Experiencing the bumps and bruises of combat sports

I was chatting with another mom the other day, and it came up in our conversation that her two children had just taken part in a local tournament. I was unfamiliar with the competition; however, I always get excited when I learn that other people are participating in the martial arts. Unfortunately, her body language reflected the uncertainty she was clearly feeling about the event. Her daughter had been kicked hard enough to knock the wind out of her, and it had caused this mom to have misgivings about continuing their training.

I have mixed feelings about this. First and foremost is the well-being of our children. There are certainly groups out there that do not hold themselves to the high standards required to be a truly beneficial martial arts school. Parents should always do their homework, ask questions, and attend classes before entrusting their children to something as intense as the martial arts. But then what? How do we deal with the inevitable bumps and bruises of participating in a combat sport?

Try thinking about it in terms of self-defense

This is something that has dawned on me slowly over the years and really didn’t truly sink in until I started taking classes myself. Changing the way that I think about my immediate environment and how I might respond in any given situation has been a process. Thankfully, I’ve never needed to use self-defense to protect myself. I am one of the lucky ones. Nonetheless, I’m aware of its importance. There are so many benefits to learning the martial arts; however, self-defense is probably the most practical. Unsurprisingly, though, to be effective it does require changing the way you think.

I dare you

With the concept of self-defense in mind, one of the more disconcerting drills that we do in our Taekwondo dojang involves, quite literally, striking each other in the abdomen. That’s right. We stand there and intentionally punch each other.

The idea is several fold:

• It builds trust with your training partners, who will punch you as hard as you can take it, but no harder.

• If you have been punched in the core area in a safe environment with people who care about your welfare, then you’ll be less likely to panic if you are ever in a situation that isn’t “safe.”

• It builds a self-awareness that you will be “Okay” despite an overwhelming instinct to panic.

• Believe it or not, this is an amazing way to build core strength.

This particular drill is not very high on my list of “favorites.” It’s uncomfortable, both to give and receive, and it goes against the social conditioning I’ve been taught my entire life. I do it anyway because as much as I dislike it, I think it has value. This brings me back to the little girl who had the breath knocked out of her. Here’s the thing:

She was ok

She really was ok. No, it wasn’t pleasant. Getting the breath knocked out of you is never fun. However, she stood up, and she was fine. That is important information for her to know. If something like that ever happens, she will know that she will be fine. In a real-life self-defense situation, this could be the difference between surviving or not.