IS IT SOUP YET?

 By Phillip Starr

Many moons ago when I was training under my sifu, I used to wonder why he didn't introduce me to some of the more advanced principles of my chosen art earlier? I felt that I was ready to learn them. Why was he holding me back?

One of the main reasons was that I simply wasn't yet physically prepared to engage in more advanced principles. Had I tried, I would have lacked the proper body control/coordination to perform them properly (which could have resulted in injury or, at the very least, the development of bad habits), or I would have lacked the proper muscle tone to perform them. I thought my basics were pretty much up to snuff, but I was wrong...by a very long shot.

I wasn't really mentally prepared to learn such advanced material, either. Had he tried to demonstrate and/or explain it to me, I wouldn't have understood what he was saying. I was unable to really grasp such advanced concepts.

And I wasn't spiritually ready, either. I would have become very frustrated and discouraged (largely because of my lack of physical and mental unpreparedness) and I would probably have given up.

Learning and assiduous practice (and study) of the basics lays the foundation for learning more advanced material. Achieving the grade of shodan indicates that the last brick has been placed into the foundation. Now you're ready to build a beautiful structure on it. But the foundation must be strong. Unfortunately, most people who make it to shodan walk away soon after the last brick of the foundation has been moved into place.

It's much the same in school; you begin by learning to read very basic material and then progress to more and more difficult material, right? Once you graduate from high school, you've laid a foundation for further advancement. Or we can use the subject of math as a good analogy. You don't jump right into trigonometry once you've learned to add and subtract single digit numbers!!! You must first master the basics and that takes time and study. Once you've mastered basic addition and subtraction, you're ready to move into multiplication and division, and so on. To skip or hurry through a phase is usually disastrous. You must build a solid foundation and then proceed forward step by step.

Too many martial artists begin teaching shortly after reaching the level of shodan. This is a serious mistake; it's akin to becoming a professor right after graduating from high school! They, themselves, don't understand nor are they capable of practicing or teaching the more advanced principles of their chosen art. After all, shodan means “first grade.” A shodan is an advanced beginner; one who has finally achieved a measure of skill in the basic techniques and has laid a foundation. But nothing rests atop the groundwork...yet.

In the West (and America, particularly) we want everything FAST. Fast food (ugh!), instant entertainment...and we tend to carry this same line of thinking into our practice of martial arts. We want to learn quickly and swiftly achieve rank and skill. Some schools seek to appease their clientele's desires and do just that. But there's really no measurable skill achieved and the subsequent rank is meaningless...

Real skill and knowledge is developed slowly over time and there's simply no hurrying the process. In fact, the ponderous pace at which ones moves through the process is, in fact, an important part of the process itself! Like brewing good homemade soup.