Everyone has seen
it, how dogs can be easily distracted.
The dog can be playing and appear to be engaged in fetching a stick and
then instantly lose focus by something such as a squirrel racing by. Over the last 10 years I believe people are
more easily distracted than ever before and the “squirrel effect” is starting
to be an epidemic. And how could we not
be easily distracted?
When I started work
23 years ago, if I needed to get in contact with someone I called them from my
desk phone or went to talk to them.
Today I can call from my desk phone, call from my cell phone, email,
text, or IM, and sometimes walk over to their desk to talk to them. The phone rings, the text dings, the IMs
flash. It is so easy to get distracted
by the next thing that makes a sound that we are training ourselves to not be
able to stay focused for very long.
This is a
problem. Being easily distracted can
lead to accidents while driving. Being easily distracted results in loss of
efficiency at work which can lead to performance issues that may result in
losing your job. Being distracted leads
to mistakes. In some jobs, distractions
can lead to mistakes that result in loss of high priced hardware and equipment
and even worse can result in human life being loss.
There are ways of
reducing the distractions such as turn off the ringer of the phones, close
email application or show yourself off-line, but this a band aid. What we really need is more practice where we
are staying focused and retrain the mind to stay in the moment.
Martial arts
provide a great practice of maintaining focus.
And because of this, I believe martial arts are even more important for
people to practice than ever before.
Every aspect of
our art form, especially if you are working with a partner, requires
significant focus. In order to be precise in techniques, you must
remain focused. In order to demonstrate
control, you must remain focused. In
order to not fall over during a side kick, you must stay focused. In order to get through a hyung correctly
where your stances are perfect, your strikes are exact, your movements are
exact, you must remain focused. Based on
some focus drills in class, you have also learned how much more effective your
techniques are when you remain focused. In
order to have smooth, even breathing you must remain focused. In order to stay safe and effective in
self-defense and sparring, you must remain focused.
Bruce Lee as noted in Zen In the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams is quoted as
saying, “A good martial artist puts his mind on one thing at a time. He takes
each thing as it comes, finishes with it, and passes on to the next. Like a Zen
master, he is not concerned with the past or the future, only with what he is
doing at that moment. Because his mind
is tight, he is calm and able to maintain strength in reserve. And then there will be room for only one
thought, which will fill his entire being as water fills a pitcher. You wasted an enormous amount of energy
because you did not localize and focus your mind. Always remember: in life as well as on the mat
an unfocused or ‘loose’ mind wastes energy.”
I challenge each of you to pay attention if you are easily distracted and
take advantage of class time to retrain your mind to stay focused and use that
training to minimize any “squirrel effect” during your day.
Regards,
Kelly
"Concentration is
the root of all the higher abilities in man.” ~ Bruce Lee, (1940 –1973)
American-born Chinese Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and founder of Jeet Kune
Do
