Moving a Boulder With a Toothpick

Sensei Ryan Nicholls here, owner of, and head instructor at RKD Martial Arts, welcome to my Blog, Martial Arts Perth.

Its the start of a new year which inevitably leads us into a period of reflection and often prompts us to ask – “what exactly did I achieve last year?” Last year at this time you probably made a number of resolutions that you were determined you were going to stick to, but how many did you actually achieve? If you achieved one of your resolutions from last year, then you are in the minority, as most people will have given up on their New Year’s Resolutions before the end of January. I read a statistic that said that only 30% of resolutions get achieved. The problem with this is that it is not 30% spread across the population, this number is skewed upwards by those small percentage of people who set themselves ten or twenty new years resolutions and achieve them all. How is it that they can achieve so many when most of us can’t even achieve one?

The key to understanding why we give up so easy on our resolutions is in understanding human nature. Humans like consistency. It is a fundamental part of human nature that most of us like things to stay the same. Routine creates comfort and reduces stress. The problem with routine is that the results will never be different if we keep doing the same thing. In other words, if we want a different outcome, change is necessary.

The second aspect of human nature that sabotages our resolution efforts is that humans are procrastinators. By nature we will generally not do something today unless we have to do it, as it is far easier to think about doing it tomorrow… or the day after… or even next week. How many times have you put off doing something important by sitting on the couch and saying “I’ll do it tomorrow.” The problem is tomorrow it will become next week, and next week it will become next month, and before you know it a year has gone by and it never happened. Now this is fine if you like things the way they are; the problem is if you liked things the way they are you wouldn’t be making resolutions to change them in the first place!

So how do we get around our inherent nature when making resolutions? The simple answer is to make it easy for us to stick to. Studies into the psycho-social benefits of martial arts have shown that martial arts practitioners tend to show an increased goal orientation and goal completion mind set which extends beyond their training and into their everyday lives. So what is it about the martial arts that we can borrow when trying to achieve our own goals?

Martial arts by their very nature are structured in terms of short term, medium term and long term goals. When you first start training that black belt seems impossible to achieve but its the long term goal that almost every person starting martial arts has in mind. The steps to achieving that black belt are broken up into a number of short term and medium term goals. At every belt level you learn a number of techniques. Each individual technique represents a mini-goal to be achieved, and achieving each of these mini-goals is a small step to achieving the medium term goal, that of belt promotion to the next level. This constant orientation towards achievement in the short and medium term provides focus on an achievable goal rather than looking at something that seems almost unattainable. So how can we apply this to our resolutions?

First, set your major goal. A good goal should be realistic, measurable, have a deadline and be written down. “I want to lose 10 kilos by my wedding on the 30th of September” – this would seem to represent a good goal, assuming you have 10 kilos to lose; its unrealistic to lose 10kg in any time frame if you are already a healthy weight for your height, so make sure your goal is something achievable. Writing it down helps you to focus on your goal – an unwritten goal is nothing more than a wish.

Next, break down your goal into smaller goals. Now when I break down my major goal into smaller goals I usually make it so that the sum of the smaller goals is actually greater than the major goal. For example if my major goal was to save $1000 by the end of the year that would equate to saving $19.23 each week, but I would at least round that to $20 per week, and probably try to extend myself and set my weekly goal at $25 – that way achieving my goal week after week will provide a buffer for that one week where something unexpected happens and I am unable to meet my weekly goal. It is easier to install a buffer into your goal up front than it is to have to adjust all your smaller goals to achieve a short fall.

Next, make a list of everything that you can do to achieve your goals. Articulating the things you can do provides a mental prompt to actually do them. For example, if your goal is weight loss related you could park further away from the door at work or the shops and walk, you could take the stairs rather than the lift, you could have an apple rather than that chocolate bar for a snack, you could choose a salad over McDonalds for lunch, you could wake up early and go for a walk, you could go for a walk when you get home etc. Basically your list should be extensive because it is the sum of the smaller things that help you achieve your goal.

