MONDAY MINDSET: CHANNELS OF EXPRESSION

WEEK OF 6/10/24

 

This week’s article is not a prescriptive (i.e., do X to get Y results) one.  But rather just an observation and conceptual approach that I’ve taken to life, and how my martial arts training fits into a larger, holistic method of living.  I am by no means an expert, nor a guru of any kind.  Ultimately I am just a guy with a platform who sometimes gets it right, and sometimes gets it wrong.

When I step outside the technical scope of my expertise it’s important for you to approach anything I write with a grain of salt and the understanding that I am communicating to you as a peer, not a life coach or anyone with any authority to “tell it like it is” as it relates to life outside of the mat, cage, or ring.

With that said, I believe that the ability to communicate well is the ability to express yourself well.  And disciplined self expression is the ability to engineer channels for the emotional energy that springs from the deep, inner well of our being.  Without discipline here, the energy carves its own path — often destructively; those who cannot communicate or express themselves well often find themselves angry, frustrated, and anxious.

This energy will work itself out in some way.  Either you guide it, or it finds a way out.

Learning to properly articulate, express, and communicate well is the ability to create channels of expression that circulate the energy in productive ways.  Emotions and feelings are a form of energy, in a way, in that they do power and guide our behavior even if they can’t power a lightbulb or start an engine.

Gasoline, when concentrated in its raw state, can be deadly.  It can burn, poison, or explode.  But when channeled safely it can power an entire city, heal the wounded, and elevate the human experience.

Our emotional energy is much the same.  When raw and concentrated it can be volatile and generate poor outcomes.  It can lead to explosive outbursts, it can poison relationships, and it can corrode our character over time.  But with proper engineering, it can be the energy that elevates your life and allows you to achieve incredible results.

So take time to practice and train your ability to communicate and express yourself across multiple channels.  If you are reading this, then you probably train in some form of martial arts — martial arts training is a very effective and productive channel for this type of energy, and can be an extremely powerful method of release and motivation.  However, the act of training does not, in itself, create an emergent ability to express yourself in a healthy way.

Sparring too hard, treating training partners like opponents, bullying others — these are all methods of emotional expression through martial arts that are not healthy or create net-positive outcomes.

As you grow as a martial artist, take a critical eye towards your own behavior.  Look at the blueprints of your own channels of expression.  Where do they lead?  What do they power?  What is the result?  Seek to engineer, and continually retrofit, constructive, healthy ways of channeling that energy.  You, and everyone else, will be all the better for it!

Life is, after all, a process and not a product.  Maintain it, grow it, and above all, enjoy it.