Standing Still

I was in my karate school as usual on a Tuesday night helping out with the lowest-ranking class consisting of No-Belts and White Belts, when my Instructor Erik ran a very interesting drill. You may guess from the title of this post, it was about standing still! Nothin' but! The Sempais, or Black Belt helpers for a class, stood in front of each student and were instructed to just stare at them. And the student wasn't to look away at all. Intrigued by this, I chose a fairly new little girl. Erik said go, and we stared at each other. Meanwhile, cars went by outside, parents were talking behind us, and Erik was trying to distract us. While all this was going on, the student, Willow, did not look at anything else, I swear. She stared right at me and didn't get distracted whatsoever. I was amazed by the focus of this No-Belt. It wasn't even a blank stare, it was with intention. It was surreal, even. I felt as if Willow was staring right into my very soul, and I felt her energy directed right at me. She stood still and did not budge, didn't even move her eyes once.

Now how does this relate to Martial Arts? In a lot of ways, actually. The entire drill was based on FOCUS. Focus is needed for anything you want to do in Martial Arts, especially the physical things. I know that Willow will have a good technique in the future because she is not distracted easily, and has an uncanny ability to focus. Many kids her age will look around, get distracted, and not focus on what I or any Black Belt is teaching them. They lack focus. But based on Willow's demonstration of her focusing abilities, I trust that I can teach her and she will listen.

We can apply this to anywhere once again, can't we? Whether you still attend school, or have moved on to the working world, focus is an ideal thing to have when doing anything. If there are any other Martial Arts Instructors out there, this is a drill I recommend to teach focus to younger or even older students.