Let's talk the five habits of the most successful martial arts students.

Let's get started.

Welcome to the ATA Nation podcast.

Welcome back to the ATA Nation podcast.

I'm your host, senior master Zack Hayden.

For episode 175, we're nearing in on 10,000 downloads.

That's just since I switched the software that we hosted on and that was not that long ago.

Like a year and a half, maybe not even.

I don't know.

Anyways, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in for today's episode.

One of the things that I've been thinking about recently is doing a couple of solo episodes in throughout our athletes of the week and our other regular guests.

We've got some episodes coming up with other guests.

We've got our athletes of the week.

But, you know, I wanted to bring some topics to you guys, some ideas, some thoughts, and so we're going to start with that.

Today we're going to go through the five habits of the most successful martial arts.

Okay, These are, if you are like your goal is to be a great martial arts student, these are habits that you just need to be plugging in and taking action on.

And we know that taking action is hugely important in our training.

So.

So let's start out with these five habits and then we're going to get to our athlete of the week.

Let's get started.

Habit number one.

The most successful students show up even when they don't feel like it.

Okay.

Consistency beats intensity.

There are so many people I have seen throughout my career in martial arts that were like super awesome.

They came in, they were amazing athletes, they worked hard and they did their thing and then they just like, they're gone.

All right?

Because it was about intensity and not consistency.

Motivation fades.

But habits when you've got to make sure that you are building the habit of coming all the time.

I am not the most talented, naturally martial artist.

I tell my students all the time there are tons of people who started martial arts near me, around me, you know, all the years that I've come, that I've watched and they're like, these guys are amazing.

Martial arts gone, okay?

They're not there anymore.

The reason that I am a seventh degree black belt, the reason that I plan on testing for 8th degree black belt is because I show up every week.

You just got to keep coming, you got to keep doing it.

It's a habit.

One of my favorite quotes is long obedience in the same direction.

I just never stop training.

I just never stop showing up.

Tournaments, trainings, at Worlds, trainings at Nationals, whatever it might be.

Consistency.

Now, this is really important for parents out there, your child and you for that matter.

If you're an adult martial artist, you're going to not want to go.

Your kid is going to want to stop going to class because they're going to be like, I'm tired, I don't want it, I don't feel like doing it.

I don't want to.

And okay, that is a temporary thing.

Consistency beats intensity.

So push through it.

Okay.

I tell.

This is.

I don't think I've ever mentioned this on the podcast before.

And so here we go.

When I was a.

A little kid, my.

I tell this to my students all the time, but I don't.

I haven't shared it out on the podcast.

When I was a little kid, my mom signed me and my brother up for dance lessons.

We did tap and jazz dance.

And I did that for nine years.

And I tell my students all the time.

Never once do I remember ever telling my mom, hey, mom, I love dance.

I want to do dance.

My mom just told us to get in the car and go every Tuesday.

And that's just what we did.

We just got in the car and went.

And I did nine years of that because it wasn't an option.

It was a habit that we had built, right?

Luckily, I found martial arts and I was eventually like, mom, I really would like to go to martial arts more.

And so I don't have to do dance anymore.

And that was fine.

It worked for us.

But consistently showing up, even when you don't feel like it, Habit number two, the best.

The best martial artists ask questions and seek feedback.

The best students are curious.

Not just.

They don't want just compliments.

They want to get better.

They ask.

They seek out training opportunities with their instructors, and at Nationals, at Worlds Online, they seek out the opportunity to learn more.

It's not just about memorizing things, it's about mastering things.

You've got to be willing to look, do some research.

This one comes a little easier to me because I'm the kind of person who, I get fomo, so I want to know the.

The things that are changing, the things that are updating, because I don't want to be left behind.

There's a lot of people who aren't that way.

They're like, oh, this is the way I've done it.

I'm just going to do it like this all the time.

Curious people are successful because they're learners.

They keep learning all the time.

So if you Want to be a successful martial artist for the long term, what you need to do is ask questions, stay curious, investigate.

Is there a better way to do this?

Can I work a little harder on this and seek that feedback to make sure that it's something that is going to really don't get?

You know, we're talking about honesty right now and one of the pillars of honesty is humility.

Humility is the ability to go, hey, I might not know the best way to do this.

I might need to ask somebody else.

All right, I might need to check, is there more I can learn about this?

That's being curious, asking questions, seeking feedback.

Super important habit.

Number three, encourage others.

Successful martial arts encourage others.

You're part of a worldwide organization.

You've got to be there to support each other.

