Bugger that word... perfect. Perfect is a state of mind. How about rather than focusing on that, let's look at the first two words... Self Discipline.
Self discipline is the driving force to practice. You have to be willing to focus on achieving and surpassing your goals and nothing else when engaged in the practice. Everybody has their passion. For me, martial arts fills that gap. I've been at it now for over 30 years. At this point honestly self discipline has gone a bit lax. I practice now because it's what I do, but the only time my self discipline to train really kicks in is when I'm doing something new. The material I teach is so engrained in my mind and body... I admit, I slip a bit.
BUT... on the new stuff to learn and do... ooooohhhhh... razor focus comes back, hard edged training mentality surfaces. Nothing else matters except what I am doing exactly at that moment.
Last night in my Chen Taiji Quan class, that showed up happily again. After performing warm ups and a bit of tui shou (Push hands), we performed the Yi Lu (first road or form) routine. We picked two movements to practice. There's a total of four motions. So for the next 90 minutes, I gladly & happily did four motions. Over. And over. And over. Then we grabbed a partner practiced for a while longer.
I left sweaty, a little sore and feeling more fulfilled than when I walked in. Was it an endorphin dump? Yeah sure. Was it self centered accomplishment? Yep. You betcha. Was a light cardio workout? Got that too... More than anything, it was the overriding sense of self discipline radiating. That sense of right then, right there, my focus and determination to do a thing was sharper and more pointed than any other time during my day. I could have done anything, literally anything, better than I normally could at that time.
Now the next thing to do... increase that self discipline arena to more than just one aspect of daily life.
But as with everything practiced... ONE STEP AT A TIME!
