Long ago, most people who trained in martial arts focused only on one discipline, and training in multiple arts was discouraged. Masters of these single arts tended to emphasize philosophical principles to their students, such as honor, self-discipline, integrity, respect, and honesty. These masters would refuse to promote a student if the student did not exemplify characteristics of a true martial artist—one who is both a warrior and a scholar.
Genuine martial artists are dedicated to improving themselves both physically and mentally. They work hard to be role models to those around them. They treat others kindly, help and protect those in need, act with integrity, and are able to constructively handle difficult situations.
As martial arts schools began offering more than one art to their students in recent decades, however, some of these principles have fallen away. At some schools, a student can earn a black belt regardless of their character, and sometimes regardless of their actual skill level. In the long run, this diminishes the martial arts community.
Here at Heimberger's Martial Arts, we believe that promotion to the higher belts needs to reflect a student's character as well as their physical abilities. In our youth classes, we work to develop good character in all our students, even the youngest ones. Whether we exemplify the characteristics of a true martial artist is dependent on the choices we make every day. During every youth class, our instructors model and explain these choices, such as the choice to express respect and gratitude to one's partner for allowing their body to be used for training. We believe it is important to instill mutual respect and an understanding of training with one's partner instead of on one's partner. We believe that as martial artists, it is our responsibility to help our youth students to develop good character as they grow so it becomes a permanent part of who they are. The character of adults tends to be more fixed, but regardless of one's age, everyone can still make choices to improve their self-discipline, integrity, and other mental traits as well as our physical skills.
We also promote these principles at Heimberger's Martial Arts because we want to create an environment of trust and support in which our students can reach their full potential. Your ability to improve your mental and physical skills is only as good as the people around you and the environment you are in. When you're training with people who value excellence and exhibit traits of a true martial artist, it will give you more opportunities and inspiration to create excellence within yourself. When you respect and trust your training partners and they trust and respect you, it builds a community of support that will enable everyone to learn and grow knowing that, even when mistakes are made along the way, other people will be there to help you continue to move forward.
Are you looking for more information regarding our Mixed Martial Arts School in Wesley Chapel? Try us for free today or you can also contact us regarding any questions you or your child have. We are here for you!