Most people take the road most traveled when it comes to martial arts training. This means only a handful of people ever take the road that is less traveled.
Right now somewhere someone is about to give up on their training. Maybe they feel that it is too hard to become an expert or maybe they feel that other priorities come first.
Whatever the reason, the fact remains that in a class of 30 students only 1 or 2 of those students will ever become experts and go on to open their own school of martial arts or train for the rest of their life.
The point is, very few will make martial arts a lifestyle.
The only way to be good at martial arts is to commit to making it a lifestyle. Not for a few months or a few years. You have to make a powerful decision to include martial arts as part of who you are for the rest of your life.
Increase Your Martial Arts Training By Mastering These 3 Virtues
1. Discipline
For a martial artist, this means to have restraint and control. In other words, not being hot-headed. Not taking your frustration or anger out on your teacher or the person you are training with.
You have to be in control of your emotions. Don’t let your emotions control you. It also means making a commitment to training on a regular basis, making your health and wellness a priority, and stopping making excuses for why you can’t do those things.
2. Focus
This is also preached in just about every school of martial arts around the world too. 90% of martial art students lose their focus while they are being taught. What do I mean by this? Ever been in class, it doesn’t have to be martial arts either and your teacher is teaching but you drift off and start thinking of something else? I think it has happened to most of us at least a time or two! LOL
However, if you want to fully absorb what is being taught to you, you have to be fully engaged in the lesson being given. You have to develop the discipline of pushing out other thoughts so you can focus your mind on what is being taught to you. In short you have to focus on the moment and be in the moment.
3. Patience
If you want to master anything, you must be patient. This is equally as hard as the other virtues and sometimes the hardest for many students.
Without these 3 virtues in place, your Martial art journey is going to be a lot harder than it has to be. This is why you must master these virtues, not only so you can master Kung Fu, but so you can master yourself.
Getting black belts or sashes means absolutely nothing because they only show you 1 level of accomplishment. In fact, once a person gets their black belt or its equivalent it just really means they are ready to start actually learning. They have prepared themselves through discipline, focus, and patience to go to the next level of their martial arts training.
We know it’s crazy but as long as you continue your journey, you will always be learning something new. Just stay disciplined, focused & patient and you will get to where you are going.
