The Difficulty is in the Details
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I’ve seen it time and time again. New students frustrated that they can’t just complete a martial arts skill, a kata or technique right off the bat. “It looks so easy when you do it!” I’ve been told. Well, that’s what about thirty years of practice will do for you. If martial arts were easy, I’m talking about real, traditional martial arts here, everyone would do it. The difficulty is in the details, not in being stronger or faster. Those aren’t bad things per say, but alone without nuance and detail, they can be overcome. The strength of martial arts, and this is not just waxing philosophically here, is in the spirit or heart. The training and training again and again, the never giving up is the key. That translates into everything in life too.
It is said that Takamatsu soke commented that to master a kata or skill, one must practice it correctly 10,000 times, to get 10,000 correct practices, one must do the skill AT LEAST 100,000 times. It is all about practice. Where you are in your practice, whatever art you practice, remember the words of Soke Masaaki Hatsumi “Gambatte!” (Keep going!)
See you in the dojo.
Tony Whetstine (The Bushido Guy)
Poway Samurai Martial Arts
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