Excellence

“On the path to mastery, erase any resentment you have towards masters. Develop compassion for yourself so that you can be in the presence of masters and grow from the experience. Rather than comparing yourself and resenting people who have mastery, remain open and receptive; let the experience be like the planting of a seed within you—with nourishment, it will grow into your own individual mastery.” - Stewart Emery

No one understands what resides in my heart. Like my personal demons, my kung fu is my own. I alone understand what it means to me and I have learned to recognize when another’s estrangement from their own journey can cause them to feel resentment toward those who are still on the path. Where mastery is a personal journey, mediocrity loves company.

Kung fu is an individual journey that we share with others. Anyone who trains understands the bond and fierce loyalty you develop toward your training mates —training mates who are complete strangers outside the training hall. Such is the power of a shared extraordinary experience.

In the kwoon we do not judge one another. We recognize that everyone has their own unique strengths and limitations and therefore each individual journey is different from our own. I cannot think of another activity where respect and support for one another’s efforts is so absolute. This is why the training feeds the soul more than it feeds the body. Only first hand can one experience and understand this phenomena.

The compassion and support we show our kwoon mates is much more difficult to extend to ourselves. We tend to judge ourselves harshly. Even though we recognize that everyone has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, we inevitably compare ourselves to others. This is where our journey can become a race where our approach devolves from maintaining a process of mastery, to a search for quick fixes and unsustainable results. We forget that the value is found in the journey not the destination.