This particular propensity toward back strain has made me acutely aware of an all too common problem in myself and others - posture neglect.

First let's talk about me (whooooo), then let's talk about you.

These days most of my work takes place on the computer. I do my writing for this blog online (clearly), and I work predominantly for online companies. That has resulted in a lot of sitting. In previous jobs during college and such I often had elements of manual labor that kept my body up and moving about. Not so much anymore.

A few months ago my sitting started to effect my training; even though I did proper stretching and warmups before class I was still experiencing back pain. I realized in short order that it wasn't from any kicking drills or kata, but from how I operated through most of my day.

I pulled my instructor aside and had him run through my day with me mentally. I knew he had some back troubles in the past so I figured he would be able to help me spot  common problems and work out solutions. One of the major mistakes I was making was slouching like the man in the picture above. Not only did my body have a natural desire to sink down into that 'relaxed' posture, but I also had a chair that leaned back too easily. I was experiencing constant, mild strain on my lower back all day.

My instructor offered up some suggestions, which I'd like to pass on in case they might be helpful to you:

1. Get a better chair. If you're sitting for long periods of time, there is no reason to tolerate a chair that promotes bad habits.

2. Use ice or heat if your back starts to act up.

3. Lie flat on your bed with your legs hanging off. This will create a slight pulling and straightening sensation.

I made all of these changes immediately, but didn't stop there.

Esther Gokhale - Posture Expert

Regular readers of this site will notice that I link into the authors@google series frequently. I think it's a great resource wherein some really sharp people share their experiences and knowledge.

Esther Gokhale was one of the visitors to Google and, as it turns out, has been studying posture for quite some time. She even authored a book entitled 8 Steps to A Pain Free Back.  Gokhale mixes western science with eastern yogic theory and has come up with a great system. Check out her speech here:

Gokhale provides immediately applicable ways of improving posture. I use her method of seated posture correction everyday. My body still tends to want to slouch, so I need to make routine corrections. It's an ongoing effort.

One of Gokhale's big theories is proper stacking. Consider this image:

During normal slouching postures, the spine and weight distribution is out of sync. This is a tricky problem because it doesn't provide immediate negative feedback, like touching a hot stove. Instead it builds pressure over time and slowly wears away at the cartilage between the spinal discs. Although I've focused on sitting, these same principles apply to standing, especially for individuals who have a job that requires being up all day.

How This Applies To Your Martial Arts

The obvious way posture applies to your martial arts practice is good health. One of the biggest career killers is physical ailment. We have to try our best to stave off these injuries, and one way to do that is to be mindful of posture. The spine is a fickle thing, and if you don't take care of it you will run into trouble.

Posture isn't just a means of standing though; it's also a way to convey your personal sense of presence and power.

In his book "Living The Martial Way", Forrest Morgan dedicates a few pages to the concept of 'developing a commanding posture'. He explains:

"Some say the eyes are windows to the soul. This may be true, but posture is most assuredly the reflection of one's spirit. It tells a story, more eloquently than words ever could, of your strength, your resolve, and your confidence. Posture is an essential element of warrior bearing."

In the dojo, especially if you are assuming a teaching role, it is critical to adopt the mantle of authority. Posture provides a subtle, subconscious hint to everyone in the room that you are worth listening to. A tall stance and keen look can go a long way in capturing the attention of students.

On the student side, proper posture indicates a willingness to commit to excellence. Slouching is a sign of inattentiveness and lack of resolve. Standing up straight suggests focus, which is the currency of the dojo.

Practicing good posture will also assist in natural body movement. The more you practice, the more you'll realize the subtleties of body weight shifting. If you have to recenter your body every time you wish to move, you'll be at an immediate timing disadvantage.

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My goal is to be able to continue practicing martial arts deep into old age. If I abuse my body now, I'll never have that chance. I personally need to take posture very seriously. Perhaps you can take a moment today and figure out if you need improvement, and use some of the information above to start on a modestly paced track for positive change.

David Bowie. Changes. 1973.

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David Bowie. Changes. 1990.

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David Bowie. Changes. 2002.

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David Bowie is a brilliant artist. He grows and changes with his art as he develops as a human being.

It would be easy for him to play this song the same way every time he is in concert. People would love him for it and he'd get paid. But instead he chooses to keep inventing and exploring. Sometimes it turns out better, sometimes worse.

Bowie's persistence for originality keeps him engaged in his art. It's not that he dramatically alters the structure of the song, turning it into something unrecognizable. Instead he plays with the intangible things like tempo, timing, rhythm, etc. It's also why after over 35 years he still seems excited to perform, and why he still captivates audiences.

Can you grow with your art? Do you have the courage, persistence, and brilliance to keep exploring?

