There is an adage that has been attributed to so many people I have no idea who actually originally said it: 90% (or pick your large number) of success is showing up. Perhaps that seems a bit simplistic, but there is a lot of truth to it when it comes to martial arts.
Our school is going to various TKD and BJJ competitions, where this adage can be seen playing out. One peculiar and frustrating thing about tournaments is that in many cases you never know who is going to show up in your division. Sometimes a division can be large and full of talent. The next tournament, that very same division could be tiny. More often than not, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I feel for students who spent all day to and good money to go to a tournament only to not get much in the way of competition, or more importantly lose out on the learning experience. And certainly, a second place finish out of 3competitors rings a little more hollow than out of say, 12 in your division. (We are also excluding the tournaments where everyone is placed in groups of 4 in order that there are no losers and everyone gets a trophy. I think everyone reading this knows how I feel about that.).
But in these cases of hollow victory I remind my students of the adage of just showing up. There were plenty of other people who could have been at that tournament. They stayed home—out of fear, lack of commitment, or priorities. You beat everyone who stayed home as well. You did everything right, what you were supposed to do. Don’t feel bad or be let down because you did it the right way and other people didn’t.
And the same can be said for martial arts practice in general. Another saying is that a white belt is still higher rank than the person who is still at home on the couch. But here too, success is greatly influenced by…well showing up. Master Holcombe Thomas shared with our students the secret of getting really good at the art of Hapkido. Everyone leaned in really close for this epiphany. He told them in a hushed voice, “come to the next class.”
And that is really it. It doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it happen all at once. Don’t worry about how you will get to black belt, just come to the next class, and the next one. Don’t worry if you can’t do a technique with the speed of the upper ranks, or you can’t lock or choke someone even when you do it “exactly like” your instructor just did it. In order for that technique to look or feel like you have done it a million times, at some point you had to have done it for the 100,000th time, and before that the 15,000th time, and before that the 500th time. GM Choi always said that in some ways martial arts is fair—either you put in the time and it shows, or you don’t put in the time, and that shows also. A maxim commonly recited in BJJ puts it another way: BJJ keeps you honest on the mat. When you spar, you can’t hide behind a fake piece of paper or self-proclaimed titles. You weaknesses will be exposed. Admittedly, some people have to put in more time than others, but it starts with making the next class.
So perhaps we should amend the saying to “90% of success is consistently showing up.” Again, as obvious and simplistic as it sounds, I have to shake my head at how often people don’t think this really applies. The student who comes to only 1 out of every 4 classes yet complains and is frustrated that he isn’t learning anything and everyone else is getting it faster. Or the younger student who wants to quit because it is boring because we do the same thing over and over again, yet, the attendance is so sporadic that she never remembers what we did before, so we constantly have to reteach it. The guy who signs up for weight loss and fitness, and was seeing results in his stamina and weight when he was regularly training. Then he disappears for 2-3 weeks and still wonders why he isn’t progressing any further.
As we enter the summer season, it serves as another glaring example. Some students will be irregular and fall behind and others will “take time off,” only to become frustrated or embarrassed upon return and ultimately quit. Others will use the camps and special offerings we have to show up even more and expedite their growth.
Obviously the same thing can be said about getting results in lots of areas of life. It isn’t much of a diet if you have more cheat days than days you stay disciplined. You decide not to get fancy coffee because you decide you really need to save more money, and then make a frivolous purchase that is worth more than 20 cups. I hope that our martial arts students learn the value of consistency and how to “show up” in those areas of life as well. Because you don’t win much while sitting at home on your couch.
Gentry Martial Arts--the rants of a martial arts eccentric 