With Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is a great time to start thinking about how you can practice gratitude within your daily life and martial arts training like Krav Maga or Bjj-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Studies have proven time and again that counting your blessings regularly can improve emotional stability, increase happiness, and lead to a growth-mindset. Focusing on what you have instead of what you lack can lead to greater satisfaction in life and clearer goals. The same is true about practicing gratitude in martial arts. Learning to enjoy the process instead of only caring about the next milestone is the key to becoming a great martial artist.
Gratitude On The Mats
When we step onto the mats, we always bow to show our appreciation to the school and the space we use. When we pay our respects to our partners, we are thanking them for helping us train and grow. When we clap for our teammates as they earn a new belt, we are showing our pride, not our envy. All of these traditions are little ways that we practice gratitude here at Forged Self Defense, and that help to remind us that training is a privilege and not a chore.
It’s only human to feel disappointed with where we are in our journeys sometimes, but reframing our thoughts through a lens of gratitude can help get us back on track. For example, instead of thinking that we “have” to go to class, we can celebrate that we “get” to go to class. Oftentimes little shifts in our thought processes are all it takes to regain motivation and get out of a slump.
Loving The Journey
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” This is especially true in a martial arts school, where newer students often find themselves surrounded by those more skilled or experienced than them. However, martial arts is not a skill that can ever be completely mastered, and no matter where you are in the journey, there is always more to learn. Regardless of what belt you wear, you will always find teachers in those with higher and lower belts than yours. Earning a belt is a great achievement, but it should never be the main motivator for studying martial arts. Any black belt in Krav Maga or Bjj-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can testify that falling in love with the learning process, being humbled, and forgetting their ego is what got them to where they are.
If you think back to why you decided to join a martial arts school, it probably wasn’t to earn belts. Remembering what you have gained from training – confidence, skills, fitness, a community – is a great way to motivate yourself through gratitude rather than comparison. Setting goals is important, but only on the foundation of thankfulness for where you are and all the hard work you’ve put into getting there.
Forged Self Defense offers the most functional and realistic self-defense and fitness programs in the North Shore Salem MA Area.
We offer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu(BJJ), Krav Maga/Self-Defense and Children’s Programs.
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Forged Self Defense, Salem MA, provides the most realistic and practical self-defense programs for Massachusetts and North Shore Area including: Peabody MA, Salem MA, Beverly MA, Lynn MA, Marblehead MA, Danvers MA
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