Visualize the Technique to Improve Performance by KJN Richard Hackworth

Visualize the Technique to Improve Performance

by KJN Richard Hackworth

In the years of my martial arts training every teacher that I have had believed in and taught various methods of visualization for improving our skills.

Many interviews of Olympic athletes tell how they routinely use visualization techniques as part of training and competition. There are many stories of athletes who stated that using these techniques helped them to cultivate a competitive edge. As martial artists we understand that it is a multi-sensory experience, and the technique involves much more than just visualization.

While attending a seminar at the Inchon Sports College in Korea I learned that the preferred term in competitive sports is “imagery,” which defines the process of imaging or picturing athletic performance from start to finish, employing all the senses rather than just focusing on visualizing a certain goal or outcome. I believe that all physical skills can be improved this way including the performance of self defense techniques. This belief is the foundation of why we have forms training in martial arts to begin with.

As martial artists we use these techniques to cultivate a heightened state of mental awareness, which has been shown to boost confidence and overall well-being, and, in turn, enhance performance. Research shows that athletes can use this technique to “intend” an outcome of a race or training session, or simply to rest in a relaxed feeling of calm and well-being.

Mental Imagery can be explained in this way. Mental imagery is a multi-sensory process that draws on the senses to create a vivid mental image of a particular process. Imagery is essentially the process of creating and recreating an experience in the mind’s eye, which means it can be practiced at just about any time, anywhere. So, if floor space is too limited for traditional forms or kata practice, we may use visualization to train. I have done this a few times during long flights to pass the time.

During the Taekwondo Instructor Certification Course that I attended in Korea, GM Jong Sung Kim explained that visualization plays a central role in the execution of movements and in human functioning. In the context of sports, mental imagery is defined as the experience of an athlete imagining themselves while performing certain skills.

According to GM Jong Sung Kim, who is a graduate of Kyung Hee University, they are taught that the two most common techniques used to generate images are visual and kinesthetic. His personal experience has been shown that mental imagery improves an athlete’s motor skills during competition as well as their ability to learn new skills during training.

In competitive sports settings, elite Taekwondo athletes on the Korean National Team use imagery to enhance training, performance, and rehabilitation, even at the Olympic level.

I have some thoughts on how visualization or imagery as some prefer to call it can enhance martial arts combative self-defense skills and competitive performance. We use it as mental rehearsal or guided meditation. No matter the term, the basic techniques and concepts are the same. Visualization, simply stated, is the process of creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel.

Sports psychology researchers at Kyung Hee University have been studying the impact of imagery on physical performance for decades. Their research shows that all people, regardless of their age, sex, or athletic ability, can use imagery to enhance performance at the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional levels.

Their research rarely focuses exclusively on goal-based images, but instead, the process of achieving a goal. I believe that this is likely because goal, or outcome-based images are least often used by athletes. Rather, coaches and sport practitioners often encourage their athletes to focus on process goals such as completing stretching exercises prior to competition rather than outcome goals.

At the Taekwondo Masters Course conducted by the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association in Shihung City, Korea I was taught that using internal imagery during training and competition improves performance more than relying on external imagery or “psyching” yourself up before you compete.

As with other training techniques the key to improvement is repetition.

Using the mind, a martial artist can call up these images repeatedly, enhancing the skill through repetition or rehearsal, like physical practice. With mental rehearsal, minds and bodies become trained to perform the skills and performances imagined. Such repeated imagery can build both experience and confidence in your ability to perform certain skills under pressure or in various possible scenarios.

Using the senses is one of the most effective visualization techniques. It results in a very vivid performance experience in which the individual has complete control over a successful performance and a belief in this new self.

These scenarios should include as many of the senses as possible. They can be images and pictures, how the body feels, or the roar of the crowd. These sensory details help make the visualization more detailed and powerful.

Guided imagery, visualization, mental rehearsal, or other such techniques can maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of your training. In a world where self-defense responses are measured in seconds and even in hundredths of a second, most martial artist will use every possible training technique at hand. Visualizing the technique is one way to gain a responsive edge against a violent attacker.

About the author: Richard Hackworth is a multi-arts Grandmasters and the USA Director for the World Martial Arts Congress. He holds master level rankings in Taekwondo, Hapkido, Korean Sword, and Tai Chi.

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