Introduction
A very important subject, which is almost never discussed in martial arts, is how to learn. This is probably as many regard martial arts as a purely physical activity in which anything that doesn't directly involve trying to inflict damage to someone or something isn't a worthwhile task. Yet I feel this is the most important skill needed in any discipline yet alone martial arts.

Information enters the brain through use of the five senses. This means that you either: see it, hear it, touch it, smell it or taste it. This can be reduced to the three primary methods of seeing, hearing and touching. Everyone acquires new knowledge through a combination of these inputs which means that everyone has their own way of taking in information. Of course, there is the matter of understanding the information. Everyone is at a different stage in learning, possesses different experiences, has different goals, different physical capabilities and limitations to think of… the list goes on. The end result of all this is that everyone has their own unique way of turning information into useable knowledge. It is you that must discover how you learn best and then try to ensure that you receive and process information in that manner so that it becomes part of you rather than a second hand piece of information with which you can do little more than repeat.

However you learn there are there are many methods that can be used to help you. Most of these are relatively simple and, like any skill in life, improve with practice. This is probably the most important point - you only benefit from these skills if you use them. This may sound like a stupid statement but when I talk about this subject with people the most frequent phrase I hear is 'I know that but…'. Like anything in life it's difficult at first - that's what make it a skill. You will also have to discover how these methods best work for you which will only happen with trial and error.

Approaching the subject
It is important to stay relaxed during the learning process. This can be made easier by moving over anything that you are finding particularly difficult thereby causing you frustration which prevents you learning. Although we are traditionally taught to stick at any problem until we solve it this is like trying to force a piece of jigsaw into a place it doesn't go. Skipping over the area of difficulty is beneficial in problem solving for three reasons. Firstly, it allows your brain to work on the problem subconsciously; just like when struggle to remember a name just to suddenly remember it much later on when you aren't consciously thinking about it. Secondly, returning to the problem area allows you to approach it from both sides and finally, the human brain has an automatic tendency to fill in the gaps for you. This all adds up to fact that you shouldn't struggle to learn - your brain does it for you without you knowing. Don't expect the moment of realisation to occur before the end of the training session. It's great if it does but often it occurs later - perhaps days, months or even years.

Most people cannot concentrate for more than 20-30 minutes after which you brain needs to process some of the information taken on board. This means that during a mentally intense training session in which you are trying to a learn many new things, as opposed to a workout session, training for more than about half an hour is like trying to cram more food in your mouth than it can hold. I find it useful to take a short break at this time even if it's just getting some water as even a minute can make all the difference. Even then, I can only keep that up for 2 hours before I have to take a proper break. During a longer training day it's essential that you know your own capability for absorbing information and how much rest you need.

Asking questions
One of my instructors once told me 'if you don't ask the question - you don't get the answer'. How true this is after all, knowledge is merely the answers to questions.

Of course, many people feel uncomfortable asking questions as they feel that it makes them appear stupid. My personal opinion is that the stupid person is the one that pays money to train then doesn't bother to get the most from it. In other to further yourself you have to step out of that comfort zone of not speaking up and ask the question.

There are many reasonable questions that you can ask about something. For example, watching a sequence of moves you might ask 'could I sweep the opponent at that point' or 'how are you achieving that forward pressure?' or even 'what was the second move?'. However, the important one for you is the question that aids your unique way of taking in information and your stage of learning.

Some questions are more complex and should therefore be kept outside class time. Retaining a question over a period of time allows you to refine how you will phrase it and can often result in you discovering the answer for yourself. Asking for confirmation of this answer often extracts further information from a good instructor.

In order to get information you have to ask questions of a lot of people - not just your instructor. Asking fellow students (regardless of their level) can prove interesting and can often point the way to something you never considered. Also, there are many discussion forums available on the Internet, some of which are frequented by some of the best martial artists in the world. I find these particularly useful as more time can be taken to ensure the question can be structured correctly to get exactly what you want - they also provide you with a certain degree of anonymity.

Make Notes
Making notes doesn't mean writing down word for word what your instructor said but in your own words (and diagrams). This forces you to concentrate and think about the subject rather than just recording what has happened. You should explore the meaning of the new material and make connections between it and what you already know. This is important as the brain operates on association.

At first this may seem an unnecessary task but you soon realise how much you didn't comprehend at the time. In order to write it down it must make sense - if you don't have the facts then it doesn't. Any gaps provide you with questions to ask, areas to investigate and also teach you the type of details you miss during the class.

When you accumulate a reasonable amount of notes you will further increase your understanding by organising these notes. This is not the simple task that it sounds. You must read through your notes, correct the mistakes you now realise you've made (there will always be mistakes) and group together pieces of related information. Again, gaps in your knowledge will become apparent. This iterative process all helps to build up your own view of martial arts and how it fits in with you.

Several months ago I traveled to Los Angeles intent on doing very little other than progressing my martial arts. I would train during the day and make my notes on the night (when I couldn't sleep due to jet lag).

When making the notes, rather than just adding a few extra pages of descriptions, I would try to add the new information to related material already contained in my notebook. This wasn't an easy task, as the pieces often wouldn't quite fit due to lack of understanding or information. Often I had to bite the bullet and realise that large chunks of previously good information were now obsolete or incorrect. It also produced an awful lot of questions - these I would resolve with my instructors at the first opportunity despite feeling a bit of an idiot doing so. By the end of two weeks my notebook looked like a catalog of graffiti but the important thing was that I knew that I had a real understanding of what I'd studied.

Don't forget, of course, that maintaining notes also keeps you motivated as you can see how much you've progressed.

Visualisation
During my time in martial arts I've realised that there are two major obstacles that affect your opportunity to get the training you want. Invariably, your training partners aren't available at times that suit you or an injury prevents you from training. Fortunately, visualisation is a fantastic tool for overcoming both of these problems.

Lot so long ago I received a serious injury resulting in being unable to walk for several weeks let alone train. After a couple of days feeling sorry for myself I realised that this was an excellent opportunity to test the power of visualisation which I'd often read about. At the time I was just starting to grasp the concept of trapping so I started by 'seeing' myself and a partner performing varying sequences of traps. This was incredibly difficult at first, because of all the details I had to picture, but with perseverance I could feel as well as see the sequences. I then started to adjust variables in these sequences and found I could visualise the effect this would have on my or my opponent's next move. This may sound unbelievable; and to be honest I wasn't sure at the time that this would really improve my trapping. So, as soon as I was capable I tried to do physically at what I had being doing mentally for several weeks. To my surprise there was a major improvement. Of course, my muscles had to become accustomed to what I was doing and there were minor things I had visualised wrongly but this was quickly rectified.

It is important that you train your muscles to be able to perform (and eventually remember) the physical movements required of them. For this reason visualisation can and should be used with the physical movements whenever possible. Perform the moves physically but imagine your opponent interacting with you so that you are trapping/grappling/boxing etc with an invisible opponent. This has the tremendous advantage that you are training at the speed that best suites you using the techniques and scenarios that you wish to work on.

To Sum up
There are many methods, some of which are illustrated here, that can be used to improve your martial arts with greater efficiency than you are probably currently doing. These methods should be combined and integrated into you martial arts to be used as necessary. However, you must remember that although increasing your knowledge is an essential part of martial arts it is not a substitute for hard physical training just as hard physical training is no substitute for knowledge. As a growing martial artist you cannot have one without the other.

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