A Deadly Enemy

I try to keep myself in reasonable condition but it's so easy to let one day, then one week, then one month, slip by with no serious training. That’s the battle of a professional martial art teacher. To keep oneself in tip-top condition without compromising your student’s instruction time. It means I must practice myself other than regular class times. It's not always easy considering I'm at the Dojang teaching or supervising several classes almost every day.  I call my problem “BURN OUT”. The deadly enemy of every professional.

Burn-out often prevents us from taking a little extra time or coming in a little early to exercise ourselves and keep our personal skills at a respectable level. As Kuk Sool Practitioners and teachers we must try to not only maintain our skill level but to improve our skills. Many martial arts have nothing to offer after 1st or 2nd Degree Black Belt. It’s a matter of putting in the time to progress to the next rank. That’s why other martial arts that have Masters with the knowledge of 1st Degree’s. It’s something we do not want to happen in Kuk Sool.

Kuk Sool has specific lessons through each degree of Black Belt. It is not enough to just memorise those lessons and review every few months to keep them in memory, or to video them so you don’t even have to practice keeping them in memory. My advice, throw your video camera away, so you must practice remembering. It’s amazing that simple practice will improve your skills. Kuk Sool is one of the last True Martial Arts! It’s up to us to keep it a True Martial Art. Secret training, Hard training, Special training. These are misunderstand phrases about training. In fact, each person may have his/her own definition for each of those types of practice.

It can confuse and disappoint to support such training expectations toward your teacher or your practice. Hard is relative, Secret is anything you may know and others do not, Special is being allowed to train in front of Kuk Sa Nim, one of the top teachers in all the world. So forget about Hard, Secret, or Special. Just train. Just exercise yourself, review your material, improve your skill level in any area possible. Do your Hyung and techniques at least once a week either in the normal class time or at home.

One reason I look forward to our Master's Only Class, it's a chance for a small group of high grade practitioners including myself to meet and train together. For two or three hours each month we practice and review our own material, away from the hectic schedule of the normal classes. It's not a heavy workout but an energetic session within a relaxed environment. Many of these senior grade students have trained for over twenty-five years plus, they know what it's like to practice hard. One thing is for certain - this session is an enjoyable and informative workout, a chance to observe ourselves. Personally for me, it's what I like doing most and my very own remedy to that troublesome enemy called Burn-out. 

JDKJN Martin Ducker