Boxers have about 6 punches – but they practice and practice and practice. The difference in skill between Amir Khan and John Doe is obvious… but 6 punches, that’s it.
I heard a great response recently…
One instructor overheard his students talking, “When will I get to practice MY skills?” one said.
“We are always doing white and yellow belts skills, helping lower belts”.
The instructor responded: “These ARE your skills”.
Sometimes students ask for more techniques … or they say, “When can I learn the next thing? Or be the next rank?”
But now is the time to become excellent at the basics – it’s not about learning new skills.
Sometimes a student can focus so much on getting to this ‘other’ place that they actually forget where they are at – right now.
We must be proficient in ALL the techniques. The better we become at the basics, the better we become as a whole… remember the boxer who has just 6 strikes.
Learning new skills will not make you the Black Belt you want to be; doing what you know well – really well… that’s the only way.
So, don’t worry about getting somewhere else, or being anything than just what is needed today…
What is the expression?!?!…take care of today, and everything else sorts itself out…
Or as Master Chang always says – “Excellence is not an act – it is a habit”.