The Role of Community in Martial Arts and Yoga

Recently I had the priveledge of moving with people I knew from BOTH martial arts and yoga. This gave me thought about the way that mind-body practitioners work to build community. In fact, it is a critical part of both practices.

Independance

Do you remember when you got your first car? The thrill of independance? Your sudden ability to go so many places with no help, even take others? Driving is one of the greatest times for independance. For all it's hassles, I love getting behind the wheel of a car. I feel so in control, moving this vehicle around at high speeds.

But on this moving day day I found myself backing a U-Haul truck and totally dependent. You need someone to stand behind your truck and guide you back. At first I found myself trying to look around for myself, but it is hopeless. You cannot drive and see behind the truck. So the best thing to do is to rely almost entirely on the person backing you up; in fact, you have to be totally dependant on their ability to guide you. So suddenly, something you have to depend on others for something you have done a long time without help.

Off the Mat: How Mind-Body Practice Builds community

Now consider the application to martial arts and yoga. Our practice is largely our own, but true parcticitioners of these mind body arts realize that they are practicing within a community. That is one of the reasons teachers are so venerated. The Kula and the Dojang rely on constant development of community and helping each other. This is one reason why I like it so much more than a gym, or other form of exercise.

Training on the Mat for Off the Mat Community

Sure there is a comradarie in many activities, but yoga and martial arts incorporate the building of trust within almost every lesson. From the opening call for brotherhood in a Tukong Moosul class to the closing Om of yoga, one is reminded that your practice is part of a whole.

• The martial artist must trust that the person who is working with you on self defense will have the judgement not to punch you. I remember my sparring partner messing up and feeling his wiskers as I pulled a punch to his jaw. It is an almost daily occourance that someone comes at you with a crippling blow, then stops short before impact. Without this trust one could never develop a high level of skill; you have to get a feel for the human body.
• Yoga is kind of different. Although sometimes you get help with a pose, it is very rare that a yogi risks serious injury if their partner fails. However, there is some kind of nurturing love built from the sensitivity of the practice. Yogi's in a group are very much aware of each others practice. Even the notoriously cold Ashtangi's can tell you all about someone else in their class. Yoga also draws out a personality from the practitioner.

On a personal note, I have to say that martial arts was a much more practical training for the task of backing a truck. My martial arts brother and I were very used to cueing each other, and working out the best way to do things. This is born of trying to figure out how to train in combat exercises, or even line people up for sword practice. Yogi's on the other hand just pretty much practice on their own. What you do doesn't really effect your neighbor on the mat beside you. But for both, the trust was 100% there.

Not an Option

I believe it is no coincedence that these two arts emphasize community. At their core they are both about living life in a full and meaningful way. From the earliest days of mankind we have realized that this means depending on each other.
You get a lot of power from the practice of a mind/body art. One might be tempted to think they don't need others. Private practice is indeed encouraged. But in the end, the highest aspiration of most practitioners is to teach others, to build on the art and move it forward. This goal cannot be achieved alone. If you wish to progress, you must depend and be dependant on your community.
So if you are a serious practitioner of Martial Arts and Yoga realize that community is not an option. In fact, is there any human endevour where this is not true? Sure one can drive a Nissan Maxima with no help, but some things, like backing up a truck cannot be done without help.

What is an "Advanced" Practice

The other day I was with some fellow yoga practitioners and one said she didn't want to go to the advanced class because she couldn't do a handstand yet. Coincidentally I had just had a conversation with the advanced class teacher. She had told me quite clearly that I was welcome even though I wasn't "there yet" with handstands (which I can't do). The whole thing got me thinking about what constitutes and advanced practitioner of yoga or martial arts.

Mastery - The first thing I should do is distinguish advanced vs. mastery. There are people who practice mind-body exercises every day for hours. These people, with the right combination of talent, skill and instruction reach a phenomenal stage of achievement. When I use the term advanced, I am not talking about these professors of martial arts and yoga. My use is more akin to someone moving up in elementary school (more on this later.) For the purposes of this article, I am talking about someone who operates in this modern world and practices mind-body exercises on a regular basis.

So in our culture, what constitutes an advanced student?

Not Ability to...- In yoga advanced is not reflected in your ability to achieve a certain posture. If it were, then 16 year old gymnasts would be the best yogis. Similarly, your ability to break boards or beat people does not distinguish you as an advanced martial artists. There are people who can do both that I would characterize as macho men, street thugs or just tough...but not advanced martial artists.

Sure an advanced martial artists are powerful warriors, and an advanced yogi can do things many can not. However, I believe these abilities are a reflection of their advanced state, not the reason they are advanced. The ability to... is the fruit of practice, but not what defines the tree that is the practitioner.

