The Power of Belief - The Martial Artist's Student Creed

These three affirmations are introduced to beginning students of my academy as the 3-part Student Creed. Other martial schools may have a different wording or number, but the purpose is the same. Each part expresses a belief, trust, or inherent faith held by that student about an equally important part of their progress through the Mastery Program and their successful completion of the goal they have set out to achieve. The Studert Creed also helps those students with low confidence, self-esteem, and doubts about their ability to be successful, to hear these words over and over again. In time, this repetitive exposure, like that which produced this student's current depressed state, will take root and allow the student to change from within to become a walking, talking example of the Creed itself.

More than just a set of positive affirmations to be memorized and recited though, when reciting as part of a class or graduation exam, the student should speak each part of the creed in a way that is charged with the emotional intent of the heart.

Take a minute and recite the 3-Part Student Creed aloud:

1. I believe in myself. I am confident. I can accomplish my goals.

3. I believe in my teachers. I show respect to all those who help me progress.

Again, we must remember that these phrases are just words. In and of themselves they hold no innate power. We use them, and ones just like them each and every day of our lives.

The real power - the real magic - lies in the emotions behind them. The student who recites these phrases with conviction and an authentic desire to become what the phrases suggest can't help but to be successful in their task.

We must remember that, if we are to change who we are and what we are capable of doing, we must first convince ourselves and no one else that it is possible. For many of us, this task is not an easy one as years of habit-based actions and preprogrammed conditioning have taken it's toll on who and what we think we are. We must remember that we are today, the sum result of all that we have learned, experienced and, yes, believed in the past.

The reciting of the Student Creed is a tool for reminding ourselves - for reprogramming our subconscious, habitual thought processes - in a way that creates new habits conducive to producing the results we are after.

As stated by John Mills, "One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests." The question is, are we merely 'interested' in changing to become the person we say we want to be, or do we desire the benefits of having attained our goal - we feel it in our very heart and soul - we believe in ourselves, our plan of accomplishment and our willingness to do what must be done - so much, that it literally moves us at our very core?

The true test of gaining the results we seek is in our response to the statements themselves. We may be able to convince others - for a while - that we speak from the truth, but we will never be able to lie to ourselves. Eventually, we will drop our guard or conveniently 'forget' the path we're on and the promises we made to ourself and revert back to the same lazy, sleep-walk' living that was the 'us' before we began training.

Ask yourself these questions:

A. "When I recite the Student Creed, does it move me?"
(Do you get chills, a welling in your chest or an empowered feeling or do you feel like you're reciting the Pledge of Allegiance from school?)

B. Do I have to think about the Creed when reciting it or is it so natural to me that I have the feeling, "of course this is true?"

Through the power of belief, the true, heartfelt drive to become the words we are speaking, the Student Creed takes on a life and power capable of transforming you into the confident, successful, disciplined, respectful and proactive person you were meant to be.

Go for it!