Accountabiliteam
Martial arts may seem like an individual pursuit, but no student improves alone. At White Tiger Dojo, teamwork, trust, and accountability help students develop skills that extend far beyond the mat.
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ: I have a saying at WTD, “A good student is a good partner and vice versa.”
Many students enter martial arts because either they or their parents feel like they're not cut out for team sports. The irony is that martial arts is one of the most team oriented disciplines you can engage in. You can read more about my thoughts on that subject here.
Why Martial Arts Is More of a Team Sport Than You Think
On a field, you may be close to your teammate, and you might even support your teammate, but it's very rare that your ability to support your teammate involves actively trying to undermine their skills.
For example, if I want to stop someone from pushing me, striking me, or taking me down, we both have to know the offense and the defense.
We need to stress-test it so we know it's a viable attack or defense.
This is where we build trust and confidence in each other as well as our techniques.
We not only have to hold ourselves accountable, we need to be aware of what our partner is doing and hold them accountable.
The level of awareness and intimacy between martial artists is extremely high, which is why the martial skill set transfers to all walks of life even better than other sports.
The Difference Between Individual Talent and Shared Accountability
A star player can carry a team to victory, even in a tough game.
A star athlete, if it isn't you, cannot carry you through your toughest moment in life.
A star athlete might be so involved in staying "on fire" and hope that some of that "heat" charges the rest of the team up, but they cannot change your level of awareness or skill set on game day.
A martial artist has to adapt to the worst of circumstances, be it an imbalance in size, athleticism, skill set, or all three!
A martial artist can never blame a teammate for a loss, but a martial artist will always be grateful for the time their classmates dedicated toward their growth as a student.
It Takes a Dojo to Raise a Student
It takes a dojo to raise a student.
It takes a partner and a student to create trust, accountability, competency, and confidence.
The more trust we can garner from each other, the higher the heights we can climb.
That's how we create Accountabiliteam.