Keep Filling Your Cup

If your instructor works with you to "fill your cup" with new techniques, information, or skillsets, but you take that cup home and set it aside for a week (or two, or three), what happens to the contents of the cup? Like an abandoned glass of water, the contents will stagnate, degrade, and evaporate.

However, when a cup is set under a dripping faucet, even if that drip is very slow or very small, the cup's contents will increase or at least be maintained.

Taekwon-Do, like most martial arts, is individually paced. If you practice outside of class -- especially if you ask your instructor for specific homework and invest some effort -- will make a big difference in your progress. It's very clear to an instructor which students have and have not practiced.

To be clear, "practice" doesn't always mean putting on a uniform and dedicating a focused hour or two. If we set the bar that high every time, folks with busy schedules may become discouraged and not even attempt to work out.

Students who don't practice outside of class will find that they may forget patterns and techniques, their focus and skills will suffer, and their progress will be slow.

In contrast, students who choose to use even five or 10 minutes a few times a week to review their notes, run through a pattern or two, do a pyramid of kicks, or work on new techniques will find that their cup is soon overflowing and their martial arts journey is much richer.

Stay safe, and keep pouring -- or dripping -- into that cup!