https://mma-today.com/contender-series-john-castaneda-sees-experience-key-success
Dealing With Life’s Distractions: The External
June 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment
No matter who you are, you will have many distractions in your life. Ultimately, no matter what your goals are in the martial arts, your job, academics, a new skill you want to develop or whatever, everyone will face an array of distractions. One of the number one areas you can develop is your ability to maintain your focus, despite all of the distractions that everyone has to deal with.
One thing I have learned is that no matter how much you prepare, life happens. Even with the best laid plans it is almost certain that something will come up. You must learn to ‘expect the unexpected’ and save an emergency, do what you have set out to do. Unfortunately, many people do not live with this attitude. Research has shown that your ability to keep focus on what you are doing, regardless of distraction, has proven to increase success. In the martial arts, students of equal ability and skill, in most cases, those that can put distractions aside and focus on their training will learn better and advance faster.
Just like training your physical skills, you need to train your mind to focus on the task at hand and set aside the distractions that attempt to train alongside you. Once you start to develop your ability to focus and set aside distractions on the mats, you will start to bring it to the rest of your life. Initially, I learned to totally focus while doing gymnastics. You had to be 100% in the moment, you couldn’t be distracted or you would be tempting fate. Regardless of what you are doing the distractions you will encounter can be categorized into two areas: Internal and External. We will deal with external distractions first.
External distractions are ever growing, and becoming an issue to everyone coming up in this era. There is your cell phone with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, texting, email….However, other stuff like the weather (heat, humidity, cold, rain, snow…), everyday issues and problems with your family, boyfriends, girlfriends, job, school, and work are things that everyone has to deal with are always present. Once you get into the classroom and you have to deal with other students, what they say, how much they know, their intensity level, physical ability, their smell….Your list could continue. Guess what, everyone is dealing with the same things but, some are able to set all of those external distractions aside and get busy.
First, you need to recognize the distractions in your life. You need to see what of the above distractions make you nervous, anxious, or lose focus. You need to see if you have any patterns, specific times or situations which distract you most. Once you know what, when and where you get distracted you can start to make changes.
Your ability to minimize distractions can be developed and refined just like your attributes and technical skills. One of the most effective ways to minimize distractions and increase your focus while training is to develop pre-class routines. Your pre-class routine can be totally individualized and modified as you find what works best for you. It is important to understand that your pre-class routine allows you to relax and prepares you to focus totally on your training.
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A person’s life is a succession of moment after moment. When one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do and nothing else to pursue. – Yamamoto Tsunetomo (Hagakure)
Coaches Corner: Do or Do not, There is no… not doing what you Need and Want to Do Pt 2
April 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I believe most of us want to improve ourselves, becoming better in specific areas, more fit, healthier and experience more in life. I know I do. If we want to improve ourselves how do we begin, how do we get over the hump, or stop procrastinating? There are a ton of books and courses on this very subject, and I have read a lot of books and taken courses….still do. Many methods focus on dealing with your thoughts and feelings. All you have to do is change your thoughts, think positive, focus on all the good you can do, and become if you start to balance your thoughts and emotions, so you are mentally and emotionally ready to get after it. To start this way you have to ‘quiet your mind’ and start to create positive and empowering beliefs, this will build your self-esteem, and through positive affirmations and self-talk you can find your focus to affirm your personal power and gain control over your emotions and visualize yourself doing what you want, how you want to do it and see yourself becoming the way you want to be. Once all that is done you can align everything up just right so that you have the confidence to get motivated to want to commit yourself to start what you want to do…..that’s it….holy Hanna what a lot of psychobabble!
Or you could just decide to Do It and take action!
No one is ever going to be 100% ready and your life will always be happening. There will never be a perfect time, but there is always a right time: the time you make to do it. So make time, take a deep breath and get started. Once started, keep going.
