Desire - Student Tools
The Desire stage is about deciding what skill you want and need to master. This can be difficult when you are starting martial arts training for the first time as everything is new and vague. But remember, you decided to come to start martial arts classes for some reason. The trick is to turn that reason into a goal. For many that initial goal is "to defend myself" or "become a black belt". The initial goal is a problem as it does not craft a clear destination. When you don't know where you are going, you cannot figure out how to get there.
Goals need to be Specific. Take that initial goal and break into smaller chunks with more and more specificity:
- To defend myself
- To defend myself against a bully
- To defend myself against a bully who is punching me
- To defend myself against a bully who is punching me in the face
- To defend myself against a bully who is punching me in the face with their right fist
- To defend myself against a bully who is punching me in the face with their right fist with their right leg back
- To defend myself against a bully who is punching me in the face with their right fist with their right leg back, while I'm pinned against a wall
Once you find yourself defining a complete conflict scenario, you have a goal that is specific enough. This also helps to make the goal Realistic. There are many skills we can master, and we will in the fullness of time. We need to start with those that will have immediate value to us and are within our current skill set. As we master one skill after another we will find ourselves being able to achieve those higher level goals.
Next, define some Measure of the goal; some indicator of when you will accept that you have mastered the skill and achieved that goal. There is no argument that one can continuously improve their skills. Again, in the fullness of time it is inevitable that skills will compliment and bring our overall abilities to a higher level. But if there is no finish line how do we know we've gotten where we are going. The belt/rank/sash system in martial arts were designed in part to denote the progression of the student on their journey.
Initial measures will no doubt feel arbitrary, but as they are self-imposed you can always create new measures once achieved. The key is always to start small and build up. Using the specific goal example above, a measure could be: successfully defend against five attacks in a row from the multiple partners in class. The count is important. One can easily say all attacks ever, but is it Achievable? If you cannot do one, how can you do all? If you can do it once, perhaps you were lucky. Twice could be coincidence. Thrice is the start of a pattern. Five for five, ten for ten, etc. should give us confidence we have reached the destination.
The final aspect of a good goal is a Time-boundary or a deadline. Again it should be realistic and achievable, but it will add a little focus and challenge to your training. It will help give each moment in class a little more value as the deadline looms. No deadline often mean no priority.
To summarise, take the time to reflect on what you want and need. When you find something you both want and need, craft it into a S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) goal. There are many books and resource on SMART goals. Google it if you are looking for more. Once the goal is set, you have completed the Desire stage. With experience this will become easier as the next goal is often based on something discovered while working on the last, e.g. what do I do if they throw their left fist instead, if they shove be to the ground, if they have a knife, etc.
No one has ever mastered a skill they did not need and want
