They say it takes three weeks to form a habit.
The person who came up with that probably did on a moment’s notice to assure their friend they could stop smoking or eat better. There doesn’t seem to be any science behind it.
But there is a little more study behind what makes up a habit: trigger –> routine –> reward.
The trigger is what sets off the action, the routine is the action, and the reward, well that’s a little more complicated. It could be the pleasant feeling of nicotine flowing through your veins or it could be simply that your brain has been granted a rest, as it tends to shut off during the routine.
Training in sports is about more than just making your body fit and quick enough, it’s about making habits.
Joel Kolenchuk, the owner of Bob Deane’s Black Belt Academy, reminded students during last Thursday’s class those habits can make you do funny things.
His example: if you tighten your belt after every kick (something that doesn’t sound quite as ridiculous if you’ve ever worn gi or dobok), it will become a habit.
So picture this: you’re walking down a dark alley, you’re self defence skills assuring you that any problems can be dealt with, when a large man detaches himself from the shadows and moves toward you, the glint of a knife in his hands. You, with your hours of practice drilling well-formed habits into your head, crouch down in a fighting stance. You kick at him, miss and then go to tighten a belt that just isn’t there.
The best thing that could happen is you look like a fool and the big man laughs at you, allowing you to punch him in the throat. The worst, well, you could get intimate with the blade of a knife.
Not many people will face those consequences from their habits, but it’s a lesson to keep in mind if you want to be good at what you do, regardless of whether that’s in the ring or the office.
And while bad habits obviously have bad consequences, good habits can have unintended consequences as well, locking you into certain actions that will make improvisation impossible.
Kolenchuk takes precautions to avoid those kinds of habits, trying to instill a diverse array of skills.
Did you know, for example, that by doing the same exercise day in and day out will not only make only a certain set of muscles stronger, it will make them more effective at doing that thing, making your workout less effective.
Sometimes there is a lot more to learn from a club than the rules of their sport, and that makes the training very interesting.
–Jonas Gagnon is the Observer sports reporter.
