The Blog
Thoughts from Thomas Clifford on training, character and the lessons the mat teaches off the mat.
7 Practices of Highly Effective Martial Artists
Seven belts, seven habits. Inspired by Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, each practice pairs one habit with the rank where students learn to live it.
Be Proactive
Habit 1 is personal responsibility. White Belt, the rank of courage, is where you choose to become a student and take charge of your own training, and your own day.
Begin With The End In Mind
Habit 2 asks you to “finish before you start.” At Yellow Belt, most students quietly make the decision that shapes everything after it: Black Belt is the goal.
Put First Things First
Habit 3 is about priorities, and acting on them. At Green Belt, students learn that direction matters more than speed, and that how we spend our time reveals what we truly value.
Think Win-Win
Habit 4 is the paradigm of mutual benefit. At Blue Belt, cooperation takes center stage, because in the Dojo our classmates are not our competition; they are our most valuable resource.
Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood
Habit 5 may be the most elusive of the seven. Red Belt is the rank of receptivity, where students practice the lost art of listening, on the mat and off it.
Synergize
Habit 6 is the power of the whole exceeding the sum of its parts. At Brown Belt, students feel it on the mat: every classmate is another log on the fire.
Sharpen The Saw
Habit 7 is renewal. In the Dojo we call it Kaizen: constant and never-ending improvement. It encompasses every habit before it, and it is what being a Black Belt is all about.
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