The Spirit of The Thing

Baseball, Basketball, Football, Swimming, Chess, Soccer, Teaching, Parenting, Jiu-Jitsu... it doesn't matter what it is....Everything has it's own spirit. The "spirit of the thing" is what I am talking about. When I think of baseball, I think of guys with dip in their mouth grabbing their crotch and spitting. At least that is how baseball players are portrayed in movies or on TV. It's part of the baseball spirit. When I think of soccer I think of Adidas & mullets. Why? Because it is part of the soccer spirit. To really love something you have to be in tune with the "spirit of the thing". I am talking about an attitude and a presence.

Martial Arts certainly carries an attitude and a presence. I think that the spirit of martial arts has changed a lot through the years because of it's mainstream exposure. Now with the sport of MMA we also have a breeding ground for martial arts bad boys. Being tough and cocky is not what the martial spirit is about. Martial arts should teach a person to be humble, respectful, honorable, kind, helpful, brave and courageous....These are the roots of martial arts. I am not against MMA at all but I do beleive that because of MMA the "spirit of martial arts" has been corrupted. Meanwhile, MMA is the most main stream form of martial arts ever and could be displaying the spirit of martial arts to all its fans. There are a few who does this well and they are some of the best U.F.C. champions ever. Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, G.S.P., Rich Franklin, these people have shown a glimpse of the martial arts spirit.



St. Patrick's Day just passed and everyone was getting into the St. Patrick's Day spirit by wearing green. We do this with a lot of holidays and events. We put the right attire, we listen to the right music and we eat the right foods to get into the "spirit of the thing". When you train martial arts and you are on your way to the Academy, you should be doing everything to prepare yourself to be in the martial spirit. You should be putting on the right attitude to train and learn. Letting go of whatever else happened that day and focusing on what is about to take place. When we tie our belts together at the beginning of class, we should be putting on the game face and tapping into the martial arts spirit. Then again after we stretch and take a moment to breath, we should do the same. To be in the spirit of the thing gives us a greater experience and perspective to learn.