Everyone has heard of the phrase, “practice makes perfect” and none of us will ever be “perfect’, but we should still practice because this is how we improve and get better at things. You have been practicing your entire life. When you were very young, you needed to practice at crawling, then walking, and finally running.
You needed to practice your ABC’s before you were able to learn their sounds and then practice putting those letters and their sounds together to finally form words and sentences. You practiced writing letters and numbers and many of you still probably are whether it be printing or writing in cursive. If you play an instrument, you need to practice to be able to play more difficult music. If you don’t practice on these things, you might be a bit clumsy while running around a track, or maybe your penmanship is difficult for other to read, or maybe you have difficulty reading out loud in school. Maybe that instrument you play might still sounds very basic if you didn’t take the time to practice.
Martial Arts is no different than the things above. You can come to class and go through the motions and be reminded week after week of you techniques, patterns, and speed drills and you will eventually test for your next belt, but will you feel like you really gave your best effort and like you did your very best? Practicing all of our principles is something that you should be doing daily as well. It is such a joy for me to see students come into class who have been practicing at home because not only do their techniques improve greatly, but I see the sense of accomplishment on their faces. That accomplishment is what I get so excited over. Even if you practice, you may not be the “best” in class and that is ok. What I want students to be is “their best”!
You can always find time to practice. Many times I hear the excuse that students just don’t “have time” to practice. What I like to encourage them to do is to start a habit of practicing at specific times during the day. It could be you get up in the morning and brush your teeth, then run through patterns. Or you might eat your breakfast then run through your hand and foot techniques. Maybe when commercials come on during your favorite show, you might practice your speed drills. How about stretching right before you get into the bath? Here at HCMA so many families take class together, why not build that into your daily activities that you do together? Help keep each other motivated and encouraged. Help each other stay accountable to practicing just like you would with brushing your teeth, taking baths, eating your meals, cleaning your rooms, or practicing any other activity you have.
I challenge all of you to set time aside each day to devote to practicing and see how much better you feel at your next test.
PRACTICE … PRACTICE… PRACTICE
MORE TO THINK ABOUT:
“Whatever you do, work hearily, as for the Lord and not for men”
Colossians 3:23
DON’T JUST DO THE MINIMUM, PRACTICE AS THOUGH YOU ARE PRACTICING
FOR THE LORD.