The best thing you can do for your martial arts

…become a student of the game.

Former Olympian Rhadi Ferguson has it right when he talks about this. Everyone fouces on practice. But to paraphrase him, “Don’t tell me about practice because everyone practices. Tell me what you do other than that.”

Many of us don’t think about anything other than practice. That’s important but what are you doing outside of that?

You have to become a student of the game. That means studying. Get the books, magazines, DVDs, etc. that you need to get ahead in your field and get to work. Everyone is practicing (at least I hope you are, if you aren’t, why not?) but using the other time you have will get you ahead.

You actually have to study what made others great. How did they get there? How do they do things? What do their technqiues look like? How do they explain them? Do they do a better job of explaining or demoing than you do? How do they conduct themselves? What does their place look like? What do they practice? What is their strategy for teaching, coaching, or life?

I remember a while back a teacher on a forum was thinking about putting out a certain DVD and I enthusiastically said that if he did so I would buy it. Someone got on there and said why would i buy an instructional DVD when I lived in Taiwan. The world is full of these ankle-biting individuals that simply can’t think outside of their preconceived notions.

Why would I buy a DVD like that?

1. to support people in the community. I would want people in my field to buy my videos. Wouldn’t you?

2. to review, ESPECIALLY if I practice that style. A DVD allows you to have 24 hour 7 day a week review of the material. Do you live with your teacher? I don’t. Being able to review something like that is an incredible tool.

3. to see how he explains his stuff. Maybe the teacher knows more about presentation than I do.

4. to expand my knowledge. Watching capable people do what they do, even if it’s different from what you do, expands your abilities. What makes them successful? How the heck are you going to know if you don’t buy the thing?

My office is filled with MA books and DVDs. If something good comes out, I try to get it if I can. I want to surround myself with the best. I do that at practice, but when I’m at home recovering from practice I watch the best on DVD or read their books to see what they are doing.

BTW, this will allow you to progress MUCH faster than others who are just lagging along. Don’t be like them.

Become a student of the game and reap the rewards.

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