Rome was not built in a day, and nor is a Black Belt.
It is natural for people to look forward, look to their next step, want to know what is down the road. When something is laid out before our eyes it is easy to scan it all and anticipate when you can get through it all, plan a finish date.
some thoughts to share...
Short term goals are important for us. It gives us motivation to continue down a longer road, we are able to measure our progress at close range. The sense of accomplishment is more tangible.
What we need to be careful of(and this is my personal experience) not to get caught up in the quantity of accomplishments but the quality in what you have before you.
I recall as a colored belt how the stripes I acquired on my belt became exciting! How I looked forward to my Sifu witnessing where I was at with my curriculum. The stripes seemed easy, I was in good shape, the concepts were basic and I could mimic the Instructors demonstrations... then Blue Belt,... things changed.
This is where I had to go back and really understand the mechanics of what I was taught. Understand and practice the intangible concepts as "flow", "chi", "reaction and recovery", "judgement", etc.
If I was only mimicking what I saw my Instructors do, I could not apply these concepts to my skill set learnt thus far.
I had to go back and revisit my fundamentals and truly understand how my body needed to move, how my body feels when in the right stance, how my footwork might be slightly different then my fellow student beside me, why I would defend in such manner and analysis techniques and forms for their purpose.
What I'm getting at, be patient with yourself, be patient with what seems to be simple techniques and savour the lessons taught. Take time to reflect after each class and look to understand the purpose of the lesson not just memorize. To be methodical in what you do can take longer...but its OK.
Don't look at achieving a Black Belt as a race with your peers but rather a challenge to make the time spent of value. Time that counts towards building something solid...not having to go back and spend more time fixing what was rushed through the first time.
This of course, is me speaking from experience. Still fixing details that don't quite feel right. Still fixing bad habits from repeating something slightly incorrectly and now its ingrained in the old muscle memory.
You see, there is no end, just marker points. There is no question you should be aiming for that Black Belt marker point and definitely pushing yourself outside your comfort zone to achieve it.
But quality in a Black Belt is built from the inside out not the outside in.
If you are a white belt, you are the luckiest person in the Universe! You are starting your martial arts journey and you have no bad habits! Keep that in mind as you move up the ranks...try and keep your training exact as you can. Question that which does not feel right, ask yourself the purpose of your movement and keep not only your physical being challenged but your mental game engaged from an early start.
If only my Future self could have lectured my Past self!:)
