Conditioning

Hello Again everyone,
Conditioning refers to more than just body conditioning. It refers to training or rebuilding the body, mind, emotional response, mental response, awareness, and technique. Training by its very nature conditions the body. Specific muscle groups, tendons, ligaments and supporting structures work. Training and guided practice align physical and mental energy in the same direction. While it may not allow one to look like Charles Atlas, it allows on to operate effectively.

One must take care in conditioning the body, as to not lose flexibility, speed and maneuverability. Work out, lift weights, and train the body for power and speed. The exercises for speed vary from those that build power. Speed exercises focus on allowing the muscles to move with less resistance and can be target focused. Power exercises build build muscle in the same ways as do the typical weight training exercises.

Running, walking, cycling, cross country running, hiking, et cetera condition the body and its ability to endure hardship. Cardiovascular conditioning gives one the oxygen for more involved muscle movement. If one obtains more oxygen and conditions the body to move under stress; then such activities benefit the martial artist.

Mental conditioning allows for better handling of difficult conditions. Most individuals wonder; what would I do, if faced with a difficult situation. With proper instruction, many people develop a resistance to stressful situations. Some individuals ask, what happens if I freeze up. Training in action and reaction to an event, within a controlled environment allows one the ability to respond. Mental conditioning builds up resilience, This is not to say that life drops problems within one's lap, but one must learn to solve the problem or change their perspective. (Wayne Dyer, Wisdom of the Ages PBS Presentation)

Emotional responses may help or hurt, depending on whether they assist in finding a solution to the problem or not. Emotions represent real processes going on within the body. Even though some individuals interpret emotions as imagined or just manufactured within a person's psyche. Just as mountain climbing requires tools, so does overcoming and working with emotions. In a conflict a person may feel scared, angry, frustrated, apprehensive, or a combination of these feelings. But training in ways that allow the stress to be ratcheted up. This process must be tightly controlled, or it may lead to training difficulties.

Mental responses vary from what does one do next or panic. Make a plan and train that plan. Decide what one must do and do it. Think and act, not think then act. One builds a picture and views that picture through the mind. Think of a mind as a browser. It coordinates different information such as visual, auditory, olfactory, pressure, temperature, taste, and intuition. This information gets processed, some information gets kept and some information does not get kept. Discernment develops through attention and thought. But like great paintings, the artist may not think about the exact step by step of the painting. The technique happens when it needs to through training.

In conclusion, practitioners must condition their minds and bodies to defend one's self. Each person responds differently to a given situation. Physical and mental work hand in hand. One can never fully prepare for a first attack adequately, but preparation provides tools and allows individuals to survive.