The qualities I believe constitute an advanced student are:

• knowledge of self
• low injury rate
• unstoppable
• self assured
• humble
• open minded

An advanced student may have a rank in a school, or a certificate on the wall, but in the end, each of us must decide, for ourselves and others, what advanced is.

Knowledge of self - an advanced practitioner knows exactly what she can do, and is constantly pushing that ability. They know how to walk right up to the edge. A Yogini will twist her outer leg in Pigeon Pose until her IT band burns. But she will not harm her knee. She knows her edge, and she pushes it. A martial artist will block with the bone 100 times until his forearms are bruised, and little micro-fractures form to toughen the forearm. But if the wrist tendons are in danger he will back off, putting his ego in check so he can advance.

Low Injury Rate - Closely related to knowledge of one's self is a low injury rate. I see new people come into a martial arts or yoga class and "go for it". They push themselves hard, ready to quickly master something. If they feel that tweak in their knee they tough it out. They make no allowance for swollen toes, full stomach, lack of sleep or any other impairment. Consequently they get hurt, sometimes seriously, and never come back. In martial arts these people are especially dangerous because they are reckless and can hurt others. If you see these wreckless practioners in a martial arts class be very careful doing two person exercises.

Unstoppable - One of my teachers told a story of a woman who was in the black belt club. While most black belts, regardless of size were kicking the hell out of targets, her kicks were...moderate. She was slow in form, and a little wobbly in her balance. Not at all what one would see in most black belts. Even her Keeyap was funny. But my teacher learned later that she had been diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease, and that the doctors had said she would be disabled at best. We all agreed she was the best black belt on the floor. I see this all the time. People with cancer, in their 80's, children, and people who decide for the first time in their life to exercise--this unstoppable fire is a thing of beauty.

Self Assured - I am just starting to teach and find that nothing can be more humbling. At first I was flustered when I made a mistake, and terrified of teaching something wrong. What if I made a fool of myself in front of these talented students? But as I watched I saw that even good teachers made mistakes. In fact, they constantly made tiny little errors in their teaching or motions. But they recover and continue. In testing we tell people not to show frustration if you mess up. Either continue or ask to start again, but don't groan, make a face and throw a mini tantrum. In yoga I see those people holding their breath, grunting and groaning and looking around to compare themselves to the rest of class. Advanced students may look, but they are always in a place of calm self assurance.

Humility - when we practice martial arts and yoga we undertake the study of some very complex systems that have been developed over thousands of years. The people I know haven't lived their lives in an Asian temple, practicing morning noon and night since childhood. And even those who do will attest there is still much to learn.

At one point in my practice I realized that I there was so much to know. I had learned the basics of hundreds of techniques, postures, principles, over years of practice. And I yet I still find things to correct in my long stance. As you get more advanced, you are adding to a bigger and bigger list of things you can't do. It is overwhelming, and humbling.

Intermediate students often make the mistake of thinking they know something a teacher is showing them. You will hear them correcting other students, even arguing with the teacher about the "right way" to do something. They have learned enough to know the basic technique, but not enough to see subtle variations.

Beware of overly proud intermediates; they may have certificates, trophies and awards, but if you are not careful they will waste your precious practice time. I advise listening to them, but don't let someone who is "in the teacher training" be the final word in your practice.

Intermediate students are easily recognizable. They are accomplished and able in their practice. Sometimes an advanced student is indistinguishable from a beginner. Think of the classic martial arts movie where the maintenance man is a master of Karate, or Guru who looks like a beggar. An intermediate student will list their accomplishments. They take offense when someone tries to show them something; an advanced student smiles and listens, tries it out and moves forward.

note: I am not pointing fingers...very few people skip this stage of development, and most of us cycle through it repeatedly as we advance. An advanced student will recognize this attitude in themselves and correct it.

The Open Mind - so the open mind is, in my thinking, the most important quality of an advanced student. Despite an advanced students many accomplishments and wealth of knowledge, they realize how little they know, and eagerly approach each new lesson with a beginners mind. This is why an advanced martial artist can adapt to a variety of fighting styles. It is why they are hard to trick, they see things as they are, not as a repetition of something they have seen before. Advanced mind-body students are able to learn under any circumstance. I knew a student who came from a bad teacher. My teacher confided in me his amazement: "When I saw that teacher practicing Tai Chi, I couldn't tell it was Tai Chi, but his student had had taken his instruction and did the moves correctly!"

When a student is advanced they learn from those less skilled, they learn from obnoxious intermediates, they learn from beginners, they learn from nature. Their practice extends beyond the mat, and their practice off the mat comes back to the mat for exploration. When you see this quality in a student, they are probably advanced.

I saw this quality in my friend, who can't do a handstand, but is,

I think,

advanced.

No Can Do!

"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."