I wonder if that applies to martial arts as well?

Check out Gladwell's short, 4 minute explanation on his theory:

Basically Gladwell suggests that in society there are certain outliers, or those people/places/things that exist on the fringes of the norm. One notable outlier concept is that of the 'true expert', or a person that has achieved supernormal success in a particular field. To become an outlier Gladwell's study shows that you need 10,000 hours of practice.

The Math

10,000 hours sounds like a lot, and it is. Let's put it into perspective with an example.

If you train on average 8 hours a week for 52 weeks, you'll achieve 416 hours a year.

If you keep up that pace consistently you'll reach the 10,000 hour mark after about 25 years.

That's a lot of years. Gladwell calculates that most dedicated musicians and artists practice their craft for about 3 hours a day. At that pace it would take about 10 years to hit the mark of mastery.

To calculate your own pace, figure out how many hours a week you train. Think 'on average' to balance out your heavy weeks with the weeks you go on vacation, etc (and remember you're only lying to yourself ; ). Multiply that number by 52. Now divide 10,000 by your number and you'll get your rough yearly estimate.

Implications for Martial Artists

For the sake of study, let's accept the 10,000 hour rule and analyze how it effects our training. We all have to weigh our growth and expectations in contrast to our week-to-week training. 2-3 nights a week at 2 hours at a pop is going to lead us toward the 25 year long haul as opposed to the (seemingly) short 10 year stint.

But, I also think we should feel encouraged. There are very few activities that inspire as much dedication and long-term commitment as martial arts. If you play in a slow pitch softball league no one really cares about how often you practice. If you want to pwn noobs in World of Warcraft you are on your own (with perhaps a little harassment from your guild). In martial arts you have an entire support network to encourage and help you.

Another more internal factor is illustrated by Gladwell during one of his speeches. He states that in a recent study scientists tried to figure out why Asian students generally do better in mathematics then western students. They checked genetics and biology but nothing significant could be found. What was truly telling was the result of one particular experiment.

In the experiment, students from both backgrounds were given very difficult mathematic equations, very much beyond what they were accustomed to. The western students gave up and moved on after 1-2 minutes. The Asian students had to be stopped after the 15 minute mark and told to move on.

Patience, persistence, perseverance - these are the qualities the Asian students had instilled in them, and are also the most important factors in determining a person's success in the martial arts.

I'm sure you can see where I'm going here - traditional martial art training builds the human qualities that are  paramount to success.

Wait A Minute! I See Holes In Your Plot!

Am I suggesting that if a person trapses into the dojo for 10,000 hours they are guaranteed success in both martial arts and life??

No. In fact, I think that would be far far from the truth.

Consider this - people generally work 8 hours a day at their job 5 days a week. That would make them masters within 5 years.How many people do you know that are masters at their job? How many people do you know that are even competent at their job after 5 years? Conversely, how many total idiots do you know who don't belong anywhere near their job?

There's a lot more to it than hours.

Smart Practice is as Paramount as Lots of Practice

If a musician plays "Smoke on the Water" all day every day, he's never going to become Jimmy Page. If a martial artist spars everyday, he'll never become Funakoshi Gichin. The reason why is because there is such a thing as smart practice.

What we become is a direct result of what we aspire to be. The 10,000 hours in question isn't just about rote repetition. It also encompasses the research we do and the constant effort to improve our learning.

Let me put it another way. In real life or via youtube - have you ever watched a martial artist who has claimed 40+ years of experience, but turns out to be terribly unimpressive and unnatural? The reason why is because most of that person's 40 years has probably been spent in TALKING about how great he/she is rather than practicing. They also very likely trained themselves into a box during their first 5 years and just sold that same package over and over again without any substantial branching out, diving inward, and improving.

This concept of smart training also differentiates what I consider expertise over mastery. I've met many expert martial artists, but very few masters. I personally think the 10,000 hours can deliver expertise, but it takes something more to achieve mastery.

One Bottom Line - Effort over Genius

Some martial artists are naturals who can make things look frustratingly easy. However, according to Gladwell, more often than not outliers combine modest innate talent with luck and extreme amounts of work.

If you aren't Bruce Lee by nature, don't panic. You can be an expert too if you really want it.

This is an extremely unfortunate event; one that every martial artist and fighter should take note of.

The Details

Forrest, 38, is best known as the first man to defeat Shane Mosley (an extremely dominant force in the boxing world). Forrest was also a member of the 1992 Olympic boxing team alongside Oscar De La Hoya. Achieving a professional record of 41-3, Forrest was able to attain the ranks of welterweight and junior-middleweight champion.

