New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. How many times have you made a promise to yourself at New Years only to see that promise broken in a few months, weeks, or dare I even say...
Days.
And your promise quickly becomes a re-solution the following year. But it doesn't have to be this way. Sometimes we bite of more than we can chew. So the trick is to take smaller bites, even if it takes twice as many bites to finish.
Or even more, a lot more. (You may find that it tastes much better too.)
So how can we put this idea to work for us? Bruce Lee is famous for not just his martial arts but for his take on life too. He noted famously that
Days.
And your promise quickly becomes a re-solution the following year. But it doesn't have to be this way. Sometimes we bite of more than we can chew. So the trick is to take smaller bites, even if it takes twice as many bites to finish.
Or even more, a lot more. (You may find that it tastes much better too.)
So how can we put this idea to work for us? Bruce Lee is famous for not just his martial arts but for his take on life too. He noted famously that
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Ten.
Thousand.
So what he was saying that he took seriously the person that was disciplined and dedicated enough to practice something over and over and over (and over) again.
Putting this in terms of your martial arts practice, consider how long it may be to take 10,000 classes. Most students average twice per week attendance and take a couple of weeks a year for vacation. At this pace it would take 100 years to reach that goal. Yikes. Perhaps we should narrow our focus.
How about your forms (hyung, kata)? To become proficient, by Bruce Lee's standard, in your execution of the traditional exercise sets you could practice a single form 25 times per class for 4 years (assuming the form takes about two minutes and you attend an hour forms class twice per week). We're not quite at that 1-year resolution mark yet.
How about that kick then? After all, that was the standard Bruce Lee was referring to. If you practice your favorite kick (for me it's gotta be the side kick) each class, you can be ready to strike fear in others in only a year for the cost of only 100 kicks per class.
Nice.
Now we are talking. Think of what you'll achieve. You'll improve your fitness (each 10 minutes of kicking will burn around 100 calories), you'll improve your mind (the human brain is able to continually adapt and rewire itself protecting against cognitive decline thru physical exercise), and you'll improve your character/spirit (via the discipline of sticking with it over the course of the year).
And the great thing is it doesn't have to be a physical exercise to reap the benefits of 10,000 times. If you want to increase your knowledge read something new for 30 minutes every day (10,000 minutes after a year). If you want to feel like you're making a difference in the world consider 30 random acts of kindness every day (hold a door open for someone, let someone go in line in front of you, help someone for free, tutor a child). You get the idea. It all starts with small bites.
Doesn't that taste, sound, feel good? It's your new solution.
Thousand.
So what he was saying that he took seriously the person that was disciplined and dedicated enough to practice something over and over and over (and over) again.
Putting this in terms of your martial arts practice, consider how long it may be to take 10,000 classes. Most students average twice per week attendance and take a couple of weeks a year for vacation. At this pace it would take 100 years to reach that goal. Yikes. Perhaps we should narrow our focus.
How about your forms (hyung, kata)? To become proficient, by Bruce Lee's standard, in your execution of the traditional exercise sets you could practice a single form 25 times per class for 4 years (assuming the form takes about two minutes and you attend an hour forms class twice per week). We're not quite at that 1-year resolution mark yet.
How about that kick then? After all, that was the standard Bruce Lee was referring to. If you practice your favorite kick (for me it's gotta be the side kick) each class, you can be ready to strike fear in others in only a year for the cost of only 100 kicks per class.
Nice.
Now we are talking. Think of what you'll achieve. You'll improve your fitness (each 10 minutes of kicking will burn around 100 calories), you'll improve your mind (the human brain is able to continually adapt and rewire itself protecting against cognitive decline thru physical exercise), and you'll improve your character/spirit (via the discipline of sticking with it over the course of the year).
And the great thing is it doesn't have to be a physical exercise to reap the benefits of 10,000 times. If you want to increase your knowledge read something new for 30 minutes every day (10,000 minutes after a year). If you want to feel like you're making a difference in the world consider 30 random acts of kindness every day (hold a door open for someone, let someone go in line in front of you, help someone for free, tutor a child). You get the idea. It all starts with small bites.
Doesn't that taste, sound, feel good? It's your new solution.
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