“Are you here to train? Or are you here to have a Coffee?”
The university that I attended was a martial arts melting pot. While I was and still am the Chief Instructor of the Tang Soo Do Club, I had the ability to learn so much from people from outside of my organization and outside the art of Tang Soo Do. One particular gentleman that I learned a lot from was a Postdoctoral Researcher from Germany that worked for the Math Department. He was a Shotokan practitioner.
There was a lot to learn from him technically, but one thing that I will always remember is when he called out one of my students that was talking instead of training. I will always remember the question that he asked, “Are you here to train? Or are you here to have a Coffee?”
This can apply to your work life and your martial arts life. You need to understand where you are, and what the purpose for that location is. While I have the option to work from home, I often decide to go to work in the office simply because the office is dedicated for work. If I need to get something important done, I know where I need to work on that day.
When it comes to our dojo or dojang, we need to make sure that when we are there, we are there to train. I am friendly with a lot of my martial arts peers, but when we are training, we are silent and focused on the instructor, our technique, or our partner. Everyone else in the school should be behaving the same way.
When one student is out of focus, how does that affect your training?
When that one coworker keeps talking, how does that affect your work?
There’s a high probability that the focus of the entire class or office is completely gone when this happens. Have respect for your fellow students in the dojang, or your coworkers in the office. It may be hard to see, but you are on the same team. Stay focussed on your work and do your part to make sure you don’t distract the rest of the team.
Comradery is important, but take your discussion to the bar after class or to the water jug.
Different spaces have different meanings and different intentions to them. Make sure those meanings don’t get blurred!
