INTRODUCTION

Martial arts provide a unique mind and body training to help improve physical and mental fitness. Martial arts help to develop overall fitness levels as well as increase an individual�s inner strength and teach students how to tap into their mental reserves to overcome difficult obstacles. This paper attempts to summarize the changes in physical training, fitness, and mental development. Focus areas commonly associated with the varying ranks is highlighted.

STAGE 1: BEGINNER

Physical Training
The beginner student learns fundamental techniques which will be the basis of more advanced techniques. These techniques will take concentration and practice to develop a good foundation. This foundation will take time and students must be patient with their efforts. Many new skills will be learned upon previous skills so the student must ensure there are no gaps in training. At this stage, the student will learn basic stances, strikes, kicks, and blocks from traditional stance and from a fighting stance. Kicks include front snap kick, roundhouse kick, and side kick. Hand techniques include jabs, punches, ridge hands, back fist, upper blocks, lower blocks, forearm blocks, and middle blocks. The beginner student will improve their fitness level and focus on coordination, balance, and flexibility.

Fitness
Fitness must be brought up to a certain level. Some students may already have a good fitness level but others will be challenged to raise their level. With basic exercise such as running to improve aerobic conditioning and pushups and sit-ups to improve muscle condition, the student gradually becomes accustomed to physical requirements of martial arts. Stretching will also be an important part of a fitness routine to help avoid injuries and increase flexibility.

Coordination Coordination will be one of the first challenges for the beginner students. Students will struggle with arm placement, foot placement, and executing moves simultaneously. Common examples of training body coordination can be seen in students performing a technique correctly on one side but having difficulty correctly translating those motions to the mirror image. For example, a student who can correctly do a high block using the right arm with the correct starting position of the right arm on the outside of the �X� formed by both arms prior to the high block cannot correctly do a high block with the left arm. The student must concentrate on coordinating both left side techniques and right side techniques. Over time, these movements are part of the neurological muscle memory and are easier to coordinate for a more advanced student. The beginner student is in the process of building the fundamental blocks of muscle memory using repetition and an instructor�s watchful eye to ensure the move is developing correctly. Balance Certain techniques are not natural movements for beginners. These techniques can throw students off balance such as a strong kick. Students will learn over time to adjust their body to accommodate such movements without losing their balance. At this stage repetition will help the student to find their center of balance to execute techniques without losing balance. There may still be many details to be fixed, but the goal is to get the macro movements in place so the student becomes accustomed to martial arts techniques and start to learn to keep their center of gravity as close to the ground as possible. Flexibility Martial arts will require proper warming up and stretching. Shotokan karate is a dynamic exercise and uses all muscle groups. Stretching the muscles will help prevent tears, pulls, and strains. The student should perform dynamic stretching and static stretching to loosen tense muscles. Gradually, the students become more flexible with a regular stretching program. Flexibility helps to prevent injuries and allows students to perform to their greatest potential.

Mental Development
The beginner student will cover several martial arts attributes which can either reinforce certain principles in the older student or perhaps initially teach the younger students these attributes. In our particular school, these attributes include attitude, responsibility, commitment, courtesy, and confidence. Students learn to start goals with a good attitude. They learn that they must be responsible for their training. They learn to be committed to their training and to set goals to advance. They learn about respect and courtesy in class. The students also gain confidence. These attributes carry over into other activities outside the class.

STAGE 2: INTERMEDIATE

Physical Training
The beginner student learns fundamental techniques which will be the basis of more difficult maneuvers. Intermediate levels have learned to perform all basic breakfalls and rolls allowing them to become successful ukes to assist advanced belts with their materials. At the same time the intermediate ranked students are now incorporating takedowns following self defense techniques using blocks to avoid attacks followed by a counter attack. The student starts to learn physiology to understand body movements and restrictions when performing techniques. Students now must demonstrate better stances for traditional stances and better foot work for fighting stance techniques. For some students, techniques will be easy to perform but others will still need considerable practice. More complex basics are introduced at these ranks to include double kicks, crescent kicks, spin side kicks, and hook kicks. Hand techniques include palm heel strike, hammerfist variants, and elbow strike variants. Quality of techniques also becomes increasingly important in order to have maximum effectiveness. All stances and techniques will now undergo more rigorous review of details.

Fitness
Fitness levels at the intermediate level approaches the fitness levels of the entry requirements for military forces and start to meet or exceed the halfway point of the fitness requirements for black belt fitness. This new fitness level helps the student in two of the focus areas of agility and for endurance. The fitness level requirements are still gradually increasing with rank levels at the intermediate ranks.

