PRACTICE

WEEK OF 3/16/26

 

What do we do six days a week at the gym? We practice.

Without thinking too much about it, we’d probably say practice is when you work on the skills for a particular sport or activity.  And leave it at that.

And I suppose that’s true, but it’s not entirely true.

Practice can also be meant in the context of a practice, as in a yoga practice for example.  In yoga the term abhyasa is used to denote the practice of yoga over a long period of time to develop mindfulness, discipline, and other inner-focused skills as well as the more conspicuous external ones like “being flexible.”

So, yes, yoga practice is about developing the flexibility and stability to hold the poses.  But it’s also so much more.

Our martial arts practice is the same way.  The value is largely in the consistent doing, independent of whether that doing actually produces meaningful improvement in the external skills on any particular day.  This is not to say that the external skill development isn’t important.  It is.  But it’s not the only thing that’s important.  And, in the long term, it’s probably the least important thing.

Have you ever noticed that the toughest people in the room are usually the calmest?  The least impulsive?  The least reactive?  The most disciplined?  These are all internal skills developed through long, rigorous practice over time.  After 21 years of training, I have yet to use my skills outside of a sport activity.  And I’ll be happy if I never have to use them.  The value in my training is not in some hypothetical self defense scenario coming down the pipeline, but rather in the transformative inner growth that has allowed me to move through the world in a more peaceful way.

No matter what you are doing in your practice, the simple act of committing to the practice has intrinsic value.  Enjoy it, embrace it, and appreciate the ability to commit yourself to something difficult that demands so much of you, and gives you so much back.  Just not always in the way you expect.