Over the 41 years that I have been training and 30 years I have been teaching I have found a couple of things to be true. First, doing something, anything, even the smallest amount of training is a million times better than all the ideas and plans to train…but not actually training. Second, I have never felt or said, “I wish I would not have come in and trained.” However, there have been numerous times when I have said, “I wish I would’ve went in and got something done”. So whether you are already a capable athlete or someone simply interested in a new experience, when starting a new activity, art, technique, training method…be gentle with yourself. Show yourself the same tolerance and patience you would a beginner or a small child learning something new….the same child you once were! No one started out knowing how to walk. Everyone fell many, many times, in the process. Everyone around you encouraged you and never gave up on you…and lo and behold, nearly every single able person walks…just like you. We all need to be kids again. Children make errors, that is what they do – learning to crawl, walk, eat with utensils, drink out of a cup, skip rope, ride a bike, swim….everything must be learned and making mistakes is simply part of the process. The crazy thing is, children learn at a pace far beyond almost every adult. Stop worrying and become like a child again in regards to trying new things and be on your path towards mastery. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and just have fun doing it.
There is no better way to get better at whatever you’re doing.
Coaches Corner: Do or Do not, There is no… not doing what you Need and Want to Do Pt. 1
February 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Yoda knows what all successful people know, it is about ACTION! But, so many, including myself, have created barriers and blocked our own paths to getting started and just simply taking care of business….whatever that business is. “Life was never meant to be a struggle, just a gentle progression from one point to another, much like walking through a valley on a sunny day” But, for many they often create their own mountain of doubt and make even the simplest task so much worse than it really is. On the other hand, for others the climb is an adventure, the harder it seems the more they want to do it, the struggle to get from one point to another is how they want to spend their sunny day. No matter what your goals are, the truth is either you get after it or you don’t.
‘Nature’s way is simple and easy, but men prefer what is intricate and artificial’
Why do some people make such a big production out of doing the simplest things and others thrive in the most difficult of environments. Well, I have no clue, but I do know people will make things out to be more difficult and see themselves as less capable before they really know what they will be doing. Creating negative images in you head will dissuade you from doing things that in reality are pretty simple and easy. To take away some of the apprehension it is important to be aware of your potential of being successful at some level, be realistic in your goals and understand that everyone starts somewhere near the same place….at the beginning. I feel many people put an unrealistic expectation on themselves and without having any real idea of who they will be training with and what they will be doing, make imaginary comparisons of themselves and others who will be in the classroom and are self conscience that they do not know what they are doing. The same mental process will take place every time they want to do something knew, and in many cases dissuade them from new experiences. How can we reduce and even eliminate our doubts and fears of new opportunities in our lives and experiencing all that life has to give? Well, that is the million $ question. To Be Continued….
Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu, and Some Dude with a Stick?
December 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
If you walk through the main Gym you might notice two pictures of Asian gentlemen gracing the walls. These two men who have shaped modern combat sports, introduced and popularized their respective arts in North America. Two guys who are still teaching and come to Minnesota every year: Ajarn Chai and Dan Inosanto. Most of the gym is familiar with Muay Thai but if you walk through that same room late on a Tuesday or Thursday you might see some silly looking dudes swinging sticks around and brandishing plastic knives or playing patty cake really fast.
You might say to yourself, what are these clowns doing? That’s not fighting. You’re right. It’s drilling. Not all fights happen in a ring. Some happen to soldiers, some to police officers, and some to everyday people like you and I. Sometimes there are knives, bats, rocks, teeth, bike locks, screwdrivers and any ridiculous or terrible thing you might imagine involved. Jab, Cross, leg kick or a double leg tackle might not be the right solution to a knife wielding psycho. You might need different tools, you might need evasive foot work and quick accurate hands to gain control, you might need to access and use something around you as a weapon.
“If I Can Do You Can Do” -Ajarn Chai
Kali teaches these skill sets and it teaches them through repetitive drilling in which attack, defense and counter attack flow seamlessly into each other. These drills often begin being very scripted and then become free flowing. Two old sword fighters might look at a guy with big pads on his hands hitting other pads over and over and say, “That’s not fighting.” Then they would presumably stab each other with their long pointy swords.
But, But, but this sounds a lot like that kung fu crap that doesn’t work! It’s important to understand that these techniques are currently used by a large percentage of military people in modern day. Yet they have also shaped historical warfare. Filipinos killed Ferdinand Magellan and eventually made up most of a Spanish Galleon’s fighters. Later these techniques were used in WWII to fight off the Japanese. If your still worried about its functionality the dog brothers have explored this in detail, check out their videos or ask your local Kali instructor: Greg Nelson.
