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How Students Should Approach Learning Martial Arts
By Eric Klein, Ju Dan, Ju Bushido Isshinryu
© 2003 - 2008
Knowledge is knowing why you are doing something; Wisdom is knowing why you are not doing something else.
Part II: Attitude
Approaching the learning of your Art will always be first and foremost a matter of attitude. How we perceive what we are learning and the students we are learning with is so important that if your attitude is self-centered, you will learn little, hurt many, and get very little joy out of the time you spend doing this.
The biggest mistake a Sensei can make is to refer to his students as "opponents" when doing technique drills and Bunkai. "Opponent" instills in the student the idea that the leaning they are doing is for them alone, and that even in the practice of technique, it is the individual student who must "win" the drill. With my students, unless I explicitly state to the otherwise, they are always partners. You have a duty to yourself to learn to the best of your ability, but you have an equal duty to help your fellow students learn as well. Being opponents serves no one, and usually causes jealousy, antagonism and loss of control.
Through all my years and all the trophies, I have never learned from winning--I have only learned from losing. If you have the attitude that you must always win while sparring or working technique, you'll override your training. The "need" to win is unhealthy, overfocusing and causes self-deprecation when you don't "win." If you do this, you'll never master anything. We all have much to learn; none of us are perfect; we will all get hit. Rather than be angry when getting hit; rather than becoming frustrated over a missed block, use the situation as an opportunity to learn. You need to have the following attitude when sparring or working with another student: You can never fail--you can only not succeed. "Fail" implies a negative direction; "not succeed" implies that you know the positive path, only you've not reached it yet--but are willing to work toward it. Removing the negative from our thoughts leaves room for positive ones for both us and our fellow students. Martial Arts is not just self-defense, its self-mastery. You will never master any part of life by inducing self-pressure, impossible expectations and negative perspectives.
To approach Martial Arts study properly, every student must have a sense of humility, awe of technique and reverence for the process of learning. A selfish attitude will not only serve you poorly, it will also be a detriment to the class. If you're reading this, you are obviously a student of Martial Arts, have made a commitment to your world community to create a better, more humane life for yourself and those around you and are on a path toward something truly unique and special. How long it takes you to reach that goal is up to the attitude with which you approach your learning and teaching. Remember--no matter what rank you hold, as long as you are working with others, you are also a part of their learning; in that respect, you are also a conduit of teaching. Use this great honor well with your fellow students and they will in turn help you to reach your deepest and greatest abilities.
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