Martial arts training requires a tremendous amount of repetition.  Regardless of a person’s athleticism or years in training, the difference between the average black belt and the amazing one is usually the result of repetition training.  Unfortunately repetition is not fun, and therefore most people have a hard time staying motivated to practice.

Repetition training requires narrow focus and a lot of time.  No one likes doing the same kata for hours or practicing the same punch for years on end.  Whether people like it or not, repetition is how skills are developed. There is no other way to become excellent.

Many students practice a lot, but not a lot of the same thing.  So in all their training time, they have completed very little repetition.  The common error is that students practice things only when they are new and interesting and then they move on to the next skill.  The problem is that students want to refine their more advanced “cooler” techniques and they look past the value of the basics.  Advanced technique is always rooted in something simple – something that gets boring if we repeat it too often.  Boring or not, the best way to practice is to choose something simple and focus on it.

Just to give you all an idea of what I mean – I don’t count doing something 10 times as repetition training.  Repetition training is doing straight punches for 30 minutes, or doing kata for and hour and half straight. Repetition training also means that every practice session involves this kind of effort.  For example, to develop good kicking, it is better to focus on 2 or 3 kicks and really train them hard for an entire workout, rather than to practice 15 kicks (by doing a few of each) for 20 minutes as a segment of a workout.  The best way to develop kata is by constant repetition.  Sometimes, with kata, students need to focus on just one segment of the kata for hours, or weeks, or years.

The other issue is that if you tell people they need more repetition, they don’t understand how that will help them “advance” to their next belt.  Repetition is not something you can show on a test, because on a test you only get one chance to get things right.  However, if a student is used to high numbers of repetition, then the belt test is simply one more repetition, and not a dramatic or defining moment.

By using this kind of thinking, all skills are attainable if we commit ourselves to repetition training.  We also have to accept that repetition training is our own responsibility and not our instructor’s.

This is true in my own career.  It was always my choice to practice the same movements again and again – I was not forced or coerced to train.  I happily accept the result of that choice and its consequences – the things I focused on I usually became good at.  The things that I did not focus on and did not repeat, I did not become good at – and I accept that as well.  I do not blame my instructors for my inability to focus or my lack of training on certain aspects of my martial arts.  Nor do I think that my weaker techniques are inherently  “bad” or “wrong.”  I know that I just have not refined them for long enough to understand them quite yet.

I had a sensei that used to say “Repetition is the mother of mastery.”  I don’t know whether he was quoting someone else or if he made that up, but it is really true in martial arts.

Developing skills in any martial art is a long journey without an end.  To improve our abilities, we have to invest a lot of time in training.  There is absolutely no substitute for long years of hard work and dedication.

• Asking the right questions will not instantly result in understanding of technique or philosophy.
• Attending private lessons or classes is not enough to progress.

Real progress comes only with constant practice, study and awareness with humility.  We must take our martial arts everywhere we go.  I am not suggesting that we walk around with a clenched fist or a pair of nunchaku, but that we keep our minds and bodies alert and aware of every detail we can sense.  This kind of investment is what the martial arts lifestyle requires.

No DVD, workout routine, or masterful instructor can bring us to our peak level of ability in martial arts.  Our investment in time is the only thing that we can count on to move us forward.  As Americans we always want a goal or a time-line to work towards.  Unfortunately, true martial arts skill cannot be quantified in these neat and tidy dimensions.

We have to accept the process of training for what it is, not what we would like it to be.  We would like it to be a clear and concise progression from one level to the next, but it is not.  In order to invest our time in training with confidence we have to assume that there will ups and downs, and that we will continue no matter what.  Martial arts training requires a level of investment that most people do not understand – that is why so few people become proficient.

If you are not ready to invest your time in training, then you must accept that you will only reach a certain level of skill.  There is no way to achieve the skills you desire without investing time in training.  People hate hearing this, but it takes years to become excellent at martial arts no matter who you are.  If you cannot make the full investment, don’t feel bad, just be realistic.  Be happy with the skills you can gain with the investment you can make and don’t put pressure on your yourself.

If you want to reach a higher level in your martial art, it is not up to your instructor to get you there.  You have to make the investment.

Originally, karate students wore one belt (white) to match their white gi (uniform).  They had a superstition that all the things they learn “soaked” into their belts and so they did not wash them.  As they trained longer and longer (in outdoor dirt floor dojos) their belts would eventually fade to black, which they called the “first step.”

In karate schools everywhere in the world today, students don their various colored belts to represent their knowledge and skill in their martial art.  These colored belt systems were invented to help modern students feel good about their training and (hopefully) motivate them to continue to get their next belt.  Belt systems are excellent for training children and really help kids understand the value of their practice and the long term commitment required for real skill development.  Having curriculum organized in levels is also helpful in developing cohesive programs of instruction for children of diverse levels of natural ability and commitment to training.

However, belt ranking systems are more problematic for adults.  Once we place value on belts, adults just want the belt as a status symbol and they forget about the value of  attending classes and learning.  Adults tend to look at each belt as a “upgrade” rather than a step in the right direction.  Once one belt is earned, adults seem to believe they are “beyond” everything in that level and ready to “advance.”  In most cases, instructors look at belt levels as minimum standards of competence, not as definitive proof of complete understanding.  A black belt is like a high school diploma, not a master’s degree.

