As a student of karate, I have seen how many of its principles can be applied to effectively address many counselling issues and improve people’s lives. In this article, I share these ‘lessons from the dojo.’
In one of life’s many coincidences, my idea for this article occurred just before I watched a movie about the life of the late Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial artists of all time. Mr. Lee became a legend both for his incredible talent and his desire to share his immense knowledge with eager students. In keeping with Mr. Lee’s philosophy of sharing martial arts knowledge to help others, I will now share with you some principles from karate which you can use to address your issues and improve your life. I encourage my clients to follow these principles in my work as a Calgary psychologist and a Cochrane psychologist.
The importance of practice in becoming proficient at skills
Learning karate is all about repetition. The class I attend is conducted by the Amateur Karate Federation and involves two 2-hour sessions per week. At each class, we repeat the various punches, kicks, blocks and katas (particular sequences of punches, kicks and blocks) so often that I sometimes get sick of them. It reminds me of how the Karate Kid became frustrated with repeating the same movements while waxing the cars of his mentor, Mr. Miyagi. As the Kid discovered, however, this repetition through practice pays off big-time in fighting situations. There, the karate moves come automatically because the practice has engrained the movements in muscle memory. Practice and repetition help achieve similar proficiency with counselling skills which I teach my clients. A good example is the thought record which is a technique people use to restructure their thinking in response to life events to lessen the negative emotional impact of these events. Although writing out thought records to practice balanced thinking involves some work and may not be the most fun activity, doing so pays off when the skill becomes automatic so that it becomes easy to moderate your mood in response to life events.
The value of having mastery activities in your routine
When clients in self-esteem counselling and depression counselling ask me to help them, I emphasize the importance of including mastery activities in their routines. Mastery activities are those in which the person gains a sense of accomplishment, achievement and self-efficacy. Karate is one of the best mastery activities out there. During and after each class I feel good about myself knowing I’m becoming proficient at a martial art and developing confidence in my ability to defend myself. As much as I recommend karate to adults and children alike for its value as a mastery activity, there are a multitude of other such activities which have similarly good effects on people’s mood and self-esteem. Exercising and playing sports, studying acting, art or music, writing, and building things are just a few examples. It doesn’t matter so much which mastery activities you have in your routine so long as you have some.
The benefits of enjoyable social interaction and social support
Going to karate class reminds me of the old television show Cheers and the line from its theme song, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.” Meeting regularly with a group of people to share a common activity is one of the best ways to feel the sense of belongingness captured by the Boston-based program set in a bar. As a karate student, I also benefit greatly from the support of my fellow students in becoming skillful at this martial art. Members of my club with higher belts than mine generously share their wisdom with me and other lower belt members. The benefits of social support and mentoring are present in a wide range of activities which people attend to learn and become proficient at various skills.
The passion you experience from pursuing a goal
Few things in life bring the passion you experience from pursuing challenging and meaningful goals. Karate gives me that passion as I strive to attain higher belts, culminating in a black belt. Before karate I derived the same passion from training to complete an ironman triathlon and before that from completing and competing in marathons. When I work with clients who are depressed or lacking zest for life, I typically discover that these clients aren’t engaged in the pursuit of goals and encourage them to explore activities in which they can do so. Although athletic activities lend themselves to goal-setting, there are many other areas of life in which you can set and pursue goals. So find an area which interests you and pick a goal that excites you. The benefits of doing so are captured in a line from the goal-oriented sports movie Rudy. As the title character’s best friend pointed out to him, “You know what my dad always said–having dreams is what makes life tolerable.”
Learning the art of patience
The philosophy of karate flies in the face of our instant-gratification culture. It teaches patience and delay of gratification through the long, hard road its students must travel to be awarded a black belt. Many other activities require similar dedication and patience on the path to meaningful achievements. Taking the small steps necessary to gradually advance in your career, spending several years in school in pursuit of a high school diploma or a postsecondary degree, and raising a family all require the patient mindset exemplified by karate. If you find your life is missing something in terms of meaningful activities and achievements, this could be a sign that you are living your life too much according to the omnipresent instant gratification message and not enough according to the less publicized message karate teaches of patience.
To illustrate yet another principle taught in karate—respect–I will end this article by thanking you in the same way that my sensei respectfully ends each of the classes he teaches.
Arigato,
-Dr. Pat
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