What it means to study mixed martial arts

Steven Cason Forged 1st degree Black Belt Candidate June 7, 2012

The mixed style of martial arts we study at Aim High is a little bit of Tae Kwon Do, a smattering of American Boxing, a splash of Maui Tai Kickboxing, a dash of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, a smidgen of Escrima Stick fighting, and traditional Palgwe Pooms.

For me it is interesting to see the commonality between all the techniques we study.  For instance the importance of footwork in sport sparring, kickboxing, and stick techniques.  When studying self defense techniques all of the disciplines come into play for our techniques.  The individual techniques are used as building blocks to put together more advanced and complex activities.

I see advantages to studying a blend of martial arts styles because it gives everyone a bigger tool kit to draw from.  For example if you just study ground fighting then how will you react if you need to box?  Or vice versa if you just study boxing how will you react if you need to go to the ground?

Another advantage is each individual is a little bit different so studying a variety of techniques will allow a person to pick what works best for them. We also need to recognize that as we progress our styles may change as our skill levels improve and some of the techniques that didn't work early in our careers can be developed over time making us stronger martial artists.

I have also tried to follow this philosophy in my personal and professional life.  As I was talking to a co-worker today I mentioned I don't mind correcting mistakes so long as they are some other person's mistake to correct.  Meaning I don't like to make mistakes but if I make one I will admit it and correct it, but my goal is to be able to handle any assignment given to me correctly and also have the depth to clean up any mess that needs to be worked on.  Lets face it.  It is basic survival, no company wants to employ someone who does poor work.  Most companies do want to employ people who can walk into unknown situations and make them work if they weren't working to start with.

The way I have been able to do that professionally is to take assignments on that are slightly beyond my comfort zone.  When I first started work everything was outside of my comfort zone as I matured my confidence and other people's confidence in me grew and so did my ability to solve problems and bring change to organizations I worked for.  The same is true in martial arts.


Steven Cason