Why is earning a Black Belt so hard?

Inevitably, every martial artist at one point asks…Why is this so hard? Why is training so hard? Why am I not getting better? Why is earning a Black Belt so hard?

One of the things that I think holds most martial artists back is trying to work on too many things at once. They’re trying to learn too many skills, practicing too many drills and running in too many different directions at once and because of that their training becomes muddled. When that happens, they don’t get better…just more confused.

When they become confused, they jump schools looking for a more effective style and teacher. When they don’t get the results they want, the cycle of jumping continues.

This week’s message of the week is really simple, in fact it’s…

Simplify, Simplify.

What we’re talking about is focusing on a single thing at a time and figuring out what really works. What is getting you the results that you really want?

Bruce Lee and the Gracie family mastered focusing on a single thing, and figuring out what actually worked. They took what they were taught and then worked on those things until they got really great at them. They didn’t jump around. They were focussed.

I think all martial artists should ask questions like “Why am I doing this?”, “How does this work?”, “What should I feel?”. If they ask those questions and focused on the things that they need to work on, their training would be more effective and enjoyable. If it’s those things, they’re going to do it longer and eventually get the results they’re looking for. That’s when they’ll stop asking “Why is earning a Black Belt so hard?” and just enjoy their training.

See you on the mats.

Michael