You are here : Home > Laugh at Yourself

LAUGH AT YOURSELF

by Emmanuel Manolakakis

We've all been there before - a bad day where nothing is working properly, or going the way it should. Frustrated, irritated and maybe even embarrassed, we start to 'punish' our training partner. It seems the most convenient thing to do at the time.

In the worst scenario, prolonged frustration, irritation and embarrassment can lead to hostility and anger. And we all know that hostility and anger are usually petty or unjustified. In most situations, people are oblivious to their hostility. Like dominos it is transferred from one person to the next.

I have seen this more times than I care and would like to help people who find themselves in these types of situations. Let's begin with a psychological explanation for this behavior - it's quite simply juvenile. Think of a child who takes a tantrum in order to get attention or something they want. The solution is to grow up, something very hard for adults to do.

There are many strategies to overcome this, here's the one that has worked for me. If you find yourself in a compromising position, try making fun of your own sense of self-importance. Aggression and anger are part of life and we cannot change that, but we can become friends with it. Try instead to make your faults the object of your humor. Anger and humor cannot exist in the same mind at the same time!

"You grow up the day you have the first real laugh - at yourself"
Ethel Barrymore

DID YOU KNOW...

People who feel that they are entitled to benefits and rewards have been shown to find hard work more tedious than someone else more humble.

But you'll never do the many small, difficult, and demanding things that lead to mastery if you feel that those exercises are beneath you. Feelings of entitlement will only keep you from attaining your reward.

So try to remain humble during your training. When a simple exercise, such as a push up, is put before you, don't assume that you have nothing to learn from it. Instead, do it as best you can, with control and grace. Often students wish to avoid simple drills in favour of something flashier. It puts me in mind of a short fable.

The young student approaches the Master: "Master, I will learn your art twice as fast as everyone else." The Master replies: "Then I shall have to teach you for twice as long."

Russian Martial Art Training Articles

by Emmanuel Manolakakis

Russian Martial Arts Training Infomation

For more articles and current posts please see: FC Connect
For articles on Spetsnaz training and history see: Spetsnaz - Soviet Special Forces

401 Donlands Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada : 416-200-0200

Visit the FC Store to purchase training videos, books and club sportswear.