Greetings!
You may have heard me say the phrase, "The Best students ask the most questions." How true of a statement! As we consisntenly strive to get better, we must constantly ask our instructor for ideas & suggestions on how we can improve. However, many students NEVER do this. They sometimes NEVER ask ANY questions at all! Let's explore why, and help you to learn how to ask questions to help you achieve excellence in your training!
Has your instructor ever asked you, "What techniques or ideas do you need to work on?" Do you know what the common response is when I ask that? "Oh I don't know...all of them. I'm bad at everything." What a terrible outlook to have on your training! Not very motivational, is it? To feel you suck at everything? The main reason I feel that students respond in this way is they simply have NO DIRECTION with their training. They don't have a skill that they are currently working on. Many students rely SOLELY on their instructor to provide the techniques they work on. They never decide to focus on one technique to work on in their own time, or "extra" during class. They get "ok" at some ideas and never work hard at "MASTERING" one of them.
I'd like you to consider an idea today...Do you want to be a "Black Belt?" Now we can define Black Belt as a thing you wear around your waist, but I'd like you to look at being a Black Belt as someone proficient in a given style. What I mean by proficient, is they have a high level understanding of the basics, and are able to apply them without "thinking." In Jiu Jitsu, it takes roughly 10 years to achieve this rank. Does that seem like plenty of time to get proficient? How long would you be able to work on your armlock if you had 10 years to be skillful? Could you work on it 6-8 months, then move on to another skill?
The point I'm trying to make for you, is you have to at some point DECIDE "how long" am I going to be training. If you are in it for the "long haul", you have plenty of time to focus on individual techniques. So...pick one! Work on it when you are in class each week. That doesn't mean you don't work on other skills. It simply means, you give that one "more attention". You put most of effort into "MASTERING" it.
This leads us to the point of today's article. ASK QUESTIONS! Once you have a skill you are working hard at, you will certainly run into trouble figuring it out. It is imperitive that you ask your instructor questions about how to improve! A good success model for this is PAARR==> Practice - Analyze - Ask questions - Re-try - Repeat! Try your move, see what's not working, ask for help, and practice more! Simple right?
In closing, remind yourself that the Mats are your LABORATORY... filled with trial & error...victory & defeat. Treat your training as a HUGE SCIENCE EXPERIMENT! You must have an intelligent, well thought out approach to getting the results you are after. Don't leave it to pure chance! Therefore, I'd like to encourage you this week to ASK MORE QUESTIONS!
I truly hope you gained some benefit from this today!
ALL THE BEST!
COACH
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