Started martial arts, namely Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), since January this year (2023) and I’ve got to say it’s a skill worth building and refining for the rest of my life. Not for the final goal of being technique-skilled by achieving a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu or the highest rank in Muay Thai but for the mental strength, physical strength and values that will be developed in the process.
Techniques — you’ve to ask a proper coach or professor (in BJJ, we call them prof, cool eh?). I’ll just be sharing the other valuable parts of my learning.
Why and how did I start?
Strange to say this but it’s from reading books, not from watching UFC or other fighting championships.
Stephen Covey’s “7 habits of highly effective people” book inspired me to work on myself and aim to be proficient in one skill each year. Then, I got inspired to take up martial arts from Tony Robbin’s book on “Awaken the giant within” when he shared his story on getting a black belt in taekwondo in a year.
Found a gym and my journey started.
Any gym recommendations?
Not really. But if you’d like a gym that’s based in Singapore with truly genuine coaches, professors, a boss, really affordable prices and a feel of family, then Fight G is the one I recommend. Non-airconditioned gym with a humble facility — that’s what makes training genuine and authentic.
Finding an martial arts gym/academy involves attending trial classes and having a feel of how it is like training there before committing to a membership. Affordability is another factor.
Fight G was only the 2nd gym I trialed at and I knew that it is the one for me. For various reasons — it being the cheapest gym in the whole of Singapore and a conversation I had with the boss (whom I did not know when I was talking to him that day), who is also an instructor with decades of martial arts experience and coaching experience.
I was deciding whether to take up the membership…
“Genuinely curious, why is the membership so cheap? Your prices are only about 1/2 to 1/3 of the market rate.”
“Let me tell you what. I’m actually the founder of this place and why I make the prices so low is because I want it to be affordable and accessible to people. Martial arts changed my life. If not for it, I would have been in prison.”
Wow indeed. I was deeply moved by his purpose and genuine heart.
3 values in-progress
Respect
We start every Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) class standing in a row and giving a bow to our professor. At the end of every BJJ class, on top of the bow, we will shake hands with our professors and other students. And at the end of every Muay Thai class, we stand in a close circle, bow and give fist bumps to our coaches and the rest of the students.
Though we do this for every class, I’ll always be greatly humbled by this practice of respect. It’ll constantly serve as a reminder to me, to value all living beings with love and respect. Only then can we start to accept learnings from people of different backgrounds with valuable experiences.
Humility
“You’re punching with ego, not your core.”
I overheard my coach saying this to a student. Such a short but powerful statement that I’ll remember for a long time.
In other words, he is saying, be humble, do anything from a pure heart, never from ego, only then can you truly grow and become better at what you do. Which is so in line with my Vipassana meditation practice.
A glass that’s half full gives us space to take in new learnings. If your glass is too full, when they say you’re too full of yourself, that’s when you stop learning. Expand your glass, rather than always keeping it full. Have a bigger heart and more open mind, stay humble — the right way to truly grow.
Discipline
The coaches and professors always encourage us to attend more classes. And the best students at the gym are those who are always there — attending classes or sparring.
The only way to get better at a skill is to keep doing it with deliberate practice. Show up for yourself. Take action.
Motivation is a myth. Many of us think that motivation will lead to action which then leads to success. But it’s action that leads to progress (success). And with progress (success), comes motivation. Rely on action rather than a motivation to reach success.
Process rather than goal. Yes having the goal to achieve black belt in BJJ or a specific rank in Muay Thai is perfectly okay. But it will not actually lead us to the goal. What matters is having the discipline to turn up for class consistently.
3 mental toughness quotes
Be grateful that you have a body to feel tired in
Quoted from my Muay Thai coach during one of the classes when we all felt extremely exhausted from the intense kicking and punching routine.
Not sure about the rest of the students, but the moment I heard this, I am somehow reminded that tiredness/exhaustion is just a sensation, it’s impermanent and thus there’s no point in being averse towards it. That kept me going.
Only when you continue to push yourself when you’re exhausted, can you truly grow out of your comfort zone.
Fall seven times, stand up eight
“Impossible that you don’t get hit at least once in any practice.” Said my Muay Thai coach when he noticed that we were going light on each other.
When he said that, it really reminded me of the Japanese proverb: fall seven times, stand up eight. Getting hit or falling is the way to learn and get better, as long as it doesn’t permanently disable you. Don’t fear mistakes or failure, see it as a learning opportunity — to respond creatively, constructively and correctively.
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. ~ Bruce Lee
A quote pasted on one of the walls at the gym.
Everything that we do, it’s about grit — passion and perseverance. If we want to be good at something, we’ve got put in deliberate practice, passion and perseverance.
Through social media, many of us think success is based on talent or luck (though could be true to some extent, but not the final determinant), leading to “overnight success”. But what we don’t see is the number of hours, effort and grit that goes into what seemed like an overnight success.
Keep working. With grit and deliberate practice.
3 physical strength in-progress
Core and Cardio
Martial arts require both random spurts of energy (core) and sustained energy (cardio) throughout the class, sparring session or fight competition.
Since I started, I’ve noticed I’m a lot lighter and quicker on my feet (though my weight has generally been the same). Didn’t do any proper measurements or analysis but I guess it could be a general gain in stamina and core strength.
I’ve mainly been attending classes, sometimes a little sparring. Though it can still train my core and cardio, it’s not sufficient as classes are mainly technique-based. I know I’ll have to work on them on my own outside classes due to the limited time we have for each class. This keeps me process-driven, to consistently improve and maintain my cardio and core strength at my own time.
Flexibility
Especially for BJJ, it will certainly be advantageous to be more flexible. Even for Muay Thai, certain kicks require some flexibility.
I guess this is when doing yoga can be helpful — which I’ll continue to do every morning and challenging my flexibility once in a while for some growth.
Being flexible is great as it increases mobility and our range of motion. Helpful in preventing injuries that can be avoided just from being a little more flexible.
Achievement
One strip for BJJ white belt! Honestly didn’t expect it as climbing the ranks was never really my intention. But this serves as a reminder to keep training as more pleasant and unexpected surprises await me.
Future plans in martial arts
Martial arts is more of a thing I’ll continue to do on the side — for relaxation, health and growing to become a better person every day. It’s such a versatile skill that will add so much value to anyone’s life.
Only 7 months in and I know it’s something I’ll continue for the foreseeable future. I’m currently making a transition now from Singapore to settle in Romania for my 6 years vet school studies and I know I’ll definitely find a gym to continue building this skill. I’ll update again in a few months’ time!