Because when you support each other, when you support go out and support somebody else, you're going to feel better about it, all right?

And you're going to be building relationships.

That's going to make it easier for you to continue to train.

All right?

In martial arts, your energy is contagious.

You got to make it positive.

You're going to stay in something you enjoy longer.

Encouraging others is going to make you a leader and it's going to make you more willing to grow.

It's going to put you around people who are interested in growing because they're encouraging people.

Okay?

True excellence lifts others up.

You want to be excellent, you want to make sure you're encouraging others.

So let's revert to you, these first three.

Number one, they show up.

Number two, they ask questions and seek feedback.

Number three, they encourage others.

Number four, huge set small, specific goals.

All right?

You need success isn't just one big giant leap.

It's little wins showing up.

This is goes right back to the showing up habit.

Set those short term goals.

I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do this.

It's about the reps that you put in.

Big dreams are built one small goal at a time.

You got to set those goals.

This is what I'm going to do this week.

This is what I'm going to do next week.

This is the next midterm I've got.

This is the next testing I've got.

Don't.

It's always, you know, don't always be focused on the long term.

Make sure you're focused on the short term because that's where you're going to be making a difference.

And in those short terms, make sure that you're focused on the quality of those short term goals, okay?

The next rep, that's what matters, the next rep, okay?

You want a vision for where you want to go.

You want a big long term goal, but the small goals are what get you there.

And I tell my students all the time, like, I don't like push ups any other more than somebody else likes pushups, but I do push ups because I want this big goal.

All right?

So you've got to set the small goals and that's where the work is done.

Action beats intention every time.

You've got to be taking actions on those small goals.

And then habit number five, the best martial artists, the most successful ones, celebrate progress, okay?

Recognition builds momentum.

Celebrate the progress that you make, not just the outcomes at the end.

If we only celebrate the outcome at the end, you're going to miss the journey.

And what's most important is making sure that you are celebrating that progress as you go in in those small goals so you can get to the big goals.

You have to acknowledge the growth that you've had, not just the rank that you've got or not just the title that you have, not just the letters on the back of your uniform.

Celebrate small wins.

How are you going to do that?

I don't know, give yourself a, you know, the opportunity to, to, you know, go to a extra event.

Hey, I did this.

I'm going to celebrate this.

Okay, hey, how?

Encourage the people around you.

Let them know this is a goal of mine.

When you reach that small goal, what's the celebration you're going to do for it?

We need, as parents as that are having martial arts children that we want to be a big success.

What are you celebrating?

That's the effort.

Okay?

I see a lot of people celebrate the medals at tournaments, the titles, and not as many people celebrating the effort that is put in.

The effort is what builds a champion.

The effort is what's going to make a difference.

10 years, 20 years, 30 years down the line, because they learned how to put in the effort, their title in 20 years isn't going to matter.

All right, so celebrating the progress is going to be huge.

All right, so here's a challenge for you at Nation.

Pick one of these habits and start it this week.

Let me know which habit you're going to pick.

All right, let's go through them again real quick.

We've got number one and most successful martial arts.

They show up even when they don't feel like it.

Number two, they ask questions and they seek feedback.

They don't just ask questions.

They seek the feedback as well.

Number three, they encourage others.

Number four, they set small, specific goals.

And number five, they celebrate progress, not just titles or ranks.

What of these do you need to work on?

And maybe you're good at some of them and some of them you're not as good at.

Which one are you going to take action on?

Because we only improve by taking real action on our goals.

Ata always take action.

I hope that helps you this week.

Let's get to our athlete of the week ata nation.

We have our athlete of the week with us today.

Can you introduce yourself, Sir?

Yes, sir.

I'm Justin French from Saline, Michigan.

I go to Omega Martial Arts and.

Omega Martial Arts up there in Saline, Michigan.

This is my part of the country region 102.

Hey, Mr. French, can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in martial arts?

What's your kind of origin story?

Yeah, so my origin story started when I was four years old.

I stepped into the classroom pretty shy and I kind of.

I loved it from the first day and I kept with it.

You've just been doing it since you were four?

How old are you now?

I'm 13 years old there.

Okay.

A long time.

Almost 10 years.

Good deal.

Awesome.

And what degree black belt are you?

I am a second degree black belt, sir.

Very cool.

Okay, so, Mr. French, as an athlete, you probably like to compete.

You like to get out there and do some, you know, kicking and punching and stuff at tournaments.

What's your.

What's your favorite event to compete in?

Yeah, so my favorite event would probably be weapons.

