It must be my combined love of psychology and people watching, but I believe that there is no such thing as an ordinary person, people are extraordinary.  I was so inspired recently by Jai, a Martial Arts devotee with SIX Black Belts that I wanted to share how we can all control the brain like he does. When elite sports people are in ‘flow’ (the continuous state of concentration) parts of the brain like the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala become deactivated, and a fearlessness kicks in – we can all enrich our daily lives through maximising the power of the mind by tapping into this state.

Jai is incredibly inspiring, he has competed and won several ‘National Association of Kick Boxing’ competitions, and still trains daily with a 73-year old 9thDan Karate expert. At four years old, his dad started him boxing, and not surprisingly he won his first Judo black belt at 16 years.  He embodies everything that I admire: dedication, extreme motivation, heightened fitness and discipline. But like many successful sports people he ‘admits’ to having an addictive personality and has been called a sociopath by some (another Blog will explain that connection!).

Martial Arts changes people on levels beyond the physical.  If you are struggling with low self-confidence or self-esteem, addiction, scared to talk to people, lacking in authority, aggression, struggling with anger or weight control, then engaging with Martial Arts is a good mechanism to overcome these issues.  It is also a very useful mindset in your daily life, building on what you might already be doing.

Overcoming gender differences in both practice and competitive fighting is an ongoing challenge.  Jai explained that in his experience many women feel intimidated coming into a male orientated sport and have to work and train harder to prove themselves than men do.  However, in martial arts many of the gender boundaries are forgotten, although he admitted that a male might be afraid of hurting a woman while she can be trying to “take his head off”.

Self-control is a key part of Martial Arts, in the same way that managing your weight and maintaining one’s health takes mindfulness.  Jai is working with young men who are channelling their aggression and learning to control their addictions.  These young people are becoming desensitised by aggressive video games without any real counter measures of positive mentoring to help them.  My children practised Taekwondo and Karate for several years, and I was pleasantly encouraged when they said that it taught them focus and control of their impulses and urges.

Here are TEN amazing learning points from my conversation with Jai to implement in your life and to train your brain in:

  • Focus your mind – build mental resilience
  • Humility – “I am average, not elite”
  • Know your limits – only then can you find inner peace and stability
  • Don’t lose self-control (physically and verbally) – you can hurt someone
  • Self-defence and exercise are about training your brain – the reflex action is there
  • Mentor someone and be mentored by someone better than you
  • Supreme athletes might be at a different physical and mental level: but we can learn from their tough minds and intense fighting spirit
  • Test yourself again and again and again
  • Know your surroundings, what you are, where you are and what you can do – never lose focus of the end game
  • Take everything you do to the best level that you can and then take it further!!!

A vital and strong mind has meant that Jai has beaten competitors that were fitter and stronger than him because as he said, “they just don’t want to win as bad I do”.  This determined mindset applies to everything in life.  If you want something bad enough, use the power of your mind and shut out the nagging voice that says you can’t – focus and keep refocusing your thoughts when they wonder. The fear of failure falls away when you are in a state of flow.