Yorkshire Academy of Korean Martial Arts
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Indomitable Spirit
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Yorkshire Academy of Korean Martial Arts
Indomitable Spirit
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The 5 Tenets of YAKMA     
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In martial arts indomitable spirit is generally considered to be a refusal to be beaten, no matter how tough, talented or big your opponent may be. However it is not only about being beaten by people. In pursuit of our ambitions in life be we will inevitably meet obstacles and problems. Some may be minor and others seem insurmountable. It is easy and pleasant to work on an ambition when all appears to be going your way, you will feel confident and optimistic about the outcome. However the times when we meet obstacles are when the strength of our indomitable spirit will dictate how far we get..
The strength of indomitable spirit varies from individual to individual and project to project. I’m sure we all know people who will not be beaten and other who give in quite easily.
Individual It is my belief that people are born with different levels of indomitable spirit. Also if we are raised in a positive environment where we see our parents meet objects and deal with them until they are ultimately overcome, we will tend to have more of these qualities ourselves.
Project Obviously the amount and severity of problems we are willing to overcome depends on how much a project means to us. For example if we are dedicated to martial arts and wish to improve we will be prepared to tolerate more. We may be finding the sparring very tough. If we are only a little interested in martial arts this may be the factor that stops us training. We may not stop straight away but start to make excuses to ourselves for missing class (“I’m feeling tired tonight I don’t want to over train”). If we are keen we may try to isolate the problem and work on it. If we are getting badly out of breath we could work on our conditioning. If we don’t like being hit full on in the face perhaps we will work on getting used to it (if this is possible), or perhaps we may pick another martial art such as Aikido. This is not the same as giving up we should always adapt our dream to what suits us the most.
In surveys done on financial success versus academic achievements it was found that a great percentage high achievers were unsuccessful on the financial side. One reason given was that these people already considered themselves a success due to their academic achievements so were not prepared to work very hard and long. However someone trying to prove themselves “worthy” would be willing to go the extra mile. This is one reason that as martial artists we are encouraged not to rest on our laurels. This tends to be a side result of martial arts anyway. As soon as you get to a state where you think you are getting good you will meet other martial artists that will make you realise how little you really know. The secret is to realise how much more you know than when you started and look the higher grades to see what is possible.
Whatever project we embark upon there will be many times when the “chattering monkey” in our head tells us we cannot do this, it will give many reasons such as we are not strong enough, not tough enough, not good enough or we will get hurt. We must develop a habit of filtering these negative thoughts out as soon as they occur (unless there is a real danger). We might do this by refocusing our minds positively or repeatedly telling ourselves that we are strong enough, good enough, over and over until the penny drops.
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