Take the list of everything you can do and plan which ones you are going to do and when you are going to do it. It may be a change that you make every day (taking the stairs instead of the lift) or it may be something you need to schedule in (taking a martial arts class). Most importantly, once you’ve made your plan, execute it! The single biggest killer is that people won’t even take the small step necessary to achieve their larger goal. There is a saying in the martial arts - "a black belt is simply a white belt who didn't quit". The only way to achieve your goal is to start, and never give up. As an exercise, review your plan every day and if you failed to achieve something on your plan, write down why – and don’t lie to yourself either, the major excuse you’ll find is “I was lazy” or “I couldn’t be bothered". Each day, make sure you have achieved at least one thing that moves you towards your goal. As motivation, implement a reward system for interim goals, or possibly even a penalty fine system when you fail to achieve something on your plan - anything that will keep you focused on the task at hand.

Finally, measure your results against your goal. If you don’t achieve your goal don’t be too hard on yourself. Ask yourself this (and be honest with yourself) – “did I do everything I could have to achieve my goal?” If you can honestly say “yes I did”, then perhaps your goal was a little unrealistic, if you could have done more, then that is a learning for next time. Importantly, if you don’t achieve your goal, focus on what you did achieve – if my goal was to lose 10kg by a certain date and I only lost 5kg, well I’ve lost 5kg which is a good achievement not something to get down on myself about. You want to make the process of achieving your goals a positive one. So by following these simple steps you too can have the goal orientation of a black belt.

Thanks for reading – until next week make sure you subscribe to the blog, and if you have any subjects you would like to see covered, post them in the comments section below.

Continuous Improvement in Self defence

Sensei Ryan Nicholls here, owner of, and head instructor at RKD Martial Arts, welcome to my Blog, Martial Arts Perth.


There are many aspects to self defence that I teach my students, but I wanted to look at one particular aspect for when the situation has escalated and fighting is necessary. The one aspect I stress with all my students is the strategy of continuous improvement. Given that the situations that could require self defence are too numerable to count, and that there is no ultimate technique or ultimate style to rely on, the one "perfect" strategy is that of continuous improvement. While the approaches to this strategy will vary as much as the situations themselves, the over-arching strategy of continuous improvement is the only way to ensure success in any self defence situation.

Continuous improvement simply means that from one moment to the next in any self defence situation, you are looking to upgrade your position relative to your opponent(s). If each movement you do succeeds in improving your position relative to your opponents, you are increasing the chance of your ultimate goal succeeding – that of survival.

A simple example is probably the best way to illustrate this strategy at work:

A situation escalates and I find myself in a straight line with two opponents - one directly in front of me and one directly behind me. They are currently out of range but close enough that if I engage one, the other will be upon me almost immediately. This is obviously a bad position for me to be in as I am unable to monitor ahead of me and behind me, meaning I could be blindsided with a king hit to the back of the head by the opponent I can't monitor. Rather than going for a one hit knockout and therefore only having to fight the one remaining, I choose the safer option of moving sideways, turning the straight line into a triangle. From this position I have line of sight to both of my opponents, and unless a third opponent jumps in, I can no longer be blindsided. 

The example above depicts something fairly simplistic and a simple movement has shifted me to a less vulnerable position. Assume I did something else, say going for that one hit knockout. As I throw my chi-focused, super-awesome, one hit knockout punch, my opponent does something unfathomable - he blocks it, and grabs me! I respond immediately and throw a second strike that catches him, but as I go to move something collides with the back of my skull and the world goes blurry, then dark. 

In the second example my strategy did nothing to improve my position - as I advanced forward to strike the opponent in front of me, opponent 2 closed distance. Even if my initial strike had been successful, chances are that opponent 2 would still be on top of me and I would have been struck. This wasn't a strategy of continuous improvement as I hadn't changed my position - I was still between two opponents facing one, with my back to the other.

Now if in the first situation there had been a door in that direction, and I had exited and ran, I have achieved everything a successful self defence strategy should. I had started in a bad situation. From one moment to the next I had upgraded my relative position, by getting out from between my opponents. Then by continuing out through the door (assuming they didn't chase me), I had achieved my ultimate goal - that of survival.

