Travel and Training: A Perfect Combination

The practice and learning of Martial Arts is often described as a journey. However it is often the case that the journey is more spiritual than geographical. Imagine though if you could combine both international travel with learning; if you could gain a Martial Arts Instructor Certification, whilst seeing new parts of our World. Here we consider the route that many take to achieve their Martial Arts Instructor Certification, and how it can be integrated into another adventure altogether. So if the thought of travel and training combined grabs your interest, read on for more insights.

If you have a passion, then you should at times indulge it. If your passion is Martial Arts, then there is no better way in sharing your enjoyment than through teaching. Sharing what you have learned with other students, whilst at the same time learning yourself what it means to be a teacher, is fantastic. Being able to do this whilst away from your normal routine will only serve to intensify the experience. The combination of travel and studying Martial Arts will act as a catalyst to improve your skills, heighten the enjoyment and intensify the overall experience. In short, it is the perfect combination.

Where?

Many of the Arts are focused in Asia, and traveling across and throughout the continent is both an experience and a pleasure. There are vast cities, thriving and sprawling conurbations, densely populated and bustling; and at the same time, there are the quiet corners, the hidden away gems to discover and experience an altogether different pace of life. You might prefer one over the other, or you might choose to sample both. Like the Martial Arts themselves, the more you indulge and immerse yourself in a culture or area, the more you will experience and draw from it. Do not confine your life to small corners, instead look to widen your horizons whilst at the same time both opening and broadening your mind.

What?

Across the broad spectrum of Martial Arts there are both the soft arts, such as Tai Chi, and the hard arts, such as Kung Fu. Like travel, it is wrong to simply select one category at the expense of the other, and after all how can you possibly know what best suits you until you have tried them all. Your journey may therefore take you to a peaceful retreat where you will learn to calm both the body and the mind, or it may take you to Kung Fu retreat where combat and competition are more prevalent. You should never discount one Art in favour of another, and a fuller more rounded education and experience of the Arts themselves will improve your own training and progression. Certainly stick to what you like, but perhaps not until you have tried more than just one.

Inspiration

Something will have already inspired you to start your journey. Whether it was a search for fitness, self-protection, or because team sports were just not your thing, then there’ll be a reason why you train. However at times, you might question the decision to start, and perhaps even contemplate stopping. It is at times like this that a little extra inspiration may be needed.

Training in ancient and more traditional settings may just be the boost that you need to push past that plateau. Feeling and living the history of the Art, albeit for a short period, may re-establish the connection with your training that led you to commence it in the first place. Whether you take a spiritual or more physical approach to your training, it will always feel more “real” if it is set in the heartland of the Arts themselves. To follow in the footsteps of all of those that have gone before you, and to train and learn to teach others in the place where it all began will clearly take the experience to the next level.

No longer will you be simply training, or learning to teach. Your journey will be gifted a degree of connectivity to those that have travelled it before you. The past will resonate more with your current and future experiences, and there will be a heartfelt and spiritual injection of new found enthusiasm. No longer will you simply be travelling on your journey, you will be fully engaged in living it.

So when you next ask yourself whether you should focus on your training, or instead enjoy some travelling, opt to do both. You will not regret it.

Categories: