Martial Tai Chi™

The Buck Stops Here

Here And Now

Runaway Train

I was very lucky when I did my training because I had a good twenty five hours per week spare to expend on practice. Evenings when I was at a loose end, I'd put in extra practice. Not everyone has this much time, but nonetheless, a Kung Fu student should seriously consider how much time they are prepared to commit to their training. It would take a student who practices for just two hours per week around thirteen years to do as much training as I did each year.

And really, the matter is not quite as simple as the total number of hours: there is a minimum proportion of time commitment that can yield a positive result. During your week, you are going to have to spend more time moving correctly than you spend moving incorrectly. Strictly speaking you can't really afford to ever be off duty. Ingrained movement habits must be eradicated and replaced with new skills. Training also has to be correct for it to be fruitfull - well, you might occasionally learn something by doing it a little bit wrong, but it is by far best to know accurately what correct means and do things correctly. Don't stress about it - that won't help - but do take the time and trouble to get it right.

Here and Now

Without a shadow of a doubt, the number one cause of failure is lack of effort. This is the simple truth of Kung Fu - the words mean "work time" - it couldn't be plainer.

Knowing this and KNOWING it are two different things. You don't really know it until you KNOW IT, until you've got it inside out - it isn't really about conceptual understanding, but physical involvement.

So the questions to ask yourself constantly are
1) "If not, why not?"

If you are not going to train, why are you not going to train?

and
2) "If not now, when?"

If you are not going to train now, why are you not going to train now? What are you waiting for?

One Small Problem?

is that some people do not put in the effort - the work time - required to succeed. Why is this? Because they cannot see in to the future and see their success guaranteed there. If a student could see film of himself or herself in the future, having successfully mastered the style they are practicing, I'm sure most would be able to endure the hardships of training towards that goal. With success certain, I think most people would endure quite cheerfully... always assuming they believed that the film footage was genuine, that it was really them in the film and that nothing could happen to disrupt the outcome... in other words, if they had enough faith.

Growing Pains...

If people lack faith in themselves, they usually have a growing problem. If nothing is unattainable with will, doubt is certainly the most surefire way to undermine success because the under confident mind uses its own failures to reinforce its self doubts and the problem simply grows bigger and bigger. Thoughts are things - they are destined to become realities - we have to be careful which ones we cultivate.

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together...

I think if anyone can do anything then that is proof that I can do it too. I think this is a perfectly healthy amount of ego to have. We are, after all, pretty much all alike. Odds are that if someone else can do something, then so can I. It turns out that for the most part I'm right and that's good enough for me to feel positive about my undertakings. I know that when I fail to succeed at something it is because I haven't tried hard enough. Why haven't I tried hard enough?

Where there's a Will

Ah - we're back to will again. Fact is, when I fail at things it is generally not through any kind of innate lack of ability, but lack of effort and that lack of effort has been due to not wanting to succeed badly enough. I simply haven't placed the success high enough on my list of priorities to put in the work. You get out what you put in so if you don't put much in...

How Badly Do You Want Success?

It's right down to you. How badly do you want to succeed? This is an important thing to ascertain - to take responsibility for. I think all too often people take the message that "martial arts take many years to master" and think that if they keep turning up to their Kung Fu class once a week for many years then eventually they will succeed. The problem is that the "Lifetime To Master" paradigm isn't true.

Success doesn't actually have to take very long at all - a few months of intensive training frequently produces good results - much better than gradual progress. When people fail to realise this, they do not train anything like hard enough. When the positively cancerous "Lifetime To Master" mythology sets in, many students don't actually notice when weeks turn into months and they make no progress at all. Some may even deteriorate without seeming to notice or care. A casual expectation of failure establishes itself and the student settles into a slow decline. They may end up dropping out of the class within another year or so... their attendance will become more and more erratic until... they may or may not send you an e-mail....

AAAARGH!!!!!

So get real. You want success? It comes at a price. You do the time, you get the result: that's the Kung Fu way.

Put in the hard work, do it now - never put it off - and have faith that you'll succeed. You will - I promise you have it in you to succeed. But it is also possible to fail if that is the path you choose. Just be aware that it is down to a simple choice.