Push, Pull or Get Out of the Way by Jeremy M. Talbott

The legendary Bruce Lee is quoted as saying, "A good fight should be like a small play...but played seriously.  When the opponent expands, l contract. When he contracts, l expand. And when there is an opportunity... l do not hit...it hits all by itself."  It would seem that this would be very simple to achieve, but it is our natural instinct to meet force with force.  Many of us have heard the theory of Yin Yang principles as they apply to combat.  Life must have harmony and combat is no different.  If your opponent pushes, then you pull, if he pulls then you push.  Again, simple in concept, but difficult to execute.  Think about when you have a disagreement with a co-worker.  Do you allow the person to express their point of view without total interruption or you are quick to refute their point head on and don't allow the co-worker to finish?  For most, it is natural instinct to meet that force head on.  So how can one train one's self to go against natural instinct?

For starters you must keep in mind that harmony has to be met.  Without it, your chances of winning the combat, or anything else in that matter, will be diminished.  For the majority of us out there, when extreme stressful situations occur, regardless if it is in combat or if it is a problem at work, our body goes into a fight or flight mode.  This is when the our sympathetic nervous system kicks in causing our heart to be faster, our breathing to become more shallow, and our blood vessels in many parts our body begin to constrict.  When this occurs we can quickly become disoriented causing wrongful reactions to the situation.  Balance is no longer there.  One of the first things to do to achieve back the balance is to control the very essence of life; breathing.  Once you focus on your breathing to slow, down you calm your mind and begin to put your body back closer to a natural state.  Once that begins you can focus more clearly on the stress factor and decide which action to take.

Once harmony is met, the next step is to keep it maintained.  This is where you must figure which steps to take in order to maintain balance.  To do this you must use an I.P.D.E. method to assess your situation.  I.P.D.E. is a term I learned in driver's education which is very much easily applied in martial arts.  It stands for Intercept, Predict, Decide and Execute.  When you use the I.P.D.E. method keep in mind that this is not a method which you debate long term about your actions.  First you intercept the situation.  Is this life or death, being mugged in the streets, versus simple physical altercation, perhaps sparring at the gym, or is it someone just ranting, the disagreeing co-worker we talked about in the first paragraph?  For example purposes let's say the situation is a sparring session in the gym.  Now we move on to the next step, predict.  Is this person going to use a simple 1-2 combo followed up with a kick or will your opponent go in for a takedown, perhaps you can offset him by being the aggressor? Onto the next step, decide.  Simple enough decide on a course of action based on what you predict the opponent will do.  Let's say, for sake of argument, that you predict that the opponent is aggressive enough that he/she will be executing some combos.  We will also say that the opponent has got reach and weight on you.  With that in mind you need to decide the 3 courses of action.  First is Push.  Execute if the person is in a retreat mode or is in a less aggressive mode.  Second Pull.  Execute when the opponent's momentum is more aggressive and allow the momentum to proceed forward and react against it.  Lastly Get out of the way.  When the opponent is highly aggressive and has an oncoming barrage of punches and kicks sometimes the best way to block is not be there. Once you have predicted what is going to happen you move on to the last step, execute.  Once you arrive at your decision you must, without a doubt execute.  Do not be afraid of the choice you make, that will only cause hesitation and in return the harmony is no longer maintained.  One of my favorite quotes "Fear causes hesitation and hesitation will cause your worst fear to come true."

Once all of this has taken place the situation will now change and with it, you must change.  Remember to combine the I.P.D.E. method along with the thought of push, pull or get out of the way to maintain the harmony of the situation and you will be one step closer to achieving overall victory.

Climbing over that Mental Peak for Competition - 5 tips that can help you push past your usual limits by Jeremy M. Talbott

Whenever I am asked, "What can I do to better prepare for the next competition?" I naturally answer train, train, train and when you get tired, train some more.  Let's face it that is easier said than done.  Everyone knows you need to train hard to be good, but, no matter how hard you train, there is always a peak which you just can't seem to get past.  A mental exhaustion where you body no longer wants to go on.  So how do you motivate yourself to train harder, to push your body just past that limit you didn't think you could?  That is the key question. 

While trophies and medals may motivate you to get ready for the next competition, this may not always motivate you to push on when your muscles ache and your body is fatigued and you are drenched in sweat.  Sometimes you just need to "trick" your body and mind into going that extra mile.  So here are five mental rules to use whenever you need that extra push.

1)      Music enrages the savage beast.  Most of the time we hear the old saying "Music soothes the savage beast" and while this may be true, the opposite is just as true.  No matter how tired someone is, they always have enough energy to tap their toes or nod their head when their favorite song comes on.  It is almost instinctive.  Sometimes all you need is some really fast paced music to give you your second wind.  You become revived and ready for another session.

2)      Just one more time.   Repetition is key in successfully executing a good form as well as building up muscle memory to execute good sparring techniques.  So when you reach the state of tiredness, simply tell yourself, "I just need to do this one more time."  Once you do it, and then repeat that in your head again.  Before you know it, you have just pushed yourself an extra 30 minutes longer than you thought you could. 

3)      10 times right.  While repetition may be key, it is CORRECT repetition which is crucial.  If you are going to do something over and over, make sure you are doing it right.  A good start is the "10 times right" rule.  This means that you pick out a combination of techniques that you need to use and execute it, at full speed and strength, ten times.  Sounds easy enough right?  Well there is a catch.  If you mess up the combo then you have to start all over again.  This means that if you have executed the combo nine times successfully and then on the tenth time you mess up, then you go back to starting all over again.  Even when exhausted you will find this drill will push you to stay in the game longer than you expected.

4)      Whatever you are doing, your opponent is doing it more, and harder.  Sometimes you need your biggest rival to motivate you to stay on the mat.  Since most of the time they don't train at the same place as you do, you have to envision that they are always training harder than yourself.  If you throw a single combo once, your opponent has thrown it twice.  If you ran your best form 10 times, your opponent ran hers fifteen times.  If you swam 20 laps, your opponent swam 21 laps.  With that in mind run that form one more time or do one more round of sparring.  Each time you reach that limit and you are about to quit, always remember your opponent had no problems doing it once more.

5)      Let the movies help.  Before an event, it is always nice to relax the body and mind.  So how can you continue your training even when you need to just unwind?  Simple, let the movies work for you.  Prior to a big event simply grab a nice meal and watch a good inspirational movie such as "Rocky" or "Remember the Titans".  Movies that tend to inspire and send out the message that even the biggest long shot can be a champion.  Such movies not only send out a positive message of overcoming adversities, it also reminds you that you can achieve the success you deserve.  What better way to go into a competition than to have that message fresh in your mind.

Everyone has their own physical and mental limits.  Many of these limitations we place on ourselves never really knowing what we may be capable of doing.  These five items are just a few things that can help you push that bar of limitation for yourself a bit higher.  Even if you are able to tack on an extra five minutes of training or execute a form one more time than usual, the mental success you will achieve will reach far beyond the competition floor into your everyday life.