On Saturday the 25th Forrest stopped at an Atlanta gas station to refill the air in his tires. His 11-year-old son was in tow, whom Forrest allowed to enter the gas station itself. While refilling, Forrest was approached by a gun-wielding assailant and was robbed of his Rolex and championship ring.

As the robber made his escape, Forrest retrieved a firearm from his vehicle and began pursuit. The chase went on for roughly 3 blocks where the assailant was able to slip away. Forrest, still in close pursuit, encountered another individual, according to police lieutenant Keith Meadows:

“Forrest comes around the corner and he encounters another individual who we believe has a gun in his hand,” Meadows said, adding that Forrest and the second person “exchange words” before Forrest “realizes that this is not the individual who actually robbed him.

“So he turns to walk away and it was at that point the subject shot Mr. Forrest a number of times in the back,” Meadows said. - Yahoo Sports

The Takeaway

Here we have a sports fighting phenom - strong, fast, confident, and effective. On top of that, he was reportedly a great father and humanitarian outside the ring. Yet despite all that he still fell victim to a classic case of street violence.

No matter how much ground-n-pound, kyusho, or sparring we do, we can never be sure how things will unfold on the street. Furthermore, if we let our anger and self-confidence take ahold of us, we might exacerbate an escapable situation.

No one can be blamed for Forrest's death besides the assailants. However, it is becoming more evident that Forrest made questionable decisions in dealing with his situation. The first of which was making the choice to stop. Trainer Emanuel Steward had this to say:

"I always preach to my boxers to never stop for gas late at night when you don't know your surroundings," Steward said. "Vernon did, and his natural instinct as an athlete was to go after his assailant. He's going to fight back. The problem is everyone, it seems, has a gun." - Freep.com

Awareness and proper planning are very underrated tools for self defense. No matter how skilled or well armed you are, Steward is right - it seems like everyone has a gun.

The second issue was Forrest's decision to chase after his possessions. I can only imagine what kind of sentimental value the championship ring must have had, but it was replaceable. As that robber ran off so did the immediate danger to Forrest and his son. Unfortunately, street justice wouldn't have been served, and Forrest seemed like the kind of man who wanted to punish wrong doing.

Who can say they haven't felt the same way at some point?

We need to take stock in our training and realize the importance of the mental side of body, mind, spirit. We need to be able to quickly choose when fighting is necessary and utterly required to protect ourselves and others. This is extremely difficult, especially when combined with the quick chaotic nature of true violence.

The third issue was Forrest's disengagement from his eventual killer. When Forrest lost site of his robber, he encountered another individual who was allegedly wielding a firearm. The two exchanged words, and Forrest realized that this wasn't the guy who robbed him. After that, he turned his back to walk away, and was shot repeatedly.

I don't know what was said, but there is absolutely no reason to trust this random, armed individual enough to turn your back or drop your guard even for a moment.

When it comes to violent events, hindsight is easy. We can do shoulda-woulda all day, but the fact is those split second decisions determine the final outcome of the event. Perhaps we can store Forrest's untimely death in the back our minds so that we might learn from it.

In the movie, a young Jennifer Connelly (Sarah) is aggravated with her life and role as perpetual babysitter to her younger brother (Toby). She wishes the Goblin King, a character from her favorite fairytale, would come take him away forever. Unfortunately for her, the Goblin King (Bowie) hears the request and obliges.

In order to save Toby, Sarah embarks on a long adventure through the Goblin King's Labyrinth to save him.

Very early on in the labyrinth Sarah becomes befuddled. No matter how far or fast she runs, she can't find any turns in the maze. It just seems endless and straight. She resolves to solve this puzzle by running even harder and faster down the corridor.

After what seems like an eternity of running, Sarah becomes flustered and stops.  While agonizing over her fate, she hears a strange voice...

So What?

At first Sarah's journey seemed pretty simple - all she had to do was run as hard and fast as possible and she would eventually find the solution. However, she quickly realized the limited scope of her progress as she simply ran the preset path without thinking.

Eventually she paused...and met someone who was able to change her perspective. It turns out the improvement she was looking for miles down her current path existed right where she was standing.

In fact, had she been a little more patient, she could have learned even more.

In your training you can bang full steam ahead as long as you want, but there's no guarantee it will get you where you want to go. The walls will dictate you if you let them.

Always listen to a humble worm when it's trying to show you other perspectives. Talk to as many worms as possible. Listen for as long as possible. Become a worm yourself.

Here is the catch though...

His presentation was about Powerpoint! More specifically, how to conduct great presentations using Powerpoint, handouts, etc as tools.

Amazingly, the principles he was sharing with his audience to make them better speakers would have been equally valuable if he had wanted to make them better martial artists.

Who is Garr Reynolds?

