24/03/2026
What is your why? Why do you train? Why do you pursue martial arts? Is it for fitness, community, discipline, relaxation (😂), or martial connection?
Over 22 years, I have seen students come and go, trained many to their blacks and helped others further on their journeys. I have seen a change at training from a quasi-old-school mentality to student centred and positive differentiation. Imagine my shock when the assembled crowd clapped a board break for the first time! Something seen as a given in the past and no applause needed. Imagine my further shock when students started asking if they would be grading! A big no-no when I was going through, and a guaranteed skipped grading.
Do I mind these changes? While I found them strange, I can certainly see the benefits of them. In increasing confidence, developing a young person’s ability to speak to adults, and a more open and welcoming community. In a world where life is increasingly inward looking, I see training as a way to open our eyes to the world around us, and the people that live within it. When a ghi and belt are worn social status, wealth and external concerns are stripped away, leaving the person and their spirit. We might be individuals, but we all work with and through each other as we undertake our journey.
My why as a student and instructor has always been to lift people up and show them what they are capable of. It fills my cup and I like to think I have filled the cups of many others over the years. Each time I speak, run a session, or interact with a student or instructor my mind races over the faults, positives and improvements. Did I fill their cup or did I drain it? What could be done better. Certainly a lean into the new school which occupies a great deal of my thoughts. I can hear many a senior asking what about their cups? Sometimes we need to dump out the old water and put in some fresh; it ends up a filling in the end 😉
Does this mean training can’t be tough, disciplined and challenging? Certainly not. Giving ground on interaction and communication doesn’t dilute the integrity of the art. A student questioning a technique isn’t disrespectul if noted politely and gives a chance for the class to review the exercise (often with the help of the questioner!). It is simply instructors being wheat in the field, willing to bend and flow with the breeze. The wheat may sway, but the stem stays strong.
So next time you go to training consider your why and think about not only filling your cup on the journey, but those around you as well.
Brant