Martial arts training is about training both the body and the mind. Part of training the mind is discipline. The discipline to do what is necessary.
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It’s all about priorities, right? After all, you only practice a couple of times a week.
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When I started karate almost five decades ago, I decided to make a commitment and that commitment continues today.
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When I walked through the door to the dojo for the very first time, I was asked if I could commit to my training by a very stern looking Japanese sensei. If I had hesitated in any way, I would not have got in (there were so many people queuing to sign-up back then).
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My sensei made this very clear to me from the beginning. He said to truly master karate the only thing you need do is to turn up and train regularly, week-in, week-out, month after month, year after year, and to listen and learn…. So I did just that.
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Do you REALLY want it? Or are you just playing at it?
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Most people really do love to get good at something. I know this is true for me – I love getting better and better at things. The process of finding out how an endeavor works, and then moving through limitation and frustration to build skills and knowledge, and being able to operate at ever more challenging levels – I love that.
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The truth is to become good at karate (or anything), to get anywhere near being proficient with your techniques, drills, kata, you need to do thousands and thousands of repetitions. This is what grows you as a martial artist and moves you along the path. All the time developing the right mindset.
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But there is also a discomfort to learning. Getting good at something means going through various periods of being not-good, during which you tend to feel dumb, clueless, incompetent. Many people would simply rather not go through that.
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The problem is that we don’t think we can do it. The main element that allows us to make it through the discomforts of non-mastery is a core belief in our own capability.
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In other words, the key to mastery lies in our assumptions about ourselves and the process.
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So if you want to get really great at something, be realistic about what it will require – and have faith in your own ability.
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Everyone on the planet has the exact same amount of time every single day… no more, no less. It is what we do with the time we have that is important.
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And the results, when we are willing to put our minds to becoming truly good at something, can be much more than fun and entertaining – it can be exhilarating, inspiring and powerful.
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“You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.” — Alan Alda
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📷 Photo Credit: with thanks to Lyoto Machida