martial Arts Outside the Dojo?

Martial arts training doesn’t end when you bow out at the end of class—it simply changes location. The discipline we develop on the training floor isn’t meant to stay there. It’s a tool for life.

Having taught martial arts for 43 years, I've seen what I call the "Eddie Haskell switchover", where people (mainly kids or teens, but the occasional adult as well) carry the greatest manners and work ethic in the Dojo, but not outside the Dojo.  

𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟-𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭:

     𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳", 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 "𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳" 𝘵𝘷 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 1950'𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 1960'𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳.  𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 (𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 '𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦') 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.....𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘦rk 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 "𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵", 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 "𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮", 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘴."

Think about it: In class, you follow structure, respect your instructor and peers, push through discomfort, and focus on the task at hand. But do those habits carry over when you’re at work, with your family, or even dealing with strangers? Do you get triggered when something doesn't go your way? Do you feel like violence when you feel slighted or disrespected? Are you rude to your parents or coworkers? Do you put in the practice outside of class? 

These are indicators of something you need to work on. The trick is taking the concepts of martial arts practice and applying it to everyday life. 

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯.

Self-discipline in martial arts means try to make the right choices when no one is looking. It’s trying to show patience when frustration rises, staying committed to your goals when distractions calls, and treating others with the respect you’d expect on the training floor. It's respecting the fact that the rest of the world will not think like you, act like you, or expect the same things as you. 

Plus....It's not judging people just because they don't act, think or do things like you do.

Unfortunately, there are those in the martial arts who are outwardly "Masters" yet are judgemental, overly opinionated, get upset when people don't agree with everything they say, and lash out when they get called out on their behavior.  Some will form cliques full of people with the same attitude, and will berate others who don't agree with them. 

I understand that we are all human and we all have the privilege to be however we want. ...but does this privilege mean we forget that Martial arts classes (and teaching martial arts) is also privilege? Just because people are "Masters", does it allow them to forget the discipline?

I will admit, I falter in many things, even on the Dojo floor.  However, I am trying to address my faults and shortcomings and improve the best that I can.  It can be difficult sometimes....It's a constant self awaress....much like the same "awareness of surroundings" that we as martial arts instructors often teach. If I always default to the "Gimme a break I'm human" but not do anything to self-improve, there's no progress. The trick is to not run to distractions to escape what you need to work on. Funny, though, that sometimes we separate the Martial from the personal.

Your time on the training floor is the rehearsal. The real test is how you live outside it.