I began serious martial arts training as a karate student in 1989. And I mean serious…I progressed to black belt in three years, and to my fourth degree black belt in 10.
When I moved to Colorado, I could no longer pursue karate without committing to regular flights to…somewhere, so I gave it up. By sheer dumb luck, my time in Colorado overlapped with my kung fu teacher’s time in Colorado. We were each there for a limited time, but those times were simultaneous.
Although I have spent less time training with my kung fu teacher, I have spent far more training in kung fu, and there were things he taught me that I don’t think I could have gotten anywhere else.
- You need a first rate system plus a first rate teacher to produce a first rate martial artist.
- Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Practice makes permanent.
- All the negative emotions you carry are a physical burden. They weigh you down, let them go.
I’ve written about physically unburdening myself here and here, and how letting go of excess stuff is freeing. Uplifting.
Even more than letting go of excess physical stuff is letting go of excess emotional stuff. The baggage you carry with you, you literally carry.
It is a burden. A weight. A load. We call it emotional baggage for a reason.
So take stock. What memories make you mad? What memories make you sad? What are you holding on to?
Take them out, look at them and ask yourself, “Does holding on to this serve me? Or is it weighing me down, holding me back?”
Then take anything for which you did not answer, “This serves me,” and Put. It. Down.
Unburden yourself. Be free.
