Regardless of how old you are or what rank you have earned, most martial artists share a goal: to be the best they possibly can be. You may never be able to jump, flip upside down, and accurately kick your target like Jackie Chan, but taekwondo is an individual sport, which means the important thing is you try to do that best that YOU can do. Use these Seven Habits of Highly Successful Martial Artists to help you get there.
1) Be There – getting to class is important not only to continue your learning but to provide your body with the routine of physically and mentally participating in taekwondo (also known as muscle memory).
2) Practice – If you want to master a skill you have to work on it at home. Take 5 to 10 minutes during the day working on a particularly challenging technique and you’ll be surprised how quickly you “get it”.
3) Eat Right – Everyone has heard that “you are what you eat”. Your body is like a sports car: you have to put in top quality fuel to get the best results.
4) Stretch Daily – Flexibility isn’t necessary in taekwondo, but the more flexible you are the faster, more powerful, and more accurate your techniques will become. It doesn’t take much, just a few minutes during commercial breaks will help. Remember to never stretch to the point where it’s painful, but do push yourself just past what is comfortable and hold (*never* bounce).
5) Meditate/Visualize – You can even do this while you’re stretching. Close your eyes, relax, and slowly take several deep breaths while visualizing yourself mastering that challenging technique or doing the perfect form.
6) Teach – When it comes to studying anything, the learning order from least to most effective is to hear it, to read it, to write it down, and to teach it to someone else. Teaching something forms a stronger imprint of the information in your brain, so go help a struggling fellow student or just teach someone something you read in your Student Manual.
7) Set Goals – There is no way to stress exactly how important it is to have a goal, whether it be an upcoming tournament, future testing, mastering a technique, breaking boards, or getting your 7th Degree Black Belt. In fact, set several short and long-term goals. You don’t have to create a deadline, but periodically check in and make sure you’re making progress.