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#1: Self-discipline.

There is no achievement without discipline, primarily because without discipline, you won't have the fortitude to continue to work towards a goal. You can't effect a lot of change in your physical or mental fitness if you don't have the discipline to maintain a habit - even when that habit is not necessarily pleasant to maintain. Self-discipline is considered one of the great reasons to take up a martial art - but you also have to find it within yourself.

#2: Self-confidence.

If you tell yourself "I can't beat this opponent," then the opponent has already won. When you lack self-confidence, you don't need to do any fighting, because you've already laid out your plan for yourself. You know you're going to lose, and you do. Self-confidence does not necessarily mean that you'll always have total belief in yourself. But it does mean that you should trust yourself to perform well.

#3: Belief.

Do you believe that what you've learned is going to work when you spar? Do you believe that you are one of the best fighters in the room? Do you believe that you're a great martial artist? If not, then you're probably none of these things. Belief can create a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you believe that you are going to win more than your opponent believes it, you stand a good chance at winning.

#4: Vision.

If you can't see yourself fighting with strong discipline and courage, then how do you ever expect to achieve that level of confidence? You have to create a vision of yourself as successful before you become successful. You can do this through training and hard work, but you can also put time aside in order to practice visualizing yourself as successful.

#5: Persistence.

Nothing is achieved without persistence. Without it, you aren't able to make any lasting changes in yourself or your environment. If you give up at the most difficult times, you lose opportunities to grow as a person.

Photo Credits: Arjana

Originally posted 2009-08-05 05:32:43.

David and Goliath

Gaining leverage over your opponent means that you are able to use something small and make it incredibly important. Has anyone - perhaps a teasing older brother - ever held your hands in such an uncomfortable position that you weren't able to fight back at all? This is the concept of leverage, of which the root word is "lever." By changing one small element of a combat situation, you are able to change the entire momentum.

Common leverage points usually deal with weak areas on the human body, such as joints. When you're able to disable an opponent's joints, they won't be able to bend. The joint is a small area that enables a whole lot of movement, which is why it's important to focus on joints in a combat situation; you want to keep yours free and inhibit the bending of your opponents' joints.

But leverage doesn't only have to apply to the levers in the physical human body. Leverage can also refer to using one aspect of a fight to your advantage: in jujutsu, you learn how to use an opponent's weight to your advantage, and against your opponent. By utilizing momentum and gravity, you can utilize this idea of "leverage" to defeat someone who is larger than you.

Oftentimes, getting leverage over an opponent is a simple matter of quickly discerning their advantages and working to inhibit them. If you're fighting a smaller, quicker fighter, then you'll want to get that fighter in a situation where their quickness doesn't count - such as wrestling on the ground, where your strength can overpower them.

In the Battle of Thermopylae, 300 Spartans and other warriors famously used leverage (in this case, the terrain) in order to repel a massive army. What can you accomplish in your martial arts sparring - or even your life - if you understand leverage? A lot.

Photo Credits: maha-online

Originally posted 2009-11-17 03:02:50.

No escape.

Find an escape route. Maybe you don't like to think of yourself as the type of person to run, but having an escape route can be necessary to your survival. Especially if you're not in a fair fight to begin with. Survey your surroundings so you know where to make a quick getaway if necessary, especially in potential trouble areas like rowdy bars and alleys. You'll also want to get out of sight as fast as possible, not simply escape, so be sure you know how to do that, as well.

Read peoples' body language. You should be able to read body language to the point where you can start to intuitively feel peoples' inner attitudes and emotions. If you start to perceive a threat from someone else, or know if someone is watching you, it will help you trigger your inner "alert" and let you know that you might need to get ready for a combat situation. Reading body language will also help you better understanding logistics, such as by seeing where your enemy looks - he might tip you off to the presence of a few of his allies.

Know your blind spots. When you're driving on the highway, you know where your blind spot is. But if you enter a new area, you don't really know, so you'll want to check. It's good to know the situation, but if you have a few blind spots, that means you face the unknown. As a general rule, it's usually a good idea to try and have as few blind spots as possible. If you do have them, be aware of where they are so that you can check them in a hurry if need be.

Reading a combat situation means that you should be shrewd. Know when the odds are stacked against you, read the logistics, and keep your emotions out of play. The better you understand the situation, the better chance of survival you'll have.

Photo Credits: SarahCartwright

Originally posted 2010-01-12 03:13:27.