“Knowledge Comes From Your Instructors Wisdom Comes From Within” – Guro Dan
One of the key reasons to train FMA (Filipino martial arts) are they attributes they develop. They stress footwork, hand speed, coordination, precision and creativeness in a way that will positively improve your other arts. If you want to functionalize it buy some hockey gear and a few ice packs. It might even save your life.
Patience Is The Companion Of Wisdom
October 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” -Saint Augustine
We live in a “hurry up” world. Rush hour, coffee, work, and lack of sleep are part of what we think of when we think of our city, our state, or our country. It sometimes feels like we must “get things done.” All of us to some degree are affected by this speedy mentality. Change must come quickly in this lifestyle. The question for me is why? Why does society worry so much about the amount of time it takes someone to do something? If it takes us an extra 20 minutes to cook a balanced meal than to eat fast food, then should we eat fast food to save those 20 minutes, or should we spend 20 minutes on healthy food, and not add the extra calories to our already excessive consumption of food? Americans are, by far, the fattest group on the planet. We live in the most affluent country in the world, yet we sometimes are the least proactive, and most reactive people alive today. Martin Luther King Jr. said,”Rarely do we find people who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” He’s challenging us to take our time and sort through our thoughts and listen to the many different possibilities that are out there.
It’s important, for me to say, now that I’ve spent the past few sentences setting up this critique of our exaggerated feelings of urgency, that I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to going too fast when I do things. I’ve spent a lot of time on the highway speeding past those suckers on my way to our Academy. I can see us feeling that even in training. We want this instant gratification. Sometimes the best thing to do might just be to slow down and think before you act. “Are my hands up?” “Do I have my balance?” Constantly asking questions leads us to find mistakes in our thinking, and thus our actions. I always say to my classes “Take your time, warm up…” I want you to think about and to be mindful about, just where your body is moving. I guess that’s just another way of saying, “be coordinated.” Simple lessons, are sometimes the most complex ones to understand, those of us who have competed know that the “devil is in the details.” It’s just one more reason to practice slowly, yet focused and methodical.
So be patient with yourself and others. Let go of urgency, because it really is only a temporary feeling that won’t permanently motivate. Set big goals, aim high you might just get close to the mark. Have fun being in the flow of working towards your next rank. Keep in mind it never really stops with the next rank test, because you can always get better. Be patient and forgiving to yourself in training, but also don’t let fatigue or stress turn you into a coward. Just take your time and enjoy all your training and experience.
“With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown” -Chinese Proverb
17 Things Peak Performers Can Say
August 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
One of the wonderful by-products of high self-esteem is that you become a “Peak Performer.” Every day you become more aware of your abilities and recognize that opportunities to stretch your capabilities are limitless. You desire change, growth, and challenge, and a healthy self-esteem provides the energy. Peak performers have more than goals, they have a vision of what their life will mean to themselves and others. Peak performers do not live in the future. Peak performers make sure each step taken in the present keeps them on the road toward their life goal.
Peak Performers Can Say:
- I am motivated and have a mission with realistic and measurable goals.
- I accept complete responsibility for everything I think, say, feel, and do.
- I look for the window of opportunity in every situation and know that I will learn from every
experience if I choose. - I always help others to do their best, and I encourage everyone to contribute something.
- I correct my course when I reach an obstacle. This way, when things go wrong, I am still
headed in the right direction. - I expect and appreciate change. It does not overwhelm me because I am prepared.
- I stand up for my own opinions and values and respect others.
- I am able to manage myself. I do not require instruction every step of the way.
- I am not afraid of making mistakes or of taking reasonable risks.
- I am my own coach. I engage in positive self-talk and rehearsal.
- I am a life-long student. I am always ready to learn, and I know growth takes sustained
effort. - I know myself well and still expect to find hidden talents, resources, strengths, weaknesses,
energy, and interests. - I respect reality both pleasant and painful.
- I engage in self-confrontation and do not blame others.
- I readily forgive others and myself and correct mistakes when possible.
- I am patient, kind, gentle, and compassionate with myself.
- I have no need to prove I am better or worse
Plateaus and breaking your Routine
August 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
At some point you will get good, it’s going to happen if you put in the time. The problem is once that happens you might find you stop getting better. You might find you’re bored with your training. So what can you do to keep advancing? Avoid some simple mistakes.
