Just being aware of where you are at in your training can give you clarity.
Being clear on what needs to be accomplished next takes the guesswork out of the equation.
And when you're not guessing, and you have a clear vision of what is possible, rapid progress can be made.
When you continue to dedicate yourself to the martial path, things can become much simpler.
"The art of Jeet Kune Do is simply to simplify" - Bruce Lee Although this article is not discussing JKD specifically, Bruce Lees wisdom can be applied to you martial training in a broad sense.
Forgive me if this seems to ramble a bit, I hope to make an important point by the end.
The Subtle art of simplification.
When you recognize that you didn't have this simple approach in your training before, consider that you probably weren't even conscious of the idea.
Perhaps you felt a nagging in the back of your mind at times.
Then you decided that you wanted some guidance to your training, almost like a manual that shows how to do something efficiently and properly so that you and up with a positive result in an efficient manner.
Be open to the idea that a mindset shift maybe necessary in your approach to training in order to progress more rapidly.
Do not be of the opinion that just because things have always worked out one way, that they must remain.
Nature evolves, people mature.
I personally spent many years working in a juice and food snack manufacturing plant.
I learned many lessons about life while employed as a factory laboror.
One life-changing observation was that the majority of people that worked there the longest, had a mindset, or way of thinking that I simply did not subscribe to.
I remember one day in particular where I was reading a financial planning book, and one of the older, crusty ladies was really quizzing me hard.
"Why are you bothering to read that? Don't you know those people are just going to steal your money?" She asked me.
She continued, "Don't you realize that because you're working here now, you will always work here.
You will be here till the day you die, you are a lifer.
" (lifer = One that stays at the same place of employment till they can no longer work) And there it was.
The Statement that shook me out of my haze, and fog.
The statement that forced me to recognize where I was, and to literally decide if I wanted to continue on that path, or find new direction.
Sometimes hard decisions must be made in order to achieve a simpler approach, but when you make these decisions, and stand by them, you simplify.
Move forward in faith.
It is not a matter of if, but when you proudly wear that coveted black belt.
Modern Samurai Society -- Standing United We Pack a Punch Al Bargen