As a young weightlifter many years ago, I remember injuring my knee. I announced to everyone that I will not be seeing them in the gym until my knee had recovered. Although a long time has passed I can still hear their voices telling me, that just because I was injured, it didn’t mean that I couldn’t train.Getting injured meant working out light and training on my form and technique. The object was to keep training, there was always a way to work around a injury. I was also learning to make training part of my life and not substituting laziness in the pursuit of something that would have little benefit on my way to my goal.
When I started training in Wing Chun Kung Fu a few years later, my previous weightlifting training went into effect and I missed just one training in 9 years. I had the mindset that what I lacked in natural ability, I would make up in perseverance. I look back and realize , how self-centered I was when my Dear Parents would actually adjust birthday and anniversary celebrations so that I would never miss a training.
Now, I have come to understand, that my weightlifting brothers and kung fu brothers shared the same kind of dedication in what they did. Perhaps the important component in all of this is to instill a sense of value in what you are doing. Wanting to train hard, because you believe that you can achieve something that has meaning and purpose for yourself. For weightlifting , lifting a heavier weight, for martial arts it maybe achieving a higher rank, but both of these examples are short lived goals. What has lasting value is actually the progress gained in the journey towards our pursuits. One way to actualize what I am saying is to first commit to something and then to somehow maintain the enthusiasm to one day achieve your just reward. The best part in all of this and as far I am concerned is that Wing Chun Kung Fu is opened to everybody. Good habits can be drilled and developed into amazing results but desire and enthusiasm can only come from inside.
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