Garr is the best selling author of Presentation Zen, a book about increasing simplicity and effectiveness in presentations. He was also a guest speaker at Google's impressive Authors@Google series, which can be found on youtube. For anyone who does presenting/teaching/powerpoints in their day-to-day lives, I highly recommend watching the full thing.

Garr is also an American living in Japan. He is Associate Professor of Management at Kansai Gaidai University located in Osaka.

So What Were the Quotes Used By Garr?

There are three quotes that Garr used that I would like to share with you. I'll provide the quote, the context with which he was using it, and my opinion as to how it relates to the martial arts.

Quote #1: "Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means." - Dr. Koichi Kawana (Architect of Zen and Tea Gardens).

Garr's Context: This quote was used to define simplicity. Garr was trying to explain how simple slides in powerpoint can be much more effective than clutter filled ones.

Simple doesn't just mean 'less' though. In order to achieve the kind of simplicity Dr. Kawana is referring to, one has to increase the impact of the message while decreasing the information given.

Martial Arts Implications: Aikido practitioners should be spitting coffee out of their mouths at this point. As I have come to understand it, Dr. Kawana's theory is almost word for word the desired effect of aikido technique. But it isn't just aikidoka who can benefit from this wisdom.

Karate technique often espouses 'one punch, one kill', which suggests eliminating an opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible. As such classical karate often does not translate well into tournaments and movies because the desired action of the karateka is sharp, quick, simple, and over.

Quote #2: "In the Beginner's mind there are many possibilities, In the experts mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki (Soto Zen Priest)

Garr's Context: With this quote Garr wanted to break people out of their box. The normal, 'expected' way to do powerpoint is by utilizing the 1:7:7 rule (one slide, seven bullets, seven words per bullet). Reynold's suggests that this is speedy passport to snoozeville and in order to keep a captive audience you have to give them something unexpected. To achieve the unexpected, you have to keep an open mind to new possibilities.

A child's mind (which of course is a beginner's mind) is not afraid of failure or judgment. A child will do silly, strange things simply because they want to try it and see what happens. Garr suggests that this same mindset can result in amazing presentation material.

Martial Arts Implications: Has anyone here not been told a hundred times to keep a beginner's mind? It's a fairly classic martial arts admonishment. This advice becomes particularly poignant as a person approaches black belt and beyond.

Even though a person must stay true to his/her style and pass it down as it was taught to them, they must also be free to explore their techniques and find what works for them. Until a practitioner opens themselves up to experimentation and failure, all they can ever be is a style robot.

Quote #3: "Master your instrument. Master your music. And then forget all that bullshit and just play." - Charlie Parker (Jazz Saxophonist and Composer)

Garr's Context: What Garr wanted to express here is the proper way to perform a presentation. All too often presenters are well prepared with good information, but they simply read that information off of slides or cue cards. The result is a boring, slavish dictation of facts and stats that has no emotion or power.

Garr wants you to master your story and statistics so that you can be free to rif on your subject matter, take tangents, and engage your audience in a completely original and provocative way.

Martial Arts Implications: A martial artist must figure out his/her body. They must also study their style vehemently. But when it comes time to become a martial artist all of that has to be loosened for self expression.

Technique must come from instinct, sincerity, and right reason. Everything that makes an artist what they are should be expressed in every technique. A kata, when done with meaning, should be unique and unrepeatable.

Two Analogies: The Mountain and the Tree

There are two major takeaways from the connection between Garr's speech and the martial ways, and both have a natural analogy that can be used to explain them.

The Tree - The different martial art styles are often said to be different branches of the same tree. Bruce Lee used this analogy from time to time and I am a big fan of it. However, we can also use this to visualize 'art' as a whole.

Artists, no matter how they express themselves, are branches of the same tree. Furthermore, practitioners of Jazz, Zen, Ichibana, Tea Ceremony, Painting, Jujitsu, etc can all benefit from the wisdom of masters like the ones cited above.

The Mountain - Even if all art is connected, why is it that masters always seem to draw similar conclusions? After all, Shunryu Suzuki sounds a lot like Morihei Ueshiba, who sounds a lot like Jigoro Kano.

The explanation for that lies in 'the mountain'. No matter where you start at the base of a mountain, there is only one location to ultimately arrive at - the top. The top is a single point of enlightenment. Needless to say, very very few people make it there (arguably none). But, as you get closer, the territory one covers gets smaller. As things get smaller, there is bound to be some crossover for those who are traveling.

It's quite possible that Suzuki, Ueshiba, and Kano all tread on the same ground, and would likely have much to discuss given the chance to sit down and enjoy some tea. Perhaps one day we can join in on the conversation too, but until then, let's enjoy the journey!