Ever felt like you’re not making any progress?
You’re turning up to class, but instead of racing ahead learning new moves, it feels like you’re doing the same thing over and over.
You want to improve, but you don’t know where to start.
Your instructor seems to be repeating the same thing over and over to you, and you wonder why. You’ve already corrected that.
A common problem in martial arts is that students think they are already doing what their instructor is telling them to do. And often, you think you’re doing something quite different to what you’re actually doing.
To make a change you need to know what you’re doing now. How can you arrive at your destination, no matter how clear it may be, if your start point is unknown? How would you even know what direction to begin travelling in?
Familiarity with your own movement is gained by practising in front of a mirror. The more familiar you are, the easier it is to discern what changes need to be made. Without that self-knowledge, it is very easy to perceive yourself as doing something different to what you are actually doing.
Each time you go to class, forget what you know. Look and listen as if you’re seeing things for the first time.
In Eastern cultures this is called emptying your cup.
A cup can’t hold more liquid if it is already full, and you can’t improve if you assume you’re already doing it right.
Discard what you know. Relearn the movement.
This way you will learn every class. You will never plateau. Your mind stays active, and you will never get bored.