Adam Mitchell

Life as a Martial Artist

[adammitchell]

View this post on Instagram

2019 Hatsu Keiko, Naginata gyaku kesa giri, reverse scarf cut with a halberd, 5:30 a.m.. Found this in a file tonight and thought I’d share. #jinenkan #martialarts #dojo #kukishindenryu #naginata #japanesemartialarts #kenjutsu #budo #kobudo #mahopac (at Jinenkan Kosei Gogi Dojo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CB7EVVPpM4s/?igshid=cc473toa75qc

[adammitchell]

Mario DeMol teaching in New York, 2014. Jinen Ryu Iai no Maki, Kasumi Gaeshi. ‘Japanese sword, not Arab’. Intense training alongside Koppojutsu ura gata. #jinenkan #iaijutsu #kenjutsu #samurai #samuraisword #martialarts #japanesemartialarts #gent #mahopac (at Jinenkan Kosei Gogi Dojo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBlxldCpBWp/?igshid=mwd8ws5wkhcy

[adammitchell]

When form is understood by your body and mind, then accuracy is conditioned. Then speed. Relentless. Then timing, against someone who wants to hit you, and will hit you hard. This is no joke, no tough guy talk, it’s just proper Keiko. A valuable uke is one who has the proper intention to harm you and skill to pull it off with shameless accuracy, yet with safety and professionalism, able to quickly pivot to assist you in reflection, learning. You simply cannot get accurate without knowing form, and speed means little when you’re not accurate. Finally your timing is built on the skill your attacker, their body, refined intent and brutal tenderness. #jinenkan #martialarts #japanesemartialarts #budo #kobudo #taijutsu #jissenkobudo #kotoryu #jujutsu #dojo #adammitchell #mahopac (at Jinenkan Kosei Gogi Dojo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBhHEdtJk9a/?igshid=1o6i0b5jjeayr

[adammitchell]

Running A Dojo: Mastery is maintained when teaching Martial Arts

I read a wonderful quote from an old Japanese sensei, I believe he was an aikido instructor.

“In the Japanese martial arts, anyone who calls himself a master, isn't.'

I love this quote. It says everything about what separates us from so much of the martial arts garbage out there.

Anybody who is creating stories, lying to their students just to fill some self serving need; it's garbage, it needs to stop. We (as teachers) need to be protectors of something that's honorable, that involves integrity and something that in many ways a treasure.

There's no more important belt in your dojo than the White Belt. There's no more important student than the Mukyu level.

To me, someone who earns their white belt has fulfilled a much larger goal in their life than any shodan or black belt.

Here's why; I want you to take a step back to when you first stepped into your martial arts classes. Can you remember when you first started, when you had never experienced martial arts, before you walked into an environment that was very intimidating.

There were people that you didn't know, doing crazy things, throwing each other, breaking each other, punching and kicking and screaming and shouting. It was a completely new environment, something you've never been exposed to before.

The fact that you were able to put one foot in front of the other, step onto the map or the floor - and really go for it - says so much about you.

One of the greatest fears in all humans, is performing in front of other people, speaking in front of large groups and audiences. It is terrifying to most people. It could even be terrifying to a lot of us guys who practices jujitsu or judo.

Now, when we do break falls, you're actually doing the second most feared thing of all humans - falling!

So now I've got a new student...  you take him or her out onto the training floor, and the first thing you do is teach them to do a break fall, in front of a large group of people they've never met before. Do you see the issue?

You're taking a new person, already intimidated, now knowing what to expect,  putting them right in front of two of humankind's greatest fears. This is why I consider overcoming this moment and making it to the white belt is something that should not be taken lightly. It is not the beginning. It could quite possibly be a new student's greatest accomplishment.

Be a student. Always.

And don't just be a student of your budo. Even if you're renting a training group at a  local Y M. C. A, it doesn't make a difference. You could still have an extremely profitable program to grow your Dojo. Done correctly, it's easy to have a successful, viable training group, one that is very professional.

You need to study business though. You need to study personal development, personal growth, and you need to actually study your martial art, not just talk about it.

Don't become someone who is unhealthy, lethargic, complacent. Be a student your martial art.

Don't inflate your ego in front of a new student.

Be a master of time and not a master of talk.

Be a master of listening and not a master of bragging.

Don't introduce yourself as 'Sensei' anymore. . When someone walks over demands that I call them 'master' or demands that I call them Sensei or Shihan she, it makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable.

