“Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll win. Channel your energy. Focus.” –Carol Lewis
“Our thoughts create our reality– were we put our focus is the direction we tend to go.” –Peter McWilliams
“Goals provide the energy source that powers our lives. One of the best ways we can get the most from that energy is to focus it. That is what goals can do for us; concentrate our energy.” –Denis Waitley
Success in any activity is in large part due to how well you can focus your mind to bring about that success. In the two previous parts to this series we have looked at meditation and visualization, both of which are practices that essentially focus the mind in a certain direction. In this article we are going to look at the focus factor, or how we can focus our minds even further for martial arts success, both in the long term and in the immediate, short term. So let’s begin by looking at what it means to focus the mind.
What is Focus?
Put simply, to focus the mind is to put all of your attention on a singular goal or activity to the exclusion of all else. In martial arts terms, if we wanted to achieve focus in training then we would concentrate all our attention on whatever technique we happened to be doing at any given time. So if you’re practicing a throwing technique then you’re practicing a throwing technique, you’re not watching someone else out of the corner of your eye, having a conversation or thinking about what you should do later, even though this is what a lot of people do in training. By not focusing you are slowing down your progress.
For most martial artists it is just a matter of turning up to training, getting the class in and going home again. There is no clear focus as to what they wish to gain from the training, if anything. Many martial artists make the mistake of believing that the class structure set by the instructor is enough to keep them focused, but in the end you are really working to someone else’s agenda, not your own.
Let me just say here that I don’t have a problem with someone who wishes to just train for the sake of training. There is nothing to say that you can’t do something just for the love of doing it. What I am saying here is that if you want to really advance and make steady, measured progress –on your own terms- then you have to have some kind of focus, a well thought-out and clearly defined direction in which you want to go.
Having a clearly defined sense of focus means you will not be working to someone else’s goals and being pulled in the direction that they want you to go in. So really, by having focus, you are taking back control and defining your own path again, which to my mind is what training in the martial arts is all about, self-expression through forging your own path.
To put it another way, if you don’t take the time to get really clear about what it is you want to accomplish, both in life and in the martial arts, then you will be forever doomed to spending your time achieving the goals of those who do. And why would you want to do that? Surely that’s enough reason to get yourself some focus and define where it is you want to go?
Types of Focus
To my mind there are three types of focus that really matter:
1. Overall or Life-Time Focus. To have an overall focus that governs just about everything you do is to have a clearly defined purpose in life, or in our case, the martial arts. All your other goals and all the other things you choose to focus on will be subservient to and geared towards achieving this overall goal. It is therefore up to you to decide what it is you generally want out of martial arts training. Why are you training? Ultimately what do you wish to gain from all that training?
Working this out requires a bit of time and thought but when you have a clear idea of what it is you want to achieve overall you will find yourself being much more focused and much more secure, both in your training and in your identity as a martial artist. You will no longer just be a martial artist who trains, you will be a martial artist who trains with a clearly defined sense of purpose and that can make all the difference not just to your progress but to your overall confidence. Knowing exactly why you are standing in that dojo will lend you great focus in itself.
To help you work out what your overall focus should be, let me refer to an article I wrote a while back called How to Discover Your Martial Purpose. In the article there is an exercise that you should do. Doing the exercise will give you a much clearer idea of what your overall focus as a martial artist should be.
2. Long Term Focus. Having long-term focus means having goals that you want to achieve over a longer period of time. The length of time will depend on the goal you are focusing on. If one of your long-term goals is to get to black belt stage then that could obviously take years to achieve, especially if you have just started in the martial arts. Another long-term goal might be to win your first competitive fight or to be able to kick at head height. The goals will be as varied and as different as those who set them. The point is that they will take months or years to achieve.
Creating a long term focus through the use of long-term goals will give you something to work towards over time and it will further focus your individual training sessions, for all your training will be geared towards eventually achieving these goals.
The trick to achieving your long-term goals is to break them down into shorter goals that you can work on and achieve in the short-term. Your every training session will then be spent doing something that will bring you closer to achieving your longer range goals.
3. Immediate Focus. Immediate focus equates to being in the moment and having full concentration on what you are doing. You have your goals, you know what you need to do to achieve them, now you must focus entirely on doing that. Later we will discuss how you can better focus yourself in the moment, but for now let’s take a look at goals and how to set them.
How to Set Goals Properly
Most of you reading this will at least be aware of the importance of setting goals in life so I’m not going to spend a lot of time trying to convince you of the benefits. All I will say is this. If you go through your life without a clear idea of where you want to go and what you want to be, someday you will find yourself looking back and saying to yourself, “How the hell did I end up here?”
As a martial artist you will end up asking yourself the same question after twenty years or more of training if you don’t define what it is you want to achieve in your training. If you had an idea that you wanted to learn self defense and you joined a very traditional karate class then you are going to be sorely disappointed after so many years of training when all you can do is kata and strike from a low stance. You would have been better choosing a style more geared towards self defense in the beginning. If you had had goals and a sense of direction your choices would have been better. You may have left after a few sessions and went to another club where you could better achieve your goals.
