Still working my way through the book, “Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence” by Sgt. Rory Miller and came across something interesting.
As an instructor, I often come across long-time students who have trained to defend themselves, but seem to have trouble with the thought of having to injure someone. Additionally, they/we often overlook simple solutions to an attack situation. The author does a good job of explaining one aspect of this. It’s the idea of giving ourselves permission to act. He describes some usual mental blocks that hinder one’s training, including my own. He also offers some simple suggestions that may serve to free these roadblocks. I feel they are applicable to the beginner as well as the long-time Martial Artist. Take them as food for thought:
- “You have permission to defend yourself
- You have permission to be rude
- You have permission to survive, no matter what it takes
- You have permission to act when the scary man reaches for his belt. You do not need to wait until he draws the weapon or until he points it at you, or until he hurts you. You have permission to act.
- You have permission to beat me, even if I wear a Black Belt
- You have permission to become better than the best instructor you ever had
- You have permission to invent something better than I ever taught you, permission to use it in my class, permission to use it to defeat me, and permission to teach it to your students
- You have blanket permission t grow and live and survive and fight and run and scream and talk and play and laugh and learn and experiment. You have permission to win, and you have permission to decide what winning is. Be amazing!
Free your mind and keep it open to all the possibilities. There is often more than one right way to accomplish something. Train on!