Breaking the ego barrier

What is breaking the ego barrier in martial arts? Regardless if you’re a highly trained martial artist or you a just a beginner. Nothing interferes with your training more than  a martial artist with an uncontrolled ego. One of the first things I got taught when first stepping onto a dojo mat was “Leave your ego at the door and to always remain humble”.

While martial artists tend to exude a naturally confident, the majority of practitioners do not have enormous egos. Unfortunately you may have crossed paths with someone like this along your journey or in your life.  You may think to yourself why is having a lot of confidence bad in martial arts? Anyone can become a great martial artist If they take the time to learn and stay dedicated to their training. An experienced martial artists recognises that they don’t think they’re better than anyone else. Just because they have taken the time to learn some effective self defence techniques.

THE IMPACTS OF A UNCONTROLLED EGO

 

Having an uncontrolled ego will begin to interfere with your martial arts training even before you step foot into a dojo. Think about it – why would you bother signing up for martial arts.  If you’ve already decided that you could beat up anyone because of your size and strength.

What you will soon discover is your ego will prevent you from progressing and growing as a martial artist. What if you got put in place by a martial artist that was smaller or even younger than you. Let’s face it no-one wants to spar or be paired up with someone with a superiority complex. Who is more concerned about proving they’re the best in the dojo or in the art itself. Then controlling their techniques and having a clear mindset, in order to keep their training partners safe.

WHAT CAN I DO IN BREAKING THE EGO BARRIER ?

One of the best things you can do for your martial arts journey is to let go of your ego and replace it with confidence instead. Focus on becoming the best martial artist you can be when you train, not getting meaningless wins during sparring. Or just  because you want to get to the next rank the fastest.

Here let’s jump into why breaking the ego barrier is a powerful tool, in the world of martial arts.

EGO GIVES YOU A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

The best martial artists know that it’s a life long journey and they come across as humble with a strong desire to learn and constantly grow. That’s the right mindset to have when training in any martial arts system. As I have said in previous posts. You need to understand your why. What that means is why did you join in the dojo in the first place. What are you trying to accomplish?

It’s bad etiquette to walk into a dojo, just to try and prove a point. You’ll get humbled and end up with a bad reputation as a training partner. Your focus should be on learning and adapting your skills from your sensei or other higher ranked students. Don’t let your ego get the best of you and prevent you from learning valuable information and tips from those around you. Let’s say, you got upset that someone could master a new technique quicker than you. Remain humble and ask them to explain and demonstrate the technique, so you can do it better.

 

EGO STOPS YOUR GROWTH AS A MARTIAL ARTIST

Someone with a massive ego will hate to lose and often go out of their way to avoid this at all costs. This would significantly impact your martial arts training by purposely avoiding someone who is more advanced. You will never become a good martial artist by avoiding people who are capable of pushing you outside of your comfort zone.

An egotistical person is likely to go out of their way by selecting who they spar. The reason for this is so they don’t lose any sparring matches or come across as weak. While this mindset might satisfy their egos, it will hinder their growth as martial artists. 

 

AN EGO PREVENTS YOU FROM SEEING YOUR WEAKNESSES

It’s vital for every martial artist to remain self-aware and honest with themselves, in order to perform to the best of your abilities. You should feel proud and confident in your strengths.  But you also need recognising and accept your weaknesses and take on any constructive feedback you have been given by your sensei. By looking as your weaknesses as a strength, will give the mindset for you too continue to improve and develop as a martial artist.

Defeating lower rank belts isn’t what makes you grow as a martial artist. It’s all about going against better-skilled training partners, who pushes you to tighten up your techniques and improve your defence. You must train with martial artists who are better for you to take your skills to the next level. You’ll will never make an impact if you only spar with lower ranks or if you only pair up with the same person.

