There are always the students who say “this is the third curriculum I have seen since I started.” This inaccurate statement is the root of the problem. The curriculum I teach has not changed in the 30+ years Silent River Kung Fu has been around. The curriculum is the curriculum that my instructors passed on to me — down from their instructors. My annual refinement does not change the curriculum, but it does change the tools I use to teach the curriculum. This misunderstanding is why some students have difficulty progressing. If you’re approach to training is to check things off the list, that list being the syllabus, you are going to miss the real value of the training — the curriculum. In essence, your ego is in your way. You do not know what you think you do know because you do not understand what you think you understand.
At the other end of the learning spectrum is the instructor. As I explain to my black belts, instructing is not the same as teaching. Some of my black belts, especially the greener ones, are very ego-based when it comes to teaching. I am not saying they are arrogant, quite the contrary. What I mean is that they are so eager to teach and help the students that they forget to empathize with the student. They are too busy teaching to recognize that the student is not learning. I have to remind them of who they are here to serve. They are not here to serve their desire to help, not are they here to serve the syllabus. They are here to serve the students.
When ego is not held in check, perspective tends to distort. We start to confuse effort and activity with progress; the equivalent of confusing engine rpm with road speed. Students are too busy practicing to learn and black belts are too busy instructing to teach.
“Receive without pride, let go without attachment.” - Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180)
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