Day 1in training with no experience = feeling really stupid. Everyone starts somewhere and that somewhere is usually a pretty awkward and uncomfortable place. As a trainer I don’t care that you don’t get it on day 1, 2, 3, 4,…… This stuff takes lots and lots of time to become even competent, forget about mastery. I don’t think any of of us can truly master martial arts. We are an ever changing thing that has to constantly reconnect with or relearn the most simple of principles.
The 1 thing that gets me cranky is frustration. Like I said above; this stuff is hard! If you let frustration creep in you are just making it harder. I am not judging you, nobody else in the gym is judging you, why judge yourself. Let go and just train. Focus on the little things and stop worrying about looking stupid. Trust me, everyone else is to busy working to stop and watch you.
If you get frustrated I can’t teach. If you are so busy worrying about your ideas how are you going to have room for new ones? At some point you gotta simply let things go and let someone else show you the way. Do your best to follow here not lead. That is what being a student is all about. I don’t care if you do something wrong. I care that you don’t give yourself the space to learn from your mistakes. Doing things wrong is part of learning. We make a mistake, then we get corrected, hopefully we get it and move on to the next issue.
I believe the greatest value of training is not the physical benefit. It is the ability to deal with frustration and the negative ideas that pop up when being pushed. The side benefit is the physical. Without the mental you can’t even work hard enough to get the physical benefit. You have to deal with frustration 1st.
Nobody is perfect but we have to strive for perfection without expectation. What I mean is that we have to shoot for perfect but accept we will fall short. Falling short is not a problem; it is an opportunity to get better. Keep moving forward and learn from the mistakes. If we always are learning from our mistakes we can never fail. Failure is for those that quit. Success is found in forward momentum.
Brian Wright
Real Elite