When our new prospective students come into the Dojo for the first time, who are looking for their expectations to be filled, they're going to see through this self entitled silliness.

"You call yourself a master?",  That's kind of weird.

It does not fulfill the expectations that new students have, nor does it serve ths obligation you have to those new students.

[adammitchell]

Nin Tai, Something More than Not Giving Up

About 15 years ago, I was at a martial arts seminar in Virginia that Manaka Sensei  was teaching.

Following the seminar, the host kindly invited us back to his house for a small party, barbecue and a get together. While there, Sensei had been relaxing on a couch and flagged me over and asked me to sit down next to him. 

He told me he wanted to teach me something. 

Sensei began to explain an important principle in our art, in fact one in all Japanese martial arts; Nin Tai. 

He wanted me to understand not only it's meaning, but also what he wanted it to mean to me and going forward and how he wished I teach it to the students of my dojo community. 

There will come a time in every student's training career, (whether it be in martial arts or any discipline) that they will question their teacher, their teacher's knowledge and their depth of true understanding of what they teach. 

Maybe question their skill, maybe even questioned the trust that they have with their teacher. He assured me that this was perfectly natural. It's what happens. I began to get concerned that possibly Sensei saw this in me, and so I responded out of fear and somewhat of a panic, but he quickly calmed my fear by explaining that, "It's part of the path." 

It's part of the journey. 

There is a very important step, a step that's so often missed. And that is understanding, Nin Tai.  When this feeling of distrust or question begins to leak into the student, they must take the responsibility of recognizing this lack of trust for what it is. 

Then, take a step back. 

You must revisit the point in which you started, the point when you began the path of your discipline. Look at your instructor through those eyes, through that lens that you had at the beginning of your journey. 

What was it that you saw in that teacher, in that art that you found amazing? What did you teach her possess? What message did they have, that deeply resonated within you? It's at that point you need to revisit where you are. 

You must reflect. Then, return to where you are right now and apply that feeling to the mental, spiritual or physical place you are in at the moment. 

Does it still fit? 

It's much easier said than done. If you're capable, it means you've gone past your ego. It means you've truly put your ego aside to be able to do the internal work that's necessary to recognize the natural discomforts in the challenges that come with growth in any discipline. 

And, if you're able to go back, to revisit those feelings, those opportunities that you saw, the inspiration you once had, the motivation given to you and all the new things that were brought into your world through the beginning of this path  ... with that instructor ... this is where the step to your next level occurs, where you are able to see a new horizon of opportunity with that instructor. 

Sensei explained that it's not going to be the same. You see, you've already gone through the basics. You've already gone through the orientation of the art, and for many, even the higher orders of the craft. 

You've already learned so much, and it is expected that as you mature, you will hit these challenges. 

At this time we are growing closer to moments of mastery, closing in on a point of disconnecting with the teacher. You must not follow blindly. Instead, follow responsibly. This is maturity. You must have commitment to the discipline, to the art, to the craft. And trust, faith.  

He explained to me that there will come a time when I no longer trust him or I'm going to be discouraged, so much that I will want to walk away from the art. 

Maybe I'll simply feel that this art has nothing else to offer me. 

And ... for some, maybe it doesn't any more. 

That's ok.  

These questions will come up, accept them. He wanted me to understand that like him, I should also recognize thsi behavior in my own students. 

It is my responsibility, as it was his responsibility, to explain this to the student ... to explain to them that eventually, 5, 10, 20 years from now these feelings of doubt will arise. 

Overcoming the loss of faith and power of discouragement is not easy. But as long as you allow your ego to be out of the way of the discussion, by understanding how nin-tai is the gatekeeper to your personal mastery, you will progress. 

This is what is most important in order to grow beyond what you ever imagined possible.  Adam

[adammitchell]

How to teach your kids to make fast choices when facing fear

Gentlemen, I want to spend a couple minutes with you sharing with you and very important topic called the freeze.

This is something that your children are going to encounter from their young early childhood, all the ways up to their adult life. It doesn't make a difference if you're a kid or if you're a seasoned professional law-enforcement officer who's exposed to the potential of violence daily.

Freezing, and there are a number of different ways that a person freezes, is something that happens and it's something that the professionals train for. The good news is, it's something that we as dads can take ownership of and train our children through it, so it’s less likely to happen to them.

I'm going to share with you a couple of exercises that you can use daily with your children, activities that you can do with them and to encourage fast decision making, to get them to a point where they unlock themselves so that they're not frozen when fear arises in their life.

