Does Martial Arts Build Character?

I received a question on my views on whether or not the claim by some that Martial Arts builds character outside the class is true. My answer is a definite yes and no...it depends on a variety of factors including the student, the instructor and the school.

My belief is training in Martial Arts will build something in everyone beginning with a person's weaknesses but this is not necessarily anything to do with character. It could be completely physical or mental. For example, if a person has a bad memory, this will be the limiting factor in their training and all other areas of training cannot progress until the memory improves. If another student has limited endurance, they may not have the opportunity to test their memory because they are exhausted before they get to that point.

So what areas are built through Martial Arts? These include:

• Humility - during training a student will discover that there are many better Martial Artists in the world and even a frail old man may be able to defeat them in a fighting situation
• Patience - Martial Arts is all about repetition and a typical Martial Arts school will force a student to pass certain gates before progressing to their next level of learning
  
• Persistence - nobody will be able to do everything without failure but with persistence everyone is able to succeed in learning and performing techniques taught by their instructor
  
• Self discipline - certain points in a student's training will require their own discipline which was covered in my previous blog entry Fighting Through Monotony
• Respect - for tradition, for other students, for instructors
• Confidence or courage - students that have learned how to defend themselves will be much more confident walking down the street at night, students that have performed in front of a crowd will be less likely to be intimidated by speaking in front of a crowd and students that have seen a punch coming straight for their face is less likely to be scared in a non-physical, confrontational discussion
  

Given this information it would seem that I believe that the absolute answer is yes, Martial Arts will build character. My qualifiers are the attitudes of the student and the instructor as well as the school itself.

• Does the student want to learn with an open mind or are they at the school with the attitude that they pay their money and therefore are entitled to certain things?
  
• Does the instructor treat the class like his/her Martial Arts family or is this a business to them?
• Does the school push students through their program so they can sell a franchise to that student or does the school recognize based on actual level of the student?
• Does the instructor believe in tradition or is it purely fighting that is important such as in boxing or Mixed Martial Arts? Furthermore, does the school have a tradition and lineage that is discussed?
• Why is the student there? Is it because their Mom signed them up or did they truly want to learn Martial Arts for their own reasons?
  

Generally, the students will build character when they join and attend a Martial Arts class regularly but signing up only gives the opportunity to learn and build character. The student still needs to make sure that they work hard and listen while they are in class.

5 Tips to Learning Kung Fu

As students join Kung Fu and begin their training they will find the amount of information that needs to be picked up to be overwhelming. Not only is there a huge amount of information to remember, there is also a correct way to perform everything. Here are a few pointers to help in your training.

1. Practice, practice, practice. The only way to get better at your techniques is to repeat them until they are natural body movements for you. Not only do you need to practice, you need to practice correctly. Yes, you will often be doing something wrong without realizing it until an instructor corrects you but try your best to do it as you feel is correct. Remember that practice does not have to take place in class.
   
2. Learn the corrections. You will be corrected by instructors. When this happens make sure you execute the corrections as soon as possible and find a way to maintain the corrections moving forward. By not keeping the corrections, you are choosing to waste your time because you will be corrected again in the future.
3. Don't get caught up in the little details....yet. You are just learning a technique and are probably not performing it perfectly yet. Why question the use of the technique or debate the different ways to defend against the technique? Get it down first....ask questions later if needed. Often an answer becomes clear when you move further in your training.
4. Basics such as stances, blocks and strikes need constant work. Don't forget about your basic forms just because you have learned your newer, cooler techniques. Everything begins with strong basics and builds from there.
5. Be patient. Working on a single form or technique even after you have become comfortable with it is a good thing. When you are bored of them, you will probably be able to mentally discover alternate uses for the techniques. The instructors want you to progress just as much as you do but you need to be ready. Resist the urge to ask any question that starts with "When do I get to..."

As you can see, all of these things are within the control of the individual student. The student must find the self discipline to execute.

Fighting Through Monotony

I have mentioned to the students over the years that Kung Fu or Martial Arts in general has no season. This is one reason that Kung Fu has such a high dropout rate. Other activities have a season where you can give full effort and then relax in the off season so you can come back recharged for the next season. Martial Arts is intended more as a lifestyle choice than a regular activity. If you choose to succeed in Martial Arts, you have to push through the monotony of repeating things repeatedly for years without breaks.

As an instructor, I aim to guide, encourage and teach the students but cannot be the sole source of motivation. Each student must be self motivated to force themselves to work during class...I do not babysit and do not micro-manage the training of the students. As a student of Kung Fu, I also had to ensure that I was motivating myself to continue to train and improve no matter how monotonous the training became. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut. You have to put in your repetitions to improve.

Some key points in staying on track are:

• Understand why you need to repeat things
  
• Realize that bored is good because it means you no longer are struggling to remember which is probably the time when your brain will start to learn and fully discover the techniques being practiced
• Set the time aside - your training nights are not available for other activities
• Show up to class - force yourself to go no matter how sore you are from past workouts or how tired you are from things leading up to class...you will feel fine once class starts
• Occupy your mind on improving - focus on implementing changes that the instructor recommend

As students continue to practice forms or techniques, they will go through several stages of development:

1. Learning - this is exciting as everything is new at this time and you need to fully concentrate to remember the content being taught
2. Remembering - this is when you feel that you can execute the technique or form without and hesitation or thinking...unfortunately, it is very tempting to stop practicing at this point and move on to something else
3. Owning the technique or form - executed automatically through muscle memory...no thinking so the speed of execution is greatly increase
4. Boredom - the student has performed it so many times that it is not exciting anymore...this is where you start to discover different uses for the techniques and become innovative with your form
5. Mastering - I am not convinced that you ever completely "master" something but the martial artist has gotten to a level with a form that they can execute at a high level of proficiency even if they are not practicing the form regularly