Monday, May 1, 2017

The Squirrel Epidemic - How Practicing a Martial Art Can Help - - Chief Instructor's Blog May 2017


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