This week I had a revelation about how often I tell myself I can't do something. It started in Martial Arts. Master Ali took us through a set of exercises ranging from practicing forms to dragging your training partner accross the room (very tiring). I did these as I ussually do with confidence that I could do things. In fact, I was already observing a certain level of judgement. For instance, I wa staking pride in remembering certain things, and getting rattled when I forgot.



Master Ali did an exercise where we held two sticks and banged them togeteher while the class practiced agility by stepping between the sticks. From the moment I saw the drill I was starting to dread it. I realized that before I tried the exercise I had convinced myslef that I couldn't do it. In fact, I couldn't. I jumped in and the sticks hit my foot. Two or thre times I tried to no avail.



But this time I realized why. I was telling myself I couldn't jump rope, that I had poor rythum, that I never did good at these things, and a thousand other things I had learned from failures since childhood.



So, I made a decision to just forget that bullshit and do it.



Now by the end of class I was not doing it as well as others, but I had managed to get seven repetitions out. With a little more practice I am sure I could have done it much better.



I was pretty sore after the workout so I decided to go for a nice easy Yoga workout. Mandy was teaching. I was pretty sore from the Tukong training so I decided to go and just kind of take it easy. A little Hatha would work the kinks out.





Mandy focused on backbends that day, and then went to full wheel. She heard my little snide snort when she said "







I was essentially doing it again. Telling myself I can't do it. I was sore, tired, and have never ever ever come even close to raisning my head in wheel.


This time was particularly bad because Mandy decided to work with me in front of the whole class. So imagine the forces at work in my mind:

• I can't do this
• my chest is tight
• back bends just aren't my thing
• I am already tired and don't want to do this
• a classroom full of beautiful women is watching me try this, oh god I look ridiculous!

Three times I tired.

Three times Mandy pushed coached instructed discussed and told me what to do.

I didn't do it, and in fact, almost cranked my neck a couple of times.

So then we went off to practice with a partner and I was lucky enough to have another yoga teacher as my partner. At that moment I realized I had once again told myself that I couldn't do it.

So I made a point to push into it, and make sure I knew I was able to do it. I was able to push up into wheel and get my head off the ground for about five seconds. It was a breakthrough...first time in my life I could do it.

So today I learned that the secret to success is to catch yourself when you think you can't. Identify that dialogue and tell yourself you can.

It sounds easy, but believe me, it is very hard. Your mind is smart, and it will come up with all kinds of logical reasons why you can't do something. It will provide you with evidence based on past experiences. It will fill you with fear of injury, humiliation and failure.

Another thing. No matter how experienced you are in your practice, this will come back. I had a break through today, but in a week, or a day, or an hour later, the mind will once again place limits on what I can do. It demands constant attention.

Recovery from Mistakes

Living in the Moment

When you make a mistake don't hold on to it. Once I was practicing moving hard blocking, which is a series of seven sets of moves designed to move your body in unconventional ways. They are also sometimes refered to as "confusion forms". Even after practicing these forms for many years I still have days where I miss a move. I take an extra step, or miss a punch. It is like my mind plays tricks.

So on this day I tried to do moving hard blocking 1-7 and on the 3 series I made a mistake. Then the 4th, then the 5th, then the 6th. By the 7th series I was totally befuddled. One of the black belts said "don't let the mistake carry forward."

Master Ali has emphasized this before several promotion tests. He says, "If you make a mistake while testing either reset and say 'permission to do again', or carry on through."
"Don't stop and go ugh!" he usually mimics someone in a front stance shaking their head in frustration "no one wants to see that."

When you make a mistake, go to the next moment fresh and with an open mind. Live in that moment, don't waste a micro second on regret. This is particularly important if there are high stakes. In a combat situation regret and self examination will get you killed.

Learn from Mistakes

Even though you live in the moment, don't be accepting.

Grandmaster Yi saw the whole class was having a hard time with a sequence he was teaching. At the end of class he emphasized the need to learn from your mistakes. So while you shouldn't dwell on your mistakes, you should learn from them.

One thing he said that stuck in my mind was "don't smile when you make a mistake" . Smiling says it is ok, or that you are making the mistake, but don't care. Don't be accepting of mistakes.

Don't Understand, Do It

A few days ago we were working on an intense set of sparring moves, and I just wasn't doing it right.

Master Ali told me how to do it,
I missed the move.
He told me again
and I said,"Understood"
"Don't understand it" he replied,
"Do it"

Nothing could have summed it up better. It is not about dealing with mistakes, or fixing something wrong. It is about doing it right!

Don't understand....DO IT!

Three moves in a form

Master Ali helped us with forms. I can tell I am improving because this time he waited until the first move to offer correction. The last time he started at "ready position". The higher your rank the more exacting the instruction becomes. There is no end to the detail.

About Mind and Body

This is a blog for exploring martial arts and yoga. I plan to fill this blog with insights of my mind that are gained through the physical practice of Tookung Moosul and Yoga.