 

HAVING A EGO CAN MAKE YOU DANGEROUS ON THE MATS (Breaking the ego barrier)

 

If you build a reputation as someone with an inflated ego, the majority of practitioners will be reluctant to work with you. Would you want to train with someone who shows no concern for your safety because they’re so focused on proving how tough they are? Some martial artists are so determined to win in sparring sessions they don’t even realise they are putting themselves and others at risk. These are the type of people who apply joint locks hard, have no control and not caring if you tap out. This can cause serious and long term injury to their training partners.

If you don’t control your ego it will lead to people avoiding you, get less quality sparring time or even banned from the dojo. 

 

POOR PERFORMANCE IN COMPETITION

A big ego might prevent you from getting the vital training needed before competitions. You might think I don’t have to train as hard as everyone else because you can’t loose. It’s only a matter of time before people who think like this get humbled, by a competitor who actually took their training seriously.

YOU START TO TALK BADLY ABOUT OTHER MARTIAL ART STYLES

This is something I have never understood, but you come across so often in YouTube. Comparing which style is better than the other or why a certain style won’t work in self defence.

Having too much of an ego is never okay. What is the point of martial artists criticising each other art, just because they use a different technique or how to improve it.

To me martial arts has always been about developing discipline and respect. We are all practitioners and we are all continuously learning from one another. If you try don’t learn how to listen and you shut down other people’s opinions or suggestions, you can end up losing an opportunity to think outside the box. Which could actually enhance your training.

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE MARTIAL ART QUOTES ABOUT BREAKING THE EGO BARRIER

 

 

• “There are sometimes when a Shaolin must fight, and some people will not learn until they are taught a lesson.” American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers II (1992)
• “The only way to prove that you’re a good sport is to lose.” Ernie Banks
• “Never put your passions before your principles, for even if you win… you lose.” Vatche Bartekian
• “Strike with the soul, and you will never miss.” Kelly Bates
• “The best part of falling is getting back up again.” David Belle
• “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” Matt Biondi
• “Martial arts is not about fighting; it’s about building character.” Bo Bennett
• “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Ken Blanchard
• “Mental bearing (calmness), not skill, is the sign of a matured samurai. A Samurai therefore should neither be pompous nor arrogant.” Tsukahara Bokuden
• “He who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated 1000 times a 1000 men.” Buddha
• “We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.” Jackie Chan
• “The biggest lesson I learned during my wrestling career was humility. Getting knocked down was just part of the process to work even harder.” Steve Cooper
• “Be respectful of your Sensei.” Fumio Demura
• “Patience is more important, and more effective, than courage.” Antonio Diaz
• “Respect for your opponents. Always. That is Karate.” Antonio Diaz
• “Through courtesy you will take a humble attitude toward your opponent in training & be grateful to him.” S. Egami
• “A black belt is nothing more than a belt that goes around your waist. Being a black belt is a state of mind and attitude.” Rick English
• “The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the perfection of the character of its participants.” Gichin Funakoshi
• “No matter how you may excel in the art of Karate, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life.” Gichin Funakoshi
• “Seek perfection of character. Be faithful. Endeavor. Respect others. Refrain from violent behaviour.” Gichin Funakoshi
• “There is no losing in Jiu-Jitsu. You either win or you learn.” Carlos Gracie Jr.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON BREAKING THE EGO BARRIER 

As fellow martial artist we should learn to leave our ego at the door. And Instead of fighting over which style is better, why not take time to appreciate the differences in each style?. Let’s  say other style had a suggestions on how you can improve your technique. Why not remain humble and see how you can adjust your  technique and look at it from another perspective.

We can all learn something from someone else and it doesn’t have to be a competition all the time. At the end of the day, it’s not about you or me as individuals. It’s about martial arts as a community and how it can help and enrich our lives and the people around us.

By sticking to the values and maintaining a positive attitude, so that we can pass it on to the future generations of martial artists. So let go of your ego and then we can sit back and watch martial arts grow and develop all over the world as we support one another and treating each other with respect as it should be.

Martial arts a beginners guide

https://utkmblog.com/2021/02/02/martial-arts-and-ego-the-student-the-instructor-and-the-journey/