Page 51 - Martial Science Magazine Oct/2015 #11
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tions the possibility that there is a more productive question they could be asking: “How effective is my
training and martial arts development?” This can create a years long conversation between the student
and yourself.
The conversation could open with personal responsibility, which I suggest beginning like this:
“As a student, do you take full responsibility for your training?”
“Do you objectively assess your skills, strengths, and weaknesses?”
“Do you take firm action to improve yourself either in class or outside of class every day?”
“Do you take full advantage of what your teacher and school have to offer?”
“If you have weak muscles, do you strengthen them?”
“If you are quickly running out of breath, do you work on your cardiovascular fitness?”
“Have you trained the basic techniques 10,000 times each? How about 100,000 times?”
When a student learns a martial art, they don’t just become a clone of their teacher. They eventually own
that art, make it part of their mind, body, and spirit, and apply it in ways that are unique and unrepeat-
able when compared to all other human beings. It makes no sense at all to compare the objective forms,
because it is not an objective form that is being hypothetically tested in the mind of the student it is the
person.
I think the answer to the student’s original question is this: “If you fully commit to the training, this mar-
tial art will become your martial art, and will be exactly as effective as you train yourself to be.
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