Regardless of the style of martial art you learn, continuous improvement should be the cornerstone of your strategy. Whether on the ground in BJJ or wrestling, in the ring in muay thai or boxing, knife fighting in eskrima, or a combination of the above in jujitsu, continuous improvement must be the strategy that formulates what you do next. While it seems a basic concept, a poor decision resulting in a downgrade in your relative position will usually be the reason that you lose. In competition, a loss is just a loss, and may provide motivation to train harder. In self defence however, a 'loss' can have far reaching consequences. 

Thanks for reading – until next week make sure you subscribe to the blog, and if you have any subjects you would like to see covered, post them in the comments section below.

Same sh*t, different spoon.

Sensei Ryan Nicholls here, owner of, and head instructor at RKD Martial Arts, welcome to my Blog, Martial Arts Perth.

Yesterday, my dojo hosted a workshop on the Filipino Martial Arts run by Grand Maestro Greg Henderson and Maestro Andrew Roberts of Diamondback Eskrima. GM Greg ran through a number of eskrima related activities before Maestro Andrew taught some pangamut (Filipino boxing) and dumog (Filipino grappling).

GM Greg Henderson demonstrating the unarmed aspects of eskrima

GM Greg has a saying I have heard him use a number of times, "Same sh*t, different spoon". What he means by this is that it doesn't matter what your martial arts background is, at their core, all martial arts have the same concepts. I once explained this same notion in a less concise way, saying that if all traces of martial arts were to disappear from the planet, as long as there remained a need (to defend yourself), that most of what was lost would be recreated in some form or another. The reason for this is simple - the human body can only move in so many different directions. The core biomechanical structure we have is the same for every single person on the planet. Until such time as we evolve beyond out current physical state, the core concepts at the heart of most martial arts will always be the same. Given this, it is ridiculous how much the martial arts is plagued by politics.

Maestro Andrew Roberts demonstrating some dumog

No Egos Martial Arts is a charity group to bring martial arts schools together, to experience different styles and techniques from other styles while raising funds for charity. As the founding members of No Egos Martial Arts, Diamondback Eskrima, RKD Martial Arts and Aus Wing Chun have a similar philosophy in relation to the martial arts. That philosophy is that all martial arts have something to offer and the politics that plague the martial arts are of no help to anyone involved. As a greater community the martial arts community should be embrasive of other styles, to learn from each other, and to paraphrase Bruce Lee, adopt what we find useful. Anyone who says that their style is the best is wrong, and an idiot. Many martial arts produce outstanding martial artists, but martial artists get old - someone younger, faster and stronger will always be waiting in the wings ready to replace you as the best. 

Participants from all styles at the FMA workshop

When you hear about a seminar being run in another style, see if you can go. Experience as much as you can within the martial arts rather than sitting in the bubble of your style - there is a whole world of possibilities out there and you don't know what you're missing out on unless you give them a try. Even if you only learn one thing, the cost of the seminar is worth it. Now not all seminars are great - I can recall a seminar I attended run by an American "Master" which was atrocious - his and his assistant's technique was sloppy, slow and completely impractical. It was choreography, and bad choreography at that. It was the only seminar I've attended that I thought was a complete waste of time and money. But you will occasionally take away an absolute gem of a technique, or just a different way of looking at something. In one of the workshops I have done with Royce Gracie I learnt a ground position that was perfect for the way I fight on the ground - it wasn't a standard BJJ position but was developed by Royce as part of his MMA experience. I've still never seen it taught anywhere else (except by some of the instructors who attended the workshop), and I wouldn't have learnt it if I hadn't gone to that workshop - that one position made the cost of the workshop worthwhile.

At the workshop yesterday a few of us had a go at the sport side of eskrima - putting on the armour and helmets and whacking each other with sticks. It is a far cry from the self defence aspects of eskrima, but it was a hell of a lot of fun! These types of experiences are what you miss out on when you close yourself off to the idea of other martial arts.


With our diverse community, there are seminars being run all the time in Perth, so leave your politics at home and experience what other martial arts have to offer - you'll be a better martial artist for it.

Thanks for reading – until next week make sure you subscribe to the blog, and if you have any subjects you would like to see covered, post them in the comments section below.