Agility, Power The intermediate rank works at improving agility and power in their motions. The student works at coordinating the entire body to maximize the impact while being efficient with body motions. Accuracy By now, the student should be able to strike targets with all punches but now needs to work on getting kicks to become accurate as well. The students will participate in accuracy drills with small target pads. Endurance Endurance becomes increasingly important for the intermediate student that must now engage in sparring, grappling, and more active self-defense techniques. The fitness requirement for running helps to improve the endurance levels.

Mental Development
The intermediate student is now focusing on determination, teamwork, and quality. At this stage, training becomes more difficult as elements of self-defense are added. The student�s determination will be tested often during this training period. The intermediate ranks soon find they have reached a stage of becoming good training partners for advanced ranks. They also become increasingly aware of working as a team versus individually. All members of the class become important training partners. Differences in physical size of training partners helps the intermediate ranks learn which techniques work and which ones are not as effective.

STAGE 3: ADVANCED

Physical Training
The advanced student will learn the remaining basic techniques of a martial arts system. Advanced students will learn more complex combinations and self-defense skills. Endurance becomes more important as the katas are now becoming longer and require a higher skill level to perform properly. At the same time, the advanced student will spend time mastering all previous techniques in preparation of black belt testing. These techniques should start to become more instinctive. The advanced students start to categorize attacks into certain zones or locations of attack that will have a family of self-defense techniques. This helps to simplify self defense over time.

Fitness
Fitness levels are reaching a high level, scoring good to excellent in any military fitness testing based on age, body composition, and running speed. The increased running requirement ensures a certain level of endurance is building up in the student that helps with performing a series of katas or several rounds of sparring. This becomes increasingly important with the prospect of black belt testing on the near horizon.

Timing, Speed The advanced student is now working on timing and speed on all techniques and in sparring. The advanced student works hand and foot coordination so that motion is coordinated and stopped at the same time. Techniques are practiced and analyzed to ensure the most efficient path is used to help speed up the techniques. Techniques now become more personal in their style - not quite as mechanical as in the earlier learning stages. The student now has a better understanding of their own body mechanics and becomes more critically aware of their techniques.

Mental Development
The advanced student now realizes the outcome of their persistence in reaching their goal towards the advanced ranks. The also must realize it is still as important to help them reach the black belt rank requirements. Students at this rank will also be taking an internal perspective in their qualifications to ensure they are performing to their best ability to meet their rank requirements. This is part of understanding integrity. As a role model in the class, they will realize their personal integrity will be measured by each student and should realize the same thing happens outside the dojo with everyone they come across. The advanced student has learned leadership going up the ranks and is now called upon more frequently to be that leader within the class. The advanced students learn to be more comfortable in leadership role. The attributes learned in martial arts helps to provide a unique emotional maturity in young students that set them apart from the average child. Adults will find they handle stress better and can find ways to harness mental focus for demanding tasks.

Perception The advanced student has changed their perception from the time they first walked in as a non-martial arts trained person. This new perception allows the advanced student to become fully immersed in their actions at any given time with an increased awareness level. In Japan, the word Zanshin, is used to describe this state. This allows the student to keep a clear mind such as in the case of a multiple attacker scenario. The student learns to remain calm in order to think clearly and understand nothing happens until the first move. Perception is increased to be aware of surroundings as well as mental and physical state. Greater perception helps the advanced kyu rank student to start to see the similarities in self defense response to certain zone attacks. What has happened over time is the student in martial arts no longer consciously concentrates on techniques - the techniques have become instinctive. The mind is calm yet fully aware. This perception developed over years with practice of proper techniques, good katas, and effective self-defense. Mental Focus The advanced student now concentrates on staying focused on the task at hand. This will require the student to train their mind to listen carefully, react accordingly, and not to let the mind wander into other thoughts. Reaction now takes advantage of muscle memory as the student becomes more instinctive in their response to challenges. The student now gains a greater appreciation of remaining in control of one�s environment. At this point, not only are the techniques powerful � they also become more calculating.

CONCLUSION

Martial arts provide more than improved physical fitness. As the student reaches higher ranks, the demands on that student requires more mental activity. Martial arts students soon realize that greater knowledge of their art makes them better prepared for life�s challenges. At each stage of development, students will concentrate on achieving new levels in their physical training, their fitness, and their mental development.