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Beginning martial arts: Greatness does not come easily
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When you first start taking martial arts classes you learn some basic techniques or movements that seem simple, but after some time, you begin to realize nothing is really that easy. Your front-two knuckle punch may seem masterful when you’ve reached your first belt, but with every belt level, the instructors require a heightened state of perfection. Form is relative to belt level, and the expectations change.
The same goes for almost any sport of activity. What you expect of yourself when you’re first starting is very different from where you want to be after a year of practice. You hope to be more flexible and stronger and have better balance than when you began. This whole endless race to improve ourselves seems overwhelming at times, but it’s all part of becoming the best we can be. Instead of concentrating on how we wish we were better at these techniques, focus on how lucky you are that the instructors thought you were ready to take on that next challenge and how great is is that your body can handle going to the next difficulty level.
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Joel Merriam of the Shaolin Kempo Club of Bangor, Maine (right) has a great saying for this. He tells new participants who are learning their first few moves, "You have ten years to make it look good." No one is going to reach perfection in a few months, but over the years, we become more effective, quicker, stronger, more balanced, and well rounded in our martial arts pursuits.
It’s all about seeing the positive and focusing on what can be done rather than our shortcomings. With that uplifting, forward-thinking attitude, you’re bound to keep getting better and better at what you do and getting more satisfaction out of your practice.
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