Have you been training with the same partner during and after class (yes you should be training outside of class). I’ve seen a lot of great training partners who get comfortable with each other and they stop pushing each other. They do what they always do and thus they repeat the same mistakes, focus too much on their shared strengths and not enough on their weaknesses. The fact is if you and your training partner never work clinch you will always suck at clinch, if they let you skip your conditioning you will never get as strong. Simple Solution, train with more people…if you’re dedicated and hardworking you will find that people who are better than you will be happy to work with you.
Set new goals and research new drills. You’ve been doing pyramids for two years like a metronome and your conditioning is awesome, but could you be faster? How’s your foot work and head movement? It’s easy to work what you’ve been working, it’s easy to work what your good at. Set new training goals. WRITE THEM DOWN.
Go to a seminar. Believe it or not martial arts masters are real and they have real knowledge to share and you should probably go get some of that sweet, sweet brain nectar. Heck they don’t even have to be a master, just another person with a different skill set who has made different discoveries than you about martial arts might send you in a new direction towards improvement.
Get a new set of eyes. Your training partners are so used to seeing you they will miss the obvious and you see yourself through some pretty screwed up rose colored classes. Ask someone you respect to watch and give you feedback and work on it right away.
Even if you’re a black belt you will fall into routines, you will be limited by your comfort zone, limited by your own knowledge. To break your routines and progress you need to be creative, seek new information and methods, set clear goals, be disciplined and work hard.
SELF DEFENSE: How To Prepare for An Unfortunate Reality
June 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Unfortunately, situations can arise in which we are faced with violence. Evil people exist in our society; and occasionally these bad elements confront us. Unprovoked violence does not occur solely in the city and no one can predict when and if it will happen m their lives. Prevention is the only 100% guaranteed self-defense technique, however even the most careful forethought cannot prevent an attack. When you are confronted with an unavoidable, violent, self-defense situation there are a few rules that can greatly increase your chances of a safe escape.
Unfortunately, aggression, strength, and the intent to do harm are primary factors that usually decide the outcome of any conflict, but in some cases surprise and confidence act as a deterrent to an attacker. Protecting yourself against physical harm is a natural reaction, but it is not enough just to rely on your natural instinct.
To ensure your safety you need confidence in your ability to defend yourself. The skills, and the confidence to use them appropriately, can be learned and developed to a high level. Fortunately, the techniques and training methods taught at the Academy are the same skills that are being taught to our law enforcement and military community. In fact several, police officers train at the academy to ensure their ability to handle themselves in the many dangerous situations they find themselves in. Currently, many defensive tactics programs are based on the striking methods of Thai Boxing, Filipino weapons techniques, and on an increasing level Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Knowing that the techniques that you learn are the most proven effective in the world today, as well as, having the instructors to teach you the training methods to develop your skills and fitness level to high levels, naturally develops your confidence.
Another important rule of self-defense concerns your own health. Your body is a fine tuned machine; therefore you need to take great care of it if it is to serve you well. This is important for everyday well-being, however for a person who might find themselves in a self-defense situation (which is everyone), it is essential. Good, consistent exercise, coupled with a healthy diet, keeps your body machinery operating efficiently. In a self- defense situation you need to react quickly and swiftly. The swift action needed in such a situation only comes if the body is fit and the thinking is quick. Fortunately, exercise also sharpens the mind. Through consistent martial arts training you learn effective self-defense techniques, increase your personal fitness level, decrease fat and stress, and increase your mental alertness.
Though you have all the tools available to develop your self-defense skills and fitness level, you are not guaranteed safety. Prevention is the best cure, and the only self-defense technique that will work all the time. There are a few rules that will help you prevent potentially dangerous situations. Just like your martial arts and fitness training you have to practice the art of avoidance. First, be AWARE and AVOID potentially dangerous situations. If you see trouble, then go around it. You have to train yourself to be aware, to always be on a casual alert, to look, listen and feel. Trust your instincts; if something feels wrong take serious consideration of it. Second, always give yourself an escape route. If you cannot find one, then create one. Again, before you go into an unfamiliar area, make sure it is safe. Thirdly, lock your doors as soon as you shut your door. Whether you are in your car or at home, get into the habit of locking your doors. Finally, confidently assert yourself. Confidence shows through your body movements, your language, and your eye contact. Stand and walk in an alert, confident posture. Speak with confidence and look people in the eye.
