One never achieves greatness, but can strive to surpass oneself.
Three words, SHU HA RI, are commonly used in any art in Japan to describe the path of the artist.
Shu signifies form, shape, or anything prescribed. Once an artist grasps the fundamentals of their chosen art and its application.
Ha denotes the freedom to express within established boundaries.
Ri marks the stage where one cultivates a unique approach to the art.
Once achieving a black belt in a martial art, the first step in understanding shu has been taken. This is the moment when many give up as they see how much they actually should learn more, which usually is the entirety of their lifetime. The reason why second-grade black belts are relatively much better than the first-grade black belts, is usually because the actual studying has started.
Constant studying, training, and learning is the key in martial arts.
Often, a yellow belt is more confident of the skills acquired than the black belt. The black belt has seen that there is a long way to acquire even a partial understanding of the martial art. The yellow belt, who knows already everything, might quit soon, once they understand how foolish this martial art is with all the small details and requirements.
The same goes with a fresh black belt. Once there starts to be too much egocentric thinking, problems occur and usually end up finishing off what could have been a very promising career in martial arts.
Writing could go on, but the main point is that one can never get good, but one can try to put more effort into becoming better than yesterday.
The true path of purpose lies at the beginning. Once understood all else will follow.
- Chris Mansfield