The biggest hurdle that most students of the martial arts face when attempting to master their art is being able to differentiate between knowledge and skill. Knowing how to do something is not the same as being able to do something.
If I want to learn how to use a computer program and take a course to teach me how to use the program, if I do not immediately start to apply the knowledge, I will lose everything I have gained. Application reinforces knowledge.
In kung fu one can learn a new technique but if one does not take the time to actually apply the technique, the skill to use the technique is not acquired despite knowing the technique itself. It is akin to not being able to pull off a David Blaine illusion even though you know exactly how the trick is done. David Blaine has practiced a lot more than you have in order to do the trick as well as he does.
Teaching is one of the best learning tools any of us has when it comes to mastery. When you teach a technique it reinforces your own knowledge by forcing you to look deeper into the intricacies of a technique so that you can explain it better to your student. We instantly become aware of the hypocrisy and mediocrity within our own training when we realize that the eye for detail we are applying to our students’ technique is not always being applied to our own technique within our training. By teaching, our eye for detail becomes contagious and will permeate to our own training.
“When one teaches, two learn.” - Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
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