Articles by Rick Faye
Drills >>
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A Brief Biography: Guro Dan Inosanto >>
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The MKG Menu and Jeet Kune Do: >>

Articles by Jon Baklund
Private lessons >>
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Having fun while training. >>
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Physical, Mental, & Spiritual income from the martial arts. >>

Articles by Paul Boyajian
Accelerating Toward Your Goals: Learning in the Martial Arts Studio >>

Articles by Bob Carver
Giving Back >>

Articles by Roy Harris
What Makes a Good Instructor? >>

Articles by Sarah Kennedy
Training With Your Significant Other >>
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Curing Depression With Muay Thai >>

Articles by Peter Kwong
It's All In The Detail >>

Articles by Roy Liang
Teaching and Training Young (4 to ~7 yrs) Kids in the martial arts. >>

Articles by Tim Mousel
The Thaiboxing Workout: A Scientific Approach >>
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The Making of a True Martial Arts Master >>

Articles by Diana Rathborne
Self Defense Self Assessment for the Martial Arts Instructor >>
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Personal Safety For Women >>
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Mind Over Matter >>
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Competing With Your Instructor >>
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Basic Truths >>
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Muay Thai in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Kuhn Kru Rick Faye >>
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Be Safe - Be strong: Simple self defense tips >>

Articles by Rudy Rogers
Warriors and the Weed >>
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Progressive P.C.T. >>
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Ram Muay: Thai Boxing's Calm Before the Storm >>
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Martial Arts and Your Health: An Interview with Scott Schmaltz >>

Articles by Scott Schmaltz
Overcoming Fitness Plateaus >>
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Genetically Modified Foods >>
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Misconceptions of IBS >>
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Toxins In Meat >>

Articles by Anthony Sell
Building rapport with your students - 5 Sure-fire ways to improve your teaching skills >>
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Infusion-based Learning - Making the most out of your seminar experiences >>
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Lessons from NAGA - Why competition is an Important Experience. >>
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The Wisconsin Martial Arts Camp Experience >>
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Growth and Expectation in the Martial Arts >>

When I was coming up through the ranks, there was a lesson that has long stuck out in my mind. “A man is not a man until a man is needed.” This is similar, in my mind to that old adage, “A leader is not a leader by choice, but because the role is thrust upon them.” Many times people become leaders because life presents them with a situation where there is little or no alternatives to stepping into the role.

The goal in the Martial Arts, common to all systems and traditions, is personal development. Despite technical emphasis, stylistic tendencies and personal preferences, there are goals that are common to all systems of training. Personal development is perhaps the most fundamental level.

Martial Artists are required to learn how do cope with fear, pain, exhaustion, emotional strain, desire, many types of stress and pressure. We learn to manage our egos and our emotions, identify our expectations and our perceived limitations. We immerse ourselves in the tradition of contribution and learn to set goals and achieve them.

Speaking from the standpoint of an instructor, sometimes what is necessary for growth is a challenge. Challenges are forms of expectations that put us face to face with our perceived limitations. Most of us have experienced the difference between real and perceived limitations. Real limitations are very rare.

One of my students challenged their limitations by entering the Body for Life challenge sponsored by EAS. She was told that she would never be able to develop the way other people could because she had only part of her left arm. We rose to the challenge and designed special apparatus for her to be able to work her body symmetrically and develop to the best of her ability. In the Jun Fan Martial Arts, we profess to hold to the ideal of accepting no limitation as limitation. Many of us fall short of that ideal. Our perceptions lead us to believe that finances and time constraints, family obligations and careers will limit our training time or our potential. It is our obligation, as the next generation in this system, to regularly challenge those beliefs.

Sometimes our limitations are more subtle. I often find that students with backgrounds in different systems limit themselves to thinking from the standpoint of that system. They see things through the lens of stylistic emphasis and tactic. If they cannot get past that perspective and see things from a different perspective, it can be very limiting, affecting their interests and appreciation for what else this art has to offer.

Limitations come from our expectations. If we expect to lose, to do poorly at some thing, we will be more likely to. If we believe that we can beat something, excel at a thing, we will also be more likely to. The hard part is to have the discipline necessary to rise to the challenge. For many this has to do with short term goals and physical accomplishments, rank, etc. For some this is going to be largely financial. For others it can be the difference between life and death (talk to Greg Nelson or Clay Johnson or Ken Chun about the power of belief). This time of year is notorious for “the other things that pop up” getting in the way of our commitment to training. We need to challenge these things that pop up and see if they present true limitations, obstacles, or if it is only perceived.

As an exercise in belief and perception, I challenge each of you to write down, in a Journal, your own perceived limitations. Start with a sentence that begins “I cannot possibly do _____.”

Then start another sentence that begins “In order to do _____, I would have to ________.” That step alone can sometimes enlighten you to the possibility, and suggest a strategy for success.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Well, limitation is the mother of necessity. More often than not when someone says that they cannot do something, they are really stating that they are not willing to do the work necessary to be able to accomplish that thing.

Our belief system, like any other muscle, requires regular workouts. Don’t just sit there, get to work.