It is almost a cliche that a martial artist must remain calm in the face of stress. The steely most eyes, the easy, flowing movements in the midst of a chaotic swirl of activity. What if you could be the same in the midst of the chaos at your work? Or at your home? What if you welcomed stressful situations as opportunities to grow? Well, applying the same principles that our calm, cool and collected martial artist uses can help you do exactly that.
The first principle is “maximum efficiency, minimum effort.” This is exactly what it sounds like, but it is extremely difficult for most people to achieve. In karate, it is the goal of ending a fight with one punch or one kick. In judo, it is disabling an opponent with one throw for which you use leverage and balance, not strength. Applying this to a stressful situation, you can focus on eliminating a stressor rather than trying to lessen each symptom of stress.
The next principle is “break the opponent’s balance while maintaining yours.” This is what gives judo masters those graceful yet powerful throws against much larger opponents. If your opponent is off balance, she or he cannot gain any leverage to resist your attack, or to attempt an attack. You, by maintaining your balance, will always be in a position to attack or aggressively defend. This means that in any stressful situation, you have a backup plan you can go to if things get out of control. It also means you build flexibility into your plans, to absorb unexpected circumstances.
The third principle is using flow to fight an opponent’s attack. An example of this is a football team using a draw play against a team that blitzes. The offense lets the defenders rush upfield, through the offensive line into the backfield. The quarterback waits for the middle to clear itself of defenders, then hands the ball to the running back, who runs into the now vacant section of the defense. How does this apply to stress? By using another popular principle often expressed as a prayer: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” In other words, don’t waste your time, energy and emotional strength fighting against those things you cannot control. Flow is letting an opponent proceed with an attack that you are not interested in opposing. Focus on those parts of the stressful situation that you can control, and especially those parts that will influence those parts you cannot directly control.
The martial arts master applies these principles in the execution of the movements. But he or she also uses them internally and externally to control stress. The difference between a black belt and any other person is that the black belt internalizes the principles and teachings of martial arts, and lives them in all aspects of life. Practice is not something that stays on the dojo floor. Technique is applied to every attack, personal as well as stressful. You can apply these principles to attack and manipulate the stress in your life.
STRESS JUDO COACHING helps you focus on personal excellence in a number of ways. While the program was developed for stress management and stress elimination in your life, each module of the training can be used to improve personal excellence. For example, the module on personal internal energy can be used to keep you at high energy levels while you improve. The module on meditation can be used to eliminate certain types of stress reactions, so that you can work on excellence unimpeded. Go to our CONTACT US page at http://www.stressjudocoaching.us/1_3_Contact.html for 3 free and exclusive reports, explaining The Truth (your current stress management program is impotent); The Remedy (the requirements of a program that eliminates stress); and The Overview (how STRESS JUDO COACHING can transform your life).