They will be able to quickly take an assessment and then respond with logic and reasoning, or fall back on their skillset, whether that's martial arts or verbal diffusion. The first step is simply identifying that they're frozen.

Now why does this freeze happen? For a number of different reasons, here are three.

Predator freeze, when someone is pursuing or in hunt, and freezes to prevent detection.

Prey freeze, when you feel as though there's an imminent threat in front of you that's life threatening, you stop, you lock, you freeze, you simply don't know what to do. Your brain can't transfer the information of fight or flight to your body fast enough resulting in a freeze, you don't know what to do.

Ethical freeze, happens when you just don't know what to do in a situation that you can't make sense of it, but you need to because the survival window is closing quickly and you must make a sound ethical choice on what that next step is. Examples here include possibly leaving someone behind in a survival situation, or responding to a violent threat of an unstable child.

We can all relate to a child seeing a dangerous dog approaching and their immediate response is to freeze. Well, this same response is going to happen whether it's a bully, whether it's someone who's punching your son repetitively, or it's a situation where your daughter gets grabbed by the head and thrown into the ground.

It doesn’t have to be physical, as a group of girls can target your daughter with social exclusion. They target one girl, that little girl will freeze up and not know how to respond within a storm of humiliation.

Or, it could be a situation where a boy goes hands on with a young girl and she's never experienced this, she freezes. She doesn't know what to do.

I want to introduce you to some basic tools that you can introduce right now with your children. Take that leadership role as their trainer and at the same time have some strong bonding experience they will never forget. Most of all, as with all of my exercises, have a good time.

Find Discomforts.

First, we want to identify your children’s discomforts. What activities, what actions, whether it's in their day to day life or something occasionally that they do that you can immediately identify that they find discomfort in.

Not something like making their bed, (that’s just a laziness issue and we can get around that). But something that they're genuinely intimidated by, they're afraid of, or maybe even embarrassed for doing. We are looking for some genuine fear that we know is there.

The next step is called a discomfort dash. This is precisely where you will assume that leadership role, demonstrating that it is possible to get through the discomfort and fear, and you are the one who's going to do it - regardless of what the situation is. You, Dad.

This is important. You're just going to do it. You're not going to say, "Oh, well look what I can do”.

You cannot come off like that.

The only thing that you need to do is be first  to face their discomfort or fear. Whatever it is, their Dad will get through that discomfort and that pain and they will see the possibility to cross that threshold in your footsteps. They will then see you looking back at them, encouraging them to follow, letting them know that they too can do this.

You see, I did it and so can you.

This next part is important. You cannot say, “look, I can do it.. come on! What's the matter?”

Instead you must say, “I'm going to challenge you. I'm going to challenge you to do it faster”.

Keeping in mind that you are training your children to avoid the freeze factor, you want to continuously shave off time from when they're locked. These little exercises, where discomforts are regularly visited, you show the potential of overcoming, then gently challenge them to do it faster, will ultimately speed up their decision making while uncomfortable and slightly scared.

Under stress, when they are incapable of decision making they will freeze, increasing the risk of a negative outcome. The survival window closes here in serious situations. I think you understand.

We want to guide our children to a point where they can face pain, they can overcome fear, they can endure discomfort and they can move through it all quickly. Once through, they can clearly assess and make logical decisions or fall back on their skillset.

Whatever your fears your child faces, I'm going to ask you to discover them and go there with them.

Keep a record  or journal of your discomfort dash. Take inventory of what they're scared of, have them write it down and then make it a point to revisit each discomfort again. Maybe next week, maybe two weeks from now, but the important thing is to not just do it once and leave it behind.

Recall when they did it the last time and say, “I'm gonna challenge you to do it faster this time”.

Then you do it, you lead again. You show your child it's possible. Now it’s time for them to face this fear again, only this time they will shave a little time off. And you both will continue this exercise until they are able to effortlessly pass through their pain without hesitation.

This one exercise you do with your children will serve them immensely later in life. From making executive decisions, management decisions, or relationship choices - you’re ability to help them cut time on overcoming discomfort and fear is profound.

This is the discomfort dash, helping your child overcome the freeze that they’re going to face at some point in their life. Right now you have the chance and knowledge to lessen the potential of your child freezing in fear when you’re not there to help. It’s up to you to be there for them now, and I know you will.

I'm looking forward to hearing your results.