Visualization in Martial Arts

The Possibilities of Visualization in Martial Arts 
written by: Master McCorry

The old saying goes that "practice makes perfect". However, modern studies
show that mere practice is not enough to make anyone perfect in any art.
These path-breaking studies point to another powerful element that can help
us to attain physical and athletic goals – visualization.

Visualization: Theory and Practice
Visualization is a unique method in which you conjure to your mind a
visual image of something that you want to attain. Once you think of a
goal, you mentally visualize actually attaining it. You can even visualize
that you are correcting yourself in the process. 

A real-life situation of visualization may look like this. Imagine that
you are a dancer and you need to practice some moves. Once you learn the
moves through real practice, you go through the steps one by one in your
mind during leisure time, correcting yourself each time you feel that you
got it wrong. 

Visualization is a concept that has amazing possibilities in physical
activities such as sports, dance, aerobics, yoga and above all, martial
arts.

The Effectiveness of Visualization
Dr. Jacob Jordan, the author of Total Mind Body Training, opines that the
real trick is to stress how the mental image feels, rather than focusing on
the image itself. Proper visualization can bring a sea change to your
performance.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, in his work New Psycho-Cybernetics, illustrates a
monumental visualization experiment. One group of basketball players was
allowed to practice for 20 days. Another group practiced only on the first
and last days of the 20-day-period. The third group did actual practice on
the first and last days, and they practiced through visualization on other
days. When the results came out, the second group showed no improvement;
but the first and third groups showed almost equal improvement (24% and 23%
respectively.) This shows that visualization can be as effective as real
practice.

Russian scientists analyzed the schedule of Olympic athletes to find out
the right proportion of visualization. They discovered that the right mix
that gives the maximum performance is 75% visualization and 25% actual
practice.

The Role of Visualization in Martial Arts

As noted above, martial arts is the field in which visualization has the
greatest scope:

* Even if you are injured or unable to do actual practice, you can
practice through visualization.

* If you have weekly classes, you can productively use the time in-between
for practicing visualization.

* If you have to remember a sequence of moves, you can use visualization
to enhance your memory.

* While visualizing, you can imagine achieving perfection in your art. It
will help you to perform better.

* If you don’t feel confident enough, you can visualize that you are
always succeeding in your art. This will make you confident.

* Through visualization, you can improve yourself without getting
physically exhausted. This is very useful when you are to face a
competition.

Innovative Martial Arts Classes at Bruce McCorry’s
Bruce McCorry’s Martial Arts Center (Peabody, MA) is an innovative martial
arts academy – one of those rare academies in the US that make use of
visualization technique. The teachers here encourage you to practice
visualization on your free time – they constantly try to improve your
performance. Many of the capable martial arts performers today are the
former students of the academy. Join this four-decade-long legacy by being
a part of Bruce McCorry’s martial arts program…

www.brucemccorrys.com

Martial Arts to Prevent Domestic Violence

Self-Defense Oriented Martial Arts Classes to Prevent Domestic Violence 
written by: Master McCorry

While February 2014 is being celebrated as the Teen Domestic Violence
Awareness-Prevention Month, we have to understand the upsetting reality
that instances of domestic and non-domestic assaults are on the rise in the
United States.

A peek into the domestic violence surveys will paint a poignant picture
before us. One survey by the National Domestic Violence Coalition notes
that if we take physical assault alone, 1.3 million women can be considered
victims every year. If we expand the term to include verbal, mental and
sexual violence, a total of 5.3 million women are victimized every year,
says the American Institute of Domestic Violence. SafeHorizon
(www.safehorizon.org) points out that one in every three women die each
year in the US due to assaults by either the current partner or the former
partner. The peril of violent assaults and consequent deaths has got
entrenched in our society.

Why Fight for Yourselves - The Importance of Self-Defense
From the part of government, several measures are being taken to prevent
instances of violence against women. The Violence against Women Act focuses
on mobilizing women power to fight against the assaults. The act for Family
Violence Prevention and Services is yet another ambitious step toward this
goal. However the painful truth is that the numbers of domestic violence
are on constant increase, despite such measures. The message is clear:
there is no one else to protect us, but ourselves. This is where
self-defense becomes relevant.

Martial Arts: The Most Effective Self-Defense
Self-defense can buy anything – even a bottle of pepper spray or a Taser.
However, athletic defensive measures such as martial arts are real
life-savers compared to such one-time helpers. 

What makes martial arts a ten times better option?

* Ability to react instantly: the knowledge of a martial art will help you to react instantly to any assault. Quick reaction ability is one gift that martial arts learning gives you.

* Effective resistance: martial arts will not fail you at a crucial moment like other defense techniques. It will equip you to fight against violence effectively and powerfully

* Be prepared anytime: One important merit of martial arts is that it
helps you to be prepared anytime. Once you learn a martial art, it will be
there with you forever

* Self-confidence: martial art is not something that modifies your body in
a superficial way. It can make a profound impact on your mindset and make
you a confident person. Thus, it is not merely your physical strength that
improves – it is your personality. Even persons with meek, introverted and
docile mindsets can achieve self-confidence and self-esteem through martial
arts.

Learn to Defend Yourselves at Bruce McCorry’s Academy
Your chances of achieving strength, self-confidence and power through  martial arts depend largely on the kind of academy where you choose to
learn. What you need is a place that will prepare you to protect yourselves from any assault including domestic and non-domestic violence. That it
exactly why you need the self-defense oriented martial arts classes at Bruce McCorry’s, Peabody, Massachusetts. The defense-oriented classes at
the academy aim at empowering every woman so that domestic violence and partner violence become things of the past. Join Bruce McCorry’s Academy and be a part of the noble effort to eradicate domestic violence…

www.brucemccorrys.com