A Strong Mind Leads to a Strong Body
What is strength training? What does it truly mean to become strong? I’ve asked myself this over and over again throughout my journey in martial arts and my experience with a chronic back injury, and this is what I’ve found from asking that question and walking this path.
Through martial arts and my training with Andy Kimura in Jun Fan Gung Fu, I’ve learned that strength is far beyond the physical. Whether it’s a powerful roundhouse kick or a killer right hand, the strength you see on the outside all begins in the mind. Thus, a strong mind leads to a strong body.
Understand Your Opponent
But how do you build a strong mind? One great way I’ve found to do that is to truly understand the opponent in front of you. To understand your opponent, you must stretch your perspective and expand your point of view. For instance, just as endurance training strengthens your body, expanding your point of view strengthens your mind. Because when you learn how to understand the other person, you also learn how to understand yourself better.
For example, by understanding my opponent’s thinking to the point that I can anticipate their fierce strikes, I’ve learned patience and timing. I’ve also learned how to respect different approaches. A certain technique may work well for one fighter but not for another. Seeing why a certain approach works for that person helps me better understand why certain techniques work well for me and why others don’t. Thus, this mental work directly connects to my physical work and improves my strength training.
Understand Your Outlook
Another way to build a strong mind and increase your strength training is to step back and examine your outlook on the world. Doing this through my martial arts journey has deeply changed me for the better. For instance, when I started this journey, I had a completely different outlook than I have now. When I started, I was a freshman in high school and saw the world very differently than I do now. From my outlook back then, I felt that I didn’t have anything going for my life. I blamed everyone else for what was going on, and I lashed out when I didn’t get my way.
However, through my training, I slowly learned how to examine my outlook, and over time, I came to realize that the frustration I was experiencing was self-inflicted and stemmed from how I viewed things and saw the world. In short, I realized my outlook was causing my pain. This whole process was like dropping your hand while fighting, getting punched, learning from that pain, and growing stronger because of it.
By stepping back and examining my outlook, I realized that I was waiting for the world to change, that I was being passive and reactive. But after I saw that, I was able to learn how to shift my point of view. I moved from being reactive to being proactive. I learned that the problem wasn’t the world in front of me, it was the glasses I chose to see the world through. Once I saw the glasses I was wearing, I was able to take them off, and this mental shift also shifted my performance and fighting. I was able to more proactively counter my opponent’s moves, and I was able to increase my recovery time because I wasn’t as frustrated and worn out after a match. So, again, by strengthening my mind, I was able to strengthen my techniques and performance.
Understand Your Inspiration
Another great way I’ve found to strengthen your mind is to really understand your inspirations and role models. For example, Bruce Lee is one of my biggest inspirations, and better understanding him and his life has helped me so much throughout my journey. In fact, Bruce Lee has been one of the biggest catalysts for change in my life.
Seeing his persistence, determination, and wisdom inspired me to become the best version of myself. The lessons he taught helped pull me out of a dark place and guide me to a new way. In short, Bruce Lee became my hero and constant inspiration. Whenever I encountered times of great difficulty (or even when my depression relapsed), I would always turn to Bruce Lee for his wisdom, and he would always have an answer.
By studying Bruce Lee’s life, outlook, technique, and more, I was able to see things I couldn’t see on my own. Striving to embody his principles and walk a mile in his shoes pushed me to expand my mind and see things from a new perspective. All of this strengthened my mind and directly strengthened my body. When I understood Bruce Lee’s motives and ideals, I literally moved differently on the mat. I reacted differently to my opponents, and my performance changed for the better.
Understand Your Fear
Unfortunately, even with this mental conditioning, a year into my martial arts journey, I thought my journey was over. That year, everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong. I suffered a major back injury, and I had to stop training. During this time, I became very depressed and found myself in a dark place. I was afraid I would never train again. But I sat with that fear, examined it, and began to understand it.
By understanding my fear, I was able to push through it and find the strength to reach out to those around me. I messaged a famous martial artist named Nathan Young, who soon began helping me get back on my journey. Through one-on-one sessions, video calls, and more, Sifu Nate helped me find a way to get myself back together and start taking new steps on my path. This was one of the biggest steps in my strength training.
Eventually, Sifu Nate referred me to Andy Kimura, the son of Taky Kimura (Bruce Lee’s best friend), and all of a sudden, I went from being a Bruce Lee fan boy to being a 3rd generation Bruce Lee student. But I never would have reached that point if I didn’t push through the pain in my mind, push through the fear and uncertainty, to reach out to those around me. It sounds simple, but it takes mental strength to reach out for help. If I didn’t message Nathan Young, I never would have met Andy Kimura.
What Strength Means to Me
Through strengthening my mind by understanding my opponents, outlook, inspiration, and fear, I’ve gained a deeper meaning of strength. For me, I believe strength and real strength training is finding hope when there is no hope. It’s being optimistic when there is nothing to be optimistic about, and it’s moving forward and trying your best, even though it may seem like it won’t get better.
Martial arts is my love, passion, profession, and life, and my martial arts journey has led me to become a martial arts instructor. So, today, I’m honored and humbled to be able to help pass these lessons on to other people. Martial arts helped me cultivate and focus both my mental and physical strength in a way that moved me forward to become the person I am today, a person I’m truly proud of being.
This story comes from Akio Musashi Wong, a resilient athlete and Combat Corner brand ambassador. Akio’s story is just one of many from the CRNR Champion Community of ambassadors. As a CRNR Ambassador, you join an exclusive community and earn special rewards from Combat Corner.
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