I've worked with my weapons form for like three years now.

I've gotten to as perfect as I can get and I'm still training.

Awesome.

What weapon is it?

I do swords there.

Excellent.

Very cool, everybody.

The sword is a pretty good one.

And that's a.

It's not an easy weapon.

It's got a lot of detail to it.

Very cool.

What about if.

If we had to pick like your least favorite event at a tournament, what would that be?

Probably combat.

I don't train with it much, but it's not one of my.

Not one of your tops?

Hey, that's okay.

Hey, everybody's got their own thing.

It's just interesting to hear, you know, what people like.

What people that, you know.

I mean, we like it all.

Of course, it's all fun, but, you know, you got to specialize in certain things.

So what kind of, you know, we're.

We're partway through the New season.

We just had fall nationals.

Do you have goals for this tournament season as a competitor, what you're looking to do, just better yourself, titles, things like that?

Yes, sir.

So some of the goals I've been training for this year is my goal is to be a world champion one day, and my goal is to be a third degree by winter.

Excellent.

So it's coming, coming up?

Yes, sir.

Excellent.

Okay.

Are you excited about that third degree form?

Yes, sir.

You've been practicing those slow sidekicks at the beginning?

Yes, sir.

Those are challenging.

Good.

That's exciting.

That'll be a lot of fun.

And what's nice about switching from second degree to third degree is you don't have to change divisions at a tournament.

So that makes, it, makes it easy that way.

I like how you phrased, I want to be a world championship someday, a world champion someday.

You know, a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves that, like, this year, it's got to be this year.

I've got to do it this year.

And, you know, I mean, sometimes that's a smart goal to set, but sometimes it can be beyond that.

Do you have any, you know, what do you think about that journey to becoming a world champ?

Yeah, so some of the journey I've been doing, I went to the athlete development camp in Arkansas, actually, and I've been training nonstop at my school and just putting in a lot of effort.

Excellent.

Well, I know, I know Mr. Kafer up there is.

I've known Mr. Kafer since, like, I started Taekwondo a few years ago, and he has been on that journey to get a world championship for world champion for years and just finally got his.

And, man, that guy is a top level athlete.

So I think it's important for everybody to just, you know, keep practicing, keep trying, keep working, set that goal, you know, and don't always put the pressure like, it's got to be this year.

It's got to be, you know, right away.

Everybody wants things right away.

Okay, so what about for you?

You said third degree is your goal.

You're working on getting that.

Excuse me, what about the, the, you know, are you doing any things at the school training wise that you are kind of focused on, obviously that third degree, but anything else that's really keeping you busy with that training?

Yeah, I've been in the legacy program for like three years now.

I teach every Wednesdays.

I help with the White, Orange Yellow Tigers and Karate for Kids.

I've also been training, like I said before, with world championships and just putting a Lot of effort.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Or great.

We love to see people, you know, in that legacy program working on improving themselves, helping pass it to the next generation.

That's super cool.

Okay.

Hey, what's it mean to you to be an athlete that goes beyond the belt?

Yeah.

So beyond the belt is like, my journey of going beyond the belt is really showing my ATA skills out of school.

Just training, giving respect to others out of school and in ATA and showing everything I've learned and all the discipline aspects into everyday life.

Well, that's excellent.

If you were.

If you're looking at the life skills that you learn in martial arts, what's the one that like, for you is like, hey, this is the one that really is maybe like your favorite because you're good at it.

Or maybe the one that you're like, I need to work on that one a little bit.

Which life skill do you think of?

And you go like, yeah, that's a.

That's a great life skill to be focused on.

Yeah, my favorite life skill would probably be discipline, because without being disciplined, you really can't get anything done, at least to a certain extent.

Yeah, no, you're 100% right.

I mean, you got to have that discipline to keep moving forward, to keep training, to, you know, do the life skills that we talk about outside of the school.

So that's really cool.

Well, hey, sir, congratulations on being one of the brand ambassadors, athletes of the week, and thank you so much for your time today.

Thank you, sir.

I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.

I'm going to ask for two things from you today.

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Make sure you go over there, like, and subscribe, because you're going to get all the updates for new, new podcast episodes you're going to get real or shorts that are going to come out from the brand ambassadors and clips from the podcast, and maybe we'll do some live stuff in the future.

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So, number one, head over there and subscribe.

Number two, let me know what you think of the solo episode information today, and if it's something you'd like to hear a little bit more from, or if you're like, no, just do guess I don't want to hear from you at all.

Let us know.

Hey, get out there and be a champion.

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