On Mission Martial Arts

Complaining means you need more discipline! 👀🐎

This week’s Character Focus is PERSEVERANCE. To be Persevering (vs. Giving Up) is to endure hardships with faith, maintaining hope and steadfastness in God’s promises. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). When was a time that you persevered?

There are some areas of the Concentric Circles of Self Defense that are the non-physical aspects of Self Defense – things like Awareness, Avoidance, Diplomacy and Escape that are harder to practice with our traditional, physical martial arts practice. This is where Role Playing and Scenario Training comes into play!

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-randori-scenario-training/

In our martial arts training, we spend a lot of time developing our Stances–like the Horse Stance, for example. However, the greatest Horse Stance in the world has little to no value if we are standing on ice or in deep water. What is UNDER our Stance, is the SUB-Stance and it has a massive effect on our Stance!

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-stance-and-substance/

Staying in class is totally worth it! 👀👀🥋

This week’s Character Focus is GRATITUDE. To be Grateful (vs. Ungrateful) is to have a thankful heart for what you have and where you are. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

One of the best ways to train and test for how you might respond to a real-world attack is to have an opponent randomly attack you and see what your natural, instinctive response is. In our OMMA classes, we begin reaction drill training by having the student defend against one of two or three possible attacks and then add more and more variability to the attacks as they increase in skill and rank.

For more information on this, and what Randori means, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-randori-reaction-drills/

In battling against our natural inclination to be lazy, slothful, and undisciplined, the On Mission Warrior purposes to discipline themselves physically in the Dojo, to achieve the Martial Arts objectives of the Black Belt, but even more critical is the purposing to, as the Scripture in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 commands, discipline ourselves for godliness. When we have an amazing GOAL that we are striving for, discipline doesn’t have to be drudgery, but joyful!

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-spiritual-disciplines/

It's always best to be diligent and well-behaved! 🤣😳

This week’s Character Focus is COMPASSION. To be Compassionate (vs. Indifferent) is to demonstrate God’s love through empathy and action toward those who are suffering. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).

Although our preference from a self-defense standpoint is to always remain on our feet, there may be times when we end up on the ground with our opponent, or on the ground while our opponent is still standing. To prepare for these possibilities, at OMMA we practice ground fighting skills!

For more information on this, and what Randori means, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-randori-ground-fighting/

Character (Greek = “charakter”) is a word that has been translated in the Bible as the phrase “express image.” In Hebrews 1:2 and Colossians 1:15 (among other Scriptures), we see that Jesus is our model of Godly character. As martial artists, we develop abilities and power that require a counterbalance of strong character in order to avoid abuse!

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-character-of-a-christ-warrior/

Now THAT'S an efficient car wash! 🤣🤣

This week's Character Focus is COURAGE. Being Courageous (vs. Fearful) is acting boldly in the face of danger or difficulty, trusting in God's strength and protection. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

Sparring is the standing, striking version of free-form combat practice. We utilize rules and protective gear to minimize the chances of injury during sparring training.

Click here for more info: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-randori-sparring/

"The real spiritual leader is focused on the service he and she can render to God and other people, not on the residuals and perks of high office or holy title. We must aim to put more into life than we take out." – Oswald Chambers, "Spiritual Leadership"

For more on this, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-god-centered-leaders/

Belts are a very important aspect in Martial Arts... 🤣🤣

Ok, I’m catching up on some posts I’m behind on!

Please congratulate our newest OMMA certified instructor- Daniel Trevarthen has been promoted to Trainee Instructor, the first level of our OMMA instructor ranks.

I am so proud of Daniel- he has grown so much lately as a martial artist, instructor, leader and young man of God!

I hope you will join me in praying that the Lord will use Daniel to have a significant impact in the lives of all the students he works with at the dojo. 🙏🏼🙏🏼👊🏼✝️

~ Marco

We had an amazing Belt Testing last Friday! We have a new Adult Yellow Belt, four new Young Warrior Yellow Belts, two new Adult Orange Belts, two new YW Orange Belts, two new Adult Purple Belts, three new YW Purple Belts and one new YW Blue Belt!
It was a blessing to see the effort, focus, skill and perseverance demonstrated at this testing. Some of my most rewarding days are seeing the physical, mental and spiritual growth in our students, which is often most clear during these challenging testing times.

CONGRATS TO ALL WHO RANKED UP!🎉👊🏼🙏🏼

Another meaningful thing happened that night. One of the adults who tested on this test has had many, many years of previous martial arts experience in various other arts and dojos. After the test, he made the comment that although he had great martial arts experiences at other dojos in his past, he said “This place is good. It’s just good.” He was meaning the Christ-centered aspect of our training and our community was a stark departure from the culture he had experienced in other places. My hearts desire is that our students and their families would experience this, so it was a great blessing to hear him share that!

Praise God for His being present in a powerful way in our OMMA community! May we continue to make much of Jesus every day, in every way!

~ Marco

This week's Character Focus is ENTHUSIASM. Being Enthusiastic (vs. Apathetic) is doing things with zeal and fervor for the Lord. "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!" (Psalm 95:1)

In martial arts, the "Uke" is the Japanese term for the person who punches in for us while we practice our techniques on them.

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-cooperation-the-uke/

Just as community is critical in the journey from White Belt to Black Belt and beyond, it is so much more vital in our spiritual journey. Someone once said, “The Christian life is meant to be ‘personal,’ but not ‘private.'" We need all that the Christian community, the Church, brings to us and what we bring to it.

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-community/

Gmail has got nothing on Chuck Norris 📨

This week's Character Focus is DISCIPLINE. To be Disciplined (vs. Uncontrolled) is to remain diligent in your endeavors, even when you don't feel like it.

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." ~ Bruce Lee

For more information about goal-setting, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-goal-setting/

True growth into Christ-like character is an impossible task in our own strength. We need to daily, even moment-by-moment, cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our lives to give us the power, wisdom, and direction to grow.

For more information, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-spirit-filled-life/

🤣🤣🤣🤣

This week's Character Focus is HUMILITY. Being Humble (vs. Proud) is emulating Christ's humility, recognizing our dependence on God and valuing others above ourselves. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves" (Philippians 2:3).

One of the most beneficial training tools we have as martial artists are the various pads and bags we can utilize for “bag work” training. There are a wide variety of bags and pads, ranging from small hand pads for striking, to kicking shields to large standing or hanging bags!

To learn more, click here: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-bag-work/

“A Christ-centered (or Christocentric) life is one that is focused upon a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. At the core of every human decision is a motivation. Some people are motivated by the quest for pleasure or money. Some center their entire lives on a goal, a job, or even their families. These things are not wrong in themselves; however, that which we center our lives on can become our god. The human heart was designed for worship, and if it does not worship God, it will worship something else." (https://www.gotquestions.org/Christ-centered-life.html)

For more information, check out this link: https://onmissionmartialarts.com/lp-christ-centered-life/