Success in the martial arts requires commitment. This includes dedication to a training routine, to the principles and strategies of the art, to the rules of the gym, to training partners, and to your Coaches, Krus, or Senseis.  Along the road to success there are many distractions and traps that can completely sabotage your progress and goals.  Below we’ll touch on these aspects of commitment, and some common distractions to avoid in order to be successful in the martial arts.
Training Routine:  Dedication to a weekly training routine is the first step to progress in a martial art.  Students need to make a point of setting aside time in their schedule for training.  Two or three sessions per week is recommended for most students, and more for those who are preparing to compete.  As with anything else, the more time you dedicate to training, the faster your progress will be.  Planning for, and staying up to date with tuition is also an important aspect of sticking to a training routine. 
 Common pitfalls that can sabotage a training routine include: a lack of self-discipline or ambition, poor time management, an inability to keep focus on goals, poor diet or substance abuse, and unsupportive friends or family members.  Poor management or inappropriate dealings with tuition can also sabotage your progress.
The Art:  Commitment to your chosen martial art is essential to reaching your goals in that art.  Learning the techniques and strategies of a combative art is not only the key to individual progress, but also to preserving that art for future generations of students.  Some strategies can be difficult to understand at first and students may struggle with their importance at first.  But, generally, every detail given to the student has meaning and purpose based on decades or centuries of development.  Sometimes adjustments will be made to certain strategies to make them more effective or efficient, but these should be left to the most experienced practitioners in the gym.
Some students may have a “selective participation” approach to their training.  This means that they’re willing to do certain parts of the training, but not others.  They may want to add their own personal preferences to strategies, or jump ahead of their level.  But, this Selective Participation can also sabotage individual progress, and create an atmosphere of confusion and dysfunction in the gym.  Many principles and strategies depend on one another to work the best.  So, to selectively choose to only do portions of an art will severely limit the student’s potential and interfere with others’, too.
Gym Rules:  Most martial arts gyms or Dojos will strike a balance between realism and risks in training.  So it’s important to establish safety guidelines and rules that everyone must follow to minimize risks.  Some of the rules in the gym have to do with a rank structure and etiquette for training.  These are important to insure productive communication between everyone, and effective teaching and learning in the Dojo. 
Ways that these essential aspects of the Dojo can fail usually involve students ignoring or choosing not to follow the rules.  Some people may tend to have a rebellious attitude toward the structure in the gym.  They may think “I’m different, the rules don’t really apply to me” or “rules were meant to be broken” or “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.”  This thinking and approach will result in a delay in progress, alienation from the training group, and warnings that can lead to ejection from the gym.
Training Partners and Coaches:  Dedication, trust and loyalty are the cornerstones of healthy relationships and training in a martial arts gym.  It is almost impossible to learn a martial art without trusted partners, and knowledgeable instructors.  Drills and sparring with dojo-mates are the best way to learn essential elements like realistic timing, distancing, fluidity and self-control.  Having qualified instructors who can share their knowledge, and guide you through the minefield of learning is invaluable.  Every other person in the gym should be treated with respect and courtesy, because we all depend on one another to progress in our martial arts experiences.
There are several ways that your martial arts journey can be sidetracked or ruined because of weakness or failure in this aspect of training.  One is to fall into a “tribal” or clique mentality about the people within the gym.  Students should avoid gravitating into a small circle of friends that tend to alienate others, and treat every training partner fairly and equally in the Dojo.  Another failure is to fall into a rivalry with another student or instructor.  Being antagonistic towards others in the Dojo can contribute to an uncomfortable and dangerous training environment that can affect the whole training group.  Students should also avoid causing “drama” in the gym that will cause distractions and dysfunction.  Lastly, students should be careful about dating, “hitting on”, or harassing training partners.  Any student who cannot seem to be respectful and appreciate their training partners and instructors will be asked to leave the Dojo.
So, being committed to martial arts training and goals in these ways are actually simple once you decide that you will do what’s required to make it all happen.  Once a routine is established, stay on track and avoid the common distractions that will sabotage your progress.  With a little commitment to training, loyalty to gym-mates, and focus on goals, we can all achieve great things in the martial arts together.

Matt “Machine” Bienia entered the cage to fight for the AMMO Fight League’s Lightweight title belt back on Saturday, October 7.  He squared off with Swagath Pillai of Plus One Defense in Hartford, Connecticut, in what many people were calling the “fight of the night.” Although Matt went the distance and lost the decision, he did an amazing job and deserves a ton of credit.
     The bout started with Swag showing huge improvement in his takedown and cage game.  Once on the mat, he played a very conservative strategy of locking down inside of Matt’s guard, and throwing some punches sporadically.  Matt actually stayed fairly active in that position throwing his own strikes, attempting submissions, and trying sweeps or reversals.  That pattern repeated for most of the first four rounds, with brief striking exchanges standing.  In the fifth and final round, Matt rallied to take Swag down and work top position for most of the round. At times, Pillai would escape, but Matt would gain the upper hand again.  In the end, Bienia’s amazing fifth round was not enough to get the decision.
     Congrats to Matt on stepping up to the challenge, and an incredible performance representing Team Z!

Now that the fall and winter season is underway ZenQuest will be making some adjustments to it’s class schedule.  Please note the following changes.
The Wednesday evening wrestling class will be discontinued as of December 1st of this year.  This is partly due to our long time student and primary instructor Tony Riello retiring from grappling due to longstanding injuries.  Another consideration is that this class was originally implemented to supplement our Jiu-jitsu program with takedown offense and defense back in 2010.  But, since our affiliation with Demian Maia in early 2011, and transition to his style of Jiu-jitsu (which incorporates wrestling strategies beautifully) the need for a separate class in this area is somewhat diminished.  The Wednesday evening Muay Thai and Jiu-jitsu classes will be adjusted to 5:45 PM and 7:00 PM respectively, matching the Monday night schedule.
Also effective December, we will discontinue our HSD/ Hybrid Self-Defense classes.  This is due to a lack of attendance in these classes, and the sense that most people with an interest in self-defense training prefer to do short term clinics rather than continuous training.  The self-defense strategies covered in HSD will be incorporated into our Karate and Jiu-jitsu classes more going forward.  We will be exploring other options to offer in the time slots opened up by this change but, for now, that time will be available to students as additional open mat training.
Please direct any questions or class suggestions to Senseis Connie and Mark at your convenience.