I’m sure many of you may find the topic of walking redundant and a bit silly when we attend a martial arts academy where we get to choke,  kick, and punch our friends. And to a certain extent, I agree.

While writing this piece, I recalled the late comedian George Carlin’s walking bit. While purely and simply walking around (as opposed to the more aggressive mountain hiking or rucking) as a basic form of cardio provides health benefits, more importantly, it can provide much-needed mental benefits. 

Like most people, I deal with the usual stress of work, deadlines, obligations and the general noise of modern life. Ignorantly, I thought that simply showing up to the mats would inevitably provide the ability to reset my mind. From my relativity unscientific internal research, I have found a simple technique to improve clarity, and the answer, as it turns out, was something so fundamental I almost overlooked it: walking. 

Journey to a calm mind

After a 20ish-year hiatus from martial arts training, I returned for the cardio aspects of kickboxing classes and now return week after week for the continued challenge that Muay Thai provides.

In previous experiences, I thoroughly enjoyed the cost-prohibitive private boxing sessions at other schools which led to more reasonable group karate classes. However, I eventually grew tired of memorizing countless rigid movements to perform what felt like karate ballet in front of others in prep for point-sparing those much smaller, younger, and older than me. I also questioned my skill level by obtaining a brown belt in just over two short years.

This sense of underwhelm brought my journey to another gym advertised as ‘MMA training,’ which lacked the appropriate instruction and proper technique, leading to injuries and the eventual halt of my training. Fast forward to 2023, when I squared up against the heavy bag at Easton and experiencd a renewed ritual of cathartic stress relief.  

With proper techniue, I understood the appropriate procedure for kicking a heavy bag. Through the continued kickboxing training, I enjoyed listening and learning from each coach and immensely enjoyed the ability to try and hurt the heavy bag. 

After obtaining a yellow shirt and entering Muay Thai class, I soon realized that Muay Thai is mental as much as physical — especially once sparring commences. For those who have spent time sparring, I know you’ve felt how the stress of outside life can easily follow you onto the mat. This distracted mind slows reactions and causes frustration, leading to more errors and resulting in eating more punches and kicks. 

For the past year, I have been looking for trends or patterns in why some days I was clear-headed and others I seemed stuck in my head without the ability to block out the noise. As mentioned above, the solution I came to, so simple it often gets overlooked — walking.

The form of walking I refer to is not strenuous and does not include additional weights or a specific speed or incline — just moving forward, breathing, letting my thoughts settle and my mind relax.

At first, I didn’t think much of it. I’d been walking my dogs for years, but with large bird dogs who live by the honor ‘If it flies, it dies,’ I wouldn’t exactly call those walks relaxing. Since working from home for more than six years, I forgot about the benefits of stepping away from my desk in the office and walking to another side of the building, outside for coffee, or just around to get away from coworkers.

One day, after a particularly intense video meeting, I took a solo walk around the block. After a few minutes, I felt relaxed and circled the block several times. Later, I gathered my gym gear, went to class, and had a different experience from the usual post-intense-meeting mat session. With a clear head, I felt focused, relaxed and present. After walking, I knew I could deal with those external issues later. 

[Flow Roll: The Essence of Flowing, In Life and On the Mats]

Walking for mindful relaxation doesn’t come as a new concept. Many have utilized walking as a tool for clarity and reflection, including ancient Greeks (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), Stoic philosophers (Seneca, Marcus Aurelius), Modern philosophers (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche), writers (Henry David Thoreau) and other leaders. Thai philosophy has the Thai Forest Tradition of walking meditation known as cankama, which involves walking back and forth along a set path while maintaining mindfulness of each movement. 

For me, walking helps break the cycle of overanalyzing and having my mind loop over and over on the same stressful thought. Often, I can break this overthinking doom cycle by walking the dogs for a bit, and some days, I may need to sneak out and walk without them to let my mind wander and relax fully.  Either way, it allows me to reset for days both on and off the Muay Thai mat. 

[The Five Spirits of Japanese Budo]

The best part of walking is that you don’t need to actively clear your mind — it tends to happen naturally. This form of mindfulness requires the ability to walk without too many distractions and to let your mind to wander.

On good days, you may find yourself able to process anything bothering you; on other days, your mind tends to drift back and forth. Still on some days, you may not think about anything at all.

Either way, you will likely return feeling mentally lighter.

The Hack to Meditation