Some people also make the mistake of thinking that because they have a direction, they must therefore have goals, but this is not the case and merely creates the illusion of progress. A goal is a specific, clearly defined, measurable state. It’s the difference between following a road that you know will get you to a certain destination and walking in the general direction of a destination you are not even sure about.
So how do you set goals that will get you to where you want to be? Well the first thing you have to do is to make sure you that the clarity is there. If I were to ask you whether or not you have achieved a specific goal you must be able to give me an absolute yes or no answer. Maybe or I don’t know doesn’t come into it. Either you have achieved your goal or you haven’t, there is no in between. Are you a black belt or not? Can you kick to head height or not? Be as specific as possible when setting goals so you will know with absolute certainty if you have achieved them or not. That is the level of clarity you need in order to form a goal that your mind can lock onto and move towards rapidly.
Goals must also be in writing in the form of positive, present-tense, personal affirmations. A goal that is not committed to writing is just a fantasy. Set goals for what you want, not for what you don’t want. Your subconscious mind can lock onto a clearly defined goal only if the goal is defined in positive terms. If you put your focus on what you don’t want instead of what you do, you’re likely to attract exactly what it is you’re trying to avoid. Phrase your goals as if they are already achieved. So instead of saying, “I will be a black belt next year” say “I am a black belt next year”. Also be specific with times and dates and make sure each of your goals are measurable, so you would say, “I am a black belt by September 1st 2010”. This provides you with a specific, measurable goal to work towards.
What if you want to set subjective goals, such as improving your speed or power or flexibility? To make such goals more measurable then you would use a rating scale of 1-10. So if your goal is to improve your speed then you would ask yourself, on a scale of 1-10, how do I rate my current level of speed? Then set a goal to achieve a certain specific rating by a certain date. This allows you to measure your progress and know with a high degree of certainty whether or not you’ve actually achieved your goal.
So that’s long-term focus through goal setting and it will greatly enable you take control of your training and make sure it develops in the direction you want it to, as opposed to a direction someone else has set for you. Every training session should be about achieving those goals and putting your all into doing that. So let’s now take a look at exactly how you can put your all into achieving your training goals.
How to Focus in the Moment
In training terms, if you can’t give your full attention and concentration to whatever it is you are doing at any given moment then your progress will be inefficient and slow and you won’t get to where you want to be in the time frame you have set for yourself.
So what’s the best way to stay in the moment? Relax! Learning how to relax while your training is the single biggest thing you can do to aid your overall progress. A lack of relaxation will lead inevitably to a rise in tension and thus a loss of concentration. You will no longer be in the moment and your mind will turn to distraction, fueled by self-doubt and lots of little niggling worries over whether you are doing things right or not or should you be doing this or that instead and I don’t deserve this belt and blah, blah, blah and on and on into a downward spiral of doubt and uncertainty that will absolutely effect your performance.
So the first thing you must do if you wish to stay relaxed as much as possible is meditate regularly, just like we discussed in part two of this series. Daily meditation will keep you focused and keep your stress levels under control enough so that the stress won’t be creeping in while you’re training.
Doing Mokso at the beginning of every session is also a great way to relax yourself and focus your mind towards the task at hand for it gives you the opportunity just to centre yourself and connect with the stillness within.
Never underestimate the power of breathing either when it comes to relaxing and focusing the mind. If you find your attention wondering then take a moment to do some deep breathing and you will find it much easier to concentrate afterwords.
Also keep reminding yourself why you are doing what you’re doing. Remind yourself of your goals and the reason why you do martial arts in the first place. All of this helps you to focus your mind into the present and put of all of your mental energy into your training.
Combining Focus
There is obviously a lot of information to take in here and you may be thinking that setting goals, discovering your overall martial purpose and trying to stay focused all the time is a lot to do, especially for something that you only do a few times a week.
Well once you’ve actually worked out what it is you want from your training, setting goals to achieve that takes very little time and once you’ve done so it is only a matter of reviewing them occasionally to make sure you are staying on track and that you still want those things. After that it’s just about maintaining focus in the way that we have discussed.
In the end, it boils down to this: you’re going to put the time in anyway, so you might as well achieve something worthwhile while you’re there. In five or ten years you are still going to be a martial artist (I assume) so wouldn’t it be better to be the martial artist you want to be instead of the martial artist you happen to be?
Next time we’ll be seeing how the techniques of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) can improve your martial arts performance. Until then get to work on those goals!
Further Resources:
Shape Shifter: Transform Your Life in 1 Day
Crisp: Concentration!: How to Focus for Success (Fifty Minute Series)
Mind Gains: A Synergistic Mental Focus Program for Peak Physical Performance
