Enter the Dragon!

Lori O'Connell recently blogged on  the value of visualization in martial arts training : In one of the most well-known studies on creative visualization in sports, Russian scientists compared four groups of Olympic athletes in terms of their training schedules (as described in  Karate Of Okinawa: Building Warrior Spirit  by Robert Scaglione): Group 1 = 100% physical training; Group 2 - 75% physical training with 25% mental training; Group 3 - 50% physical training with 50% mental training; Group 4 - 25% physical training with 75% mental training. Group 4, with 75% of their time devoted to mental training, performed the best. Personally, I find mental practice more challenging than physical training: the mind wanders ... So here are my top suggestions for mental training: Go to class!  Training in the martial arts develops the mind and body from the get-go.   Once a technique is familiar, don't go on auto-pilot: Observe : Notice fine details. Experiment : ...

Congratulations to everyone on your hard work for the year, and for those who graded, well-deserved promotions: Combined Monash Caulfield and Clayton recipients at Presentation Day Well done to everyone at both Monash clubs, and at the Honbu. Personally, I plan to enjoy the Summer holidays (including some training at the Honbu), and really looking forward to training in 2013.

Here's the first of an elegant three-part series in which the presenter, Simon Thakur , starts with small perturbations of the spine and expands into a swathe of whole-body movements: Well worth a look, especially if you are interested in improving your overall body awareness and quality of movement.