Break the karate rules. Breaking what appears to be a rule is important. Here is how you, as a martial artist can break free of stifling rules that may not aide you in your martial arts journey.
Rory Miller’s Permission sheet
This is Rory Miller’s Permission sheet. The permission sheet has been in use for many years. but it is always good to dust it off and get it out there for people to get exposure to it.
The premise, and I love this, is to break out of your conditioned responses to authority.
This little document isn’t about being a contrarian. Pushing back to push back, that is childlike. This permission sheet is about becoming one’s self. You know that real self, through expansion, thought and deed. Especially in the martial arts area.
As a student of anything, and I do mean anything, hold this template up to your instructor. Do they meet the criteria?
And because this is about personal responsibility. When you hold this document up in the mirror, do you make the grade?
The Permission sheet follows below. Know these are not my words, but Rory’s I did not write them, but I sure like them.
PERMISSION (To Break The Karate Rules)
This is something I give my students. Sometimes I ask, “Why didn’t you…?” reach for a weapon, use a preemptive strike, run, call for help…
And the students says, “I didn’t know I could.” For the longest time, I assumed that meant the student had never considered it or didn’t know how… it didn’t occur to me that they thought it might be forbidden.
These are things that should never need to be said but still must, because there is power in the words.
You have permission to defend yourself.
You have permission to be rude.
You have permission to survive, no matter what it takes.
You have permission to act when the scary man reaches for his belt. You do not need to wait until he draws the weapon or until he points it at you or until he hurts you. You have permission to act.
You have permission to beat me, even if I wear a blackbelt.
You have permission to become better than the best instructor you ever had.
You have permission to invent something better than I ever taught you, and permission to use it in my class and permission to use it to defeat me and permission to teach it to your students.
You have blanket permission to grow and live and survive and fight and run and scream and talk and play and laugh and learn and experiment.
You have permission to win, and you have permission to decide what winning is. Be amazing!
-Rory
You can find Rory here at his website
Below are two links to podcast interviews with Rory. Each is about an hour long. Enjoy.
Podcast #1 Rory Miller & Violence Dynamics
Podcast #2 Rory Miller – Clarity
Here are a few other topics you may find of interest.
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KRIS WILDER
Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.