His kick hit me square in the lips and stopped me in my tracks.
Because he was my very good friend, he pulled the kick so it didn’t split me lips wide open – which would have made it very hard to eat the spicy foods I love so much.
I have to admit…I was pretty pissed off. We were working on a drill where I was attacking with hands only and he was defending with legs only – each one knew what the other was trying to do and both of us had been training for over fifteen years – so you know it wasn’t easy to score on each other.
But I was pissed anyway.
After it happened, I turned in to Public Enemy Number One – against myself.
All this negative B.S. started running in my head; the guy I call the “Angry Little Man” really started to let me have it.
“How could you get hit with that kick – you suk.” “He wouldn’t have hit you with that if you were training more often.” “You’re not worthy of your rank in the arts.” “Where’s all that knowledge that you have been studying and practicing”…on and on.
Steam started coming out of my ears. I was good and hot under the collar and thank the stars – the workout was over.
That was good because I had someone’s azz to kick – that Angry Little Man talking all that trash in my head.
He wasn’t helping; he was making things worse. The more he tried to get me to be down on myself, the worse I felt – which made me try harder and force things – which led me to make more mistakes – which led to more yelling from the Angry Little Man.
So – I mentally took him in my arms, spun him around so that I was behind him – and choked him out. Cold. Off to sleep. Silenced.
Feeling much better, I then reviewed in my head what had happened during the training. What I had done well and what I had done when I got hit or made a mistake.
Without the negative crapola going on in my head, it was easy to see what I did well, where improvement could be made and how I could further develop so that next time I was a wee bit better.
That got me to thinking, “I see this all the time with students and other martial artists. When they are fighting or training, they aren’t just fighting against their opponent, but they are fighting with that Angry Little Man in their head.”
Choke that little bastard out. Squash him. Flick him away with your finger. Shut him up.
Clear your mind and focus on what you want, where you are and where you want to go.
If you are working on an attacking combination, don’t focus on the three out of ten that weren’t good; focus on the seven that were great and see what you can learn from the three that weren’t so hot.
Don’t listen to the Angry Little Man.
Best,
William Huff
P.S. – When I wasn’t listening to the Angry Little Man, I was trying to apply some of the principles contained in the Shaolin Secrets Volume I: Shaolin Feats of the Martial Arts, available at http://www.shaolinsecrets.com, and the Shaolin Fighting Secrets DVD Course, available at http://www.shaolinfightingsecrets.com. Go see for yourself how the information from the Shaolin Temple can take your game to the next level – and shut up that Angry Little Man.