Unfortunately, adults want to earn black belts because they think it will elevate them above anyone wearing any other color.  In reality, a belt is a piece of dyed cotton, it has no special properties.  The value of the belt is only realized in so far as the person wearing the belt has actually developed their skills.  Adults get that, but only to a point.  Once adult students get into their advanced levels, they usually begin to forget why they started training, why they like to learn, and are focused only on getting that black belt.  this is really too bad because belts are actually not that interesting, but training is!  In their quest for rank, adults students miss out on so much learning.

Martial arts is a process of continuous learning and development for students and instructors of all levels.  This process goes beyond earning belts: it requires humility and a long term commitment to martial arts training.  Students believe their training culminates in earning a black belt, but in reality – black belt is where it all begins.

Kids today have too many toys, cell phones, i-pods, laptops, video-games, etc.  All of these techno-toys are also costly and distracting.  Kid swill sit for hours playing video games or texting their friends, and everything else is just not exciting enough to keep their attention.  Unless, of course,  they are participating in one (or 5) extra-curricular activites like soccer, t-ball, foreign language, piano, dance, karate, the list goes on!

If we add up the toys and the activities, we are giving our kids a lot of privileges.  That in itself is not a bad thing.  As parents, we want our kids to have a great life and to give them every advantage and joy we can afford.  However, if we do not create a balance between a child’s privileges and their responsibilities, we are not doing them any favors.

As a karate instructor, I have made it part of my mission to teach youth students responsibility through their karate training:

• I make kids take responsibility for their own uniforms and training gear.  I expect them to get themselves ready and to know where their gear is at all times.  I don’t allow them to blame their parents for forgotten or lost equipment.
• I expect youth students to know what skills they have tested for and which ones are left to learn.  Yes, even the 6-year-old children can do it.  It is not too much to expect kids to memorize their skill lists.  If they can learn the abc’s and memorize their favorite song, they can remember their karate skills.  Let’s face it, if they can’t remember the skill then they don’t know it.  How else can you teach but by expecting students to take responsibility for their own knowledge!

Without responsibility, there are no privileges.  Karate teaches children that their skills are a responsibility that must be earned over time, not a privilege to be handed out to those who want it.  That lesson helps kids understand that if they want things, they need to work for them.

Some say that “repetition is the mother of mastery.”  I know from my own experience that this statement is certainly accurate.  There is an inherent difficulty in maintaining focus during repetitious arts training.  Because progress occurs in very small increments, the more advanced a student becomes, the smaller the increments of progress.  Over the course of their training, students will have trouble maintaining their commitment level because of this dilemma.

Unfortunately, there is no secret answer or “cure” for this problem.  The reality of the situation is that martial arts training is just a lot of work, and it will never be anything else.  Although we have a belt system to help us track our progress, earning a belt does not make the work less challenging.  The important lesson is that the process is the progress – in other words – “let’s do that again!”  The value of repetition as a training method is that, instead of being a means toward developing a skill, the ability to maintain focus during repetition becomes the skill. Being able to tolerate repetition then allows us to tolerate more still, and that translates into better skills over time.

The translation for the word  “kung fu” is:  skill acquired through hard work over time.  Often, kung fu masters will train by copying traditional Chinese calligraphy for hours to develop their “kung fu.”  So kung fu is not a martial art per se, but a concept:  the best way to become skilled is to understand the value of hard work, not in terms of the exact result of the work, but in terms of the work itself.  How does writing calligraphy make a kung fu punch better? maybe it doesn’t, but the ability to copy Chinese calligraphy for 3 solid hours without getting distracted or fatigued is the same ability required to develop fighting skills.

So whenever I have trouble getting a student to understand a movement, I usually solve the problem by saying “let’s do that again.”  My kung fu master (the same one who copied calligraphy) would answer most of my questions with the phrase “you practicing more – making better.”  Yes – he really talked like that.  I used to get frustrated when he would not answer me, but tell me to practice when I had just practiced the technique for hours!  Eventually, I began to understand that he did not see his role as sifu (Sensei in Japanese) as the expert who could answer my questions.  He was there to teach me kung fu – how to develop skill through hard work over time.  He was trying to tell me that if I just kept working on it,  I would have the answer for myself (so why ask the question?)  Once I understood, I stopped asking questions about technique.

I have now learned to respect the process of training as the most valuable part of the martial arts.  I enjoy being skilled and feeling confident about my ability to defend myself and to teach.  However, I value my ability to maintain discipline and motivation after 2 decades of repetition and difficult work above all other skills I posses.  I try to pass this love for training on to my students, but it is difficult to help them see the “big picture.”  We live in a culture that is so competitive, and moves at such a fast pace, that we have trouble being patient with ourselves.  Lack of patience leads to a low tolerance for repetition and a propensity for distraction over concentration.  Typically we say “let’s do that again” when we are enjoying leisure activities, not working hard.  When we are working hard we can’t wait to get it over with.

One reason I love the martial arts so much is that it helps people connect to the part of themselves that enjoys hard work and desires a challenge.  Every student has the ability and the capability to change themselves and their bodies through hard work over time.  We just have to be willing to “do that again,” and again, and again.