“Discipline is a
Bridge…between goals and accomplishments!”
We teach discipline in our Dojo every day in every class.
Discipline to practice your technique. Discipline to do your push ups. Discipline
to focus in class. Discipline is very important in martial arts training and, as
with any other lesson we teach in our Dojo, we encourage our students to be
disciplined outside of the Dojo as well.
For example, say your goal is to get better grades in
school. The same discipline you apply to your martial arts practice must carry
throughout your day in order to keep you focused while you are in school and in
class. It may be tempting to pass notes with friends, doodle in a notebook,
daydream the class away, or play a game on a smart phone, but the truly
disciplined student will pay attention during all of their classes throughout
the day to reach the ultimate goal of improving their grades.
When you are disciplined in your daily life, you won’t veg
out in front of the T.V., waste time with friends, or play video games. You’ll
use this time to do homework and study, because you know that is how you will
improve your grades. Without Discipline, it would be too easy to flick on the
TV and forget about that homework or test.
For our adult students, maybe keeping a budget is
something you struggle with. It’s hard. It takes effort. It’s not fun! But you
recognize the need to create a budget and stick to it, and you apply the same
discipline to a budget that you do to working out in the Dojo.
Another way to apply self discipline outside the Dojo is
to understand what is expected of you, and to do it. Taking responsibility is a
way of demonstrating your self discipline. Instead of having someone tell you
what to do, you can anticipate what needs to be done and do it before you are
told. Perhaps your parents are nagging you to clean your room. If you are able
to become more self-disciplined, you will clean your room before they even get
the chance to ask. Or maybe your spouse has been asking you for months to get the
car’s headlight fixed. Next time, perhaps you will have the self-discipline to
get it taken care of right away. Self Discipline means doing things before you
are asked.
