Developing a Black Belt attitude: RESILIENCE
Resilience does not eliminate stress or erase life’s difficulties. Instead, it gives people the strength to tackle problems head on, overcome adversity and move on with their lives.
Resilience is having a toughness and hardiness that carries you through when things don’t go to plan or what you are after seems to always be just out of reach. When you are disappointed or have setbacks resilience will keep you focused and motivated to give things another go.
Flexibility is important for resilience as you need to move and adapt to the situation. Don’t give up but change the way you think, do or feel about the situation; look for another way to make it happen.
Another characteristic of resilience is the understanding that life is full of challenges.
While we cannot avoid many of these problems, we can remain open, flexible and willing to adapt to change.
“Taking the hits is all part of the journey. We all take great hits; it’s how you process it that counts. Yes, be down for a while. Yes, grieve the loss. Yes, be sad, but find the light by taking action, any action.” – Andy
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.” – Bernard Williams
Non-contact sparring
It seems that the non-contact sparring element of our Juniors class is proving popular.
We will continue to include this on our class syllabus as it is a safe and controlled way for the students to learn to tackle their greatest opponent: themselves.
Martial arts is about more than just kicking, punching and blocking. The physical workout is a mere working surface for the real hard work: unlearning our prejudices and preconceived ideas of how we should respond to specific situations.
We’ve observed the kids spar and it’s amazing how, more often than not, a new side of them starts showing through under pressure.
Our aim is to help them build their confidence while developing the mindfulness to apply their skills when and if they are needed.
Have a great week and see you in the dojo.
Robin & Corinne
