The master shows him how the technique should be performed and what its purpose is, then asks the student, "Why are you so intent on perfecting this one technique?"
The student replies, "If I perfect this one technique, I will move on to perfecting the next technique in the form, then the next. Eventually this will enable me to perfect the entire form."
"Why are you so intent on perfecting the entire form?"
"I want my performance on my upcoming black belt test to be flawless so that there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that I deserve the black belt. I want to earn my black belt."
The student repeats the technique a few more times, then asks the master, "Sifu, what was your black belt test like?"
The master smiles and says, "When I trained with my sifu, there were no belt tests, and no belts. I started using belts and tests after I moved to the United States."
The student asks, "Why did you decide to start using belts and tests?"
"I saw that when a student has a goal such as a black belt that he or she must earn at a test, he or she will work very hard to perfect the forms."
"Well, Sifu, why is it so important to perfect the forms."
"Because if one has perfected the form, one has perfected each movement within the form."
The moral of the story is, do not confuse the means with the end. The student saw learning the movements as a means to achieve the end of earning a black belt. The master saw the black belt as a means to achieve the end of motivating students to perfect their performance.
The end should be improvement of the self. The means may include perfection of physical performance of martial arts techniques, or education at a university, or meditation, but one should keep the end in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment