First, you can't simply know about the True Martial Art, you have to experience them to really know them. To know about is like wondering and fantasizing, to know is to actually do. It is the difference between talking about the word 'wet' and actually jumping in the ocean.
Thus, if you talk to people about the martial arts, if you watch movies about the martial arts, if you read books about the martial arts, it doesn't work. The only thing that works is to actually find a teacher and learn them. To put on a uniform and step onto the dojo floor and find out how they really work.
Interestingly, they don't always work the way they seem to work in the movies. Bruce Lee may be incredible on the screen, but he had two arts, one was a movie art for the camera and creating the WOW in the audience, and the other was designed for combat. These two arts often don't even look alike, they are greatly different.
When you walk onto the mat for the first time you will find you are entering a wonderful world of mystery. You will have butterflys in the stomach, you won't know what to do, and you will actually be a in a state of awe. You will learn to tie the belt, bow, and how to conduct yourself in this strange, new world.
The fun starts when you learn your first moves. Everything you do is going to seem weird, unnatural, but it is really just unfamiliar. You'll do everything wrong, you'll even have to figure out what right and left really mean.
Eventually, you'll have copy catted your techniques enough, and you'll face a real opponent. Oh, Lord, you have to actually throw somebody to the ground, block somebody, hit somebody! How in heaven's name are you going to manage this without falling on your fanny?
Time moves along. You practice, and persist, and things start to make sense. The techniques and forms become understandable, approach second nature, and are even able to be applied in the great chaos of freestyle.
And you learn that the most important lesson of the dojo...you won't learn anything if you don't start. What's that old saying...a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the single step you took, through the dojo doors and onto the mat, will end up being the most significant and important step you will ever take in your life, for this is the step that brought you discipline, good health, confidence, and the ability to take on and defeat any problem in life.
Thus, if you talk to people about the martial arts, if you watch movies about the martial arts, if you read books about the martial arts, it doesn't work. The only thing that works is to actually find a teacher and learn them. To put on a uniform and step onto the dojo floor and find out how they really work.
Interestingly, they don't always work the way they seem to work in the movies. Bruce Lee may be incredible on the screen, but he had two arts, one was a movie art for the camera and creating the WOW in the audience, and the other was designed for combat. These two arts often don't even look alike, they are greatly different.
When you walk onto the mat for the first time you will find you are entering a wonderful world of mystery. You will have butterflys in the stomach, you won't know what to do, and you will actually be a in a state of awe. You will learn to tie the belt, bow, and how to conduct yourself in this strange, new world.
The fun starts when you learn your first moves. Everything you do is going to seem weird, unnatural, but it is really just unfamiliar. You'll do everything wrong, you'll even have to figure out what right and left really mean.
Eventually, you'll have copy catted your techniques enough, and you'll face a real opponent. Oh, Lord, you have to actually throw somebody to the ground, block somebody, hit somebody! How in heaven's name are you going to manage this without falling on your fanny?
Time moves along. You practice, and persist, and things start to make sense. The techniques and forms become understandable, approach second nature, and are even able to be applied in the great chaos of freestyle.
And you learn that the most important lesson of the dojo...you won't learn anything if you don't start. What's that old saying...a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And the single step you took, through the dojo doors and onto the mat, will end up being the most significant and important step you will ever take in your life, for this is the step that brought you discipline, good health, confidence, and the ability to take on and defeat any problem in life.
About the Author:
Al Case has analyzed the martial arts for 40 plus+ years. He offers Video Lessons at Monster Martial Arts.
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