THE MARTIAL ARTS AND SELF-EXPRESSION. What does it mean to "express yourself?"

If you want to accelerate your personal growth and development in training, it is absolutely essential that you understand what it means to "express yourself" through the martial arts as soon as possible.

In the Western world, we think of self-expression as simply a "statement" or particular point someone makes about what they think or feel. We say an artist expresses themselves through a painting or song. Or, some may express themselves through the clothes they wear, tattoos, or other adornment. In effect, we find people express themselves by performing certain acts or behaviors in order to stand out from the rest of society. Self-expression in this context has nothing to do with expressing yourself in the martial arts.

Self-expression in the martial arts occurs when your technique comes automatically without thought, without pretense. It is the point where mind and body have come together to affect one action - one motion. For most people, this occurs after years of hard work and countless hours of drills and repetition. This type of expression goes beyond simple muscle memory. It's what others in the sports world call being "in the zone." When you're in the zone, there is no thought process involved in your performance. The action comes automatically with flawless perfection. We can all remember a time in our lives when we secured the victory or did something spectacular while in the zone - that moment when time stopped, all internal dialogue ceased for that split second when we made our winning move. For most of us, we fell into it by accident. We remember what it felt like, but have no idea how to we did it or how to repeat it.

This is what the martial arts attempts to teach us. In learning to express ourselves in the martial arts we discover how perform in the zone upon command. The Bruce Lee interview I have posted below addresses this topic in greater detail. It's well worth your time to watch repeatedly.

Imagine what could happen if you, having learned to enter the into the zone upon command for purposes of training or competition, expanded the concept to other areas of your life. What impact could living in the zone make in your business decisions? Life decisions? Your relationships?