An Analogy with Martial Arts

It’s been quite a long since my last posting and today I am talking about the same old thing (for better words) but in a different perspective.

Forex and more generally speaking, trading is an art, a profession that cannot be learned overnight, still once you can manage a green balance year after year claiming you are a succesful trader… well, what really happens is that you are less worse today than when you started. Lets use skip this for a while and talk about martial arts for the moment.

Disclaimer: Any form of Martial Arts can be used effectively to protect yourself… the only difference is the method wich you larn and the situation you apply.

When I was youger I practiced Taekwondo and then Karate (Shotokan Style) and now I do Krav Maga (and yes KM students hat to be labeled as Martial Artists I am aware of that), I am not going to discuss the time one is able to break jaws between disciplines (wich in KM and Systema the learning curve is much faster). But instead I will talk about what all they have in common.

So as any newbe you go to the Dojo and you are disapointed cuz you expected to do something Matt Damon or Liam Neeson alike… but that only happens in the movies. First thing Instructors asks you to do is some push ups and then… some punches… lame boring punches. Supposedly it was a discipline that requires no effort to apply but there you are, looking at the big clock on the walk because you are about to vomit of exhaustion. What does that has to do with trading? Well, reality bites; we all started here with the hope of quiting that lousy job we hate ending losing what we don’t have. Now imagine yourself after Day 1 at the Dojo, you almost fainted and the next day you pretend to fight with a guy much bigger than you, you’ll probably end up in a coma. But that is how we act upon trading, read a couple stuff and we jump right to the markets and get knocked out.

So. Are you ready for what is to come? Trading is a process, something you must practice all the time, like any martial art it could take years to master and there is always something new to learn, some bad movement you must correct, some odd technique you must practice.

Regards-