Trying to be perfect can hurt you

Being perfect? Nothing wrong with that right? Well, yes and no. I admire the fact that we have so many students that want to get the techniques right. Once again, nothing is wrong with that. But at the same time you have to understand that it takes time to get the hang of things. Many students will beat themselves up if you don’t get a move down right on the first night. Some even stop training because they feel that they’re not “naturals” at MMA.

Truth – No one is a natural at Mixed Martial Arts!

I was teaching the basic Kickboxing class last night and I was helping one of our newer students, Tom, throw a roundkick. Anyway, Tom was working so hard to get the kick perfect and I could see that. What I told him is the same thing I tell all the students, just throw the kick at first and no matter if it’s good or bad you must build from there. It doesn’t have to be “perfect” on your first night of training (or first year for that matter), you just have to start throwing some kicks.

Master Lloyd Irvin told me a long time ago that it’s better to just throw it on the wall and clean it up as you go along rather then waiting until it’s perfect. Love it and it’s very true. Not just in Martial Arts but in life.

So when working on your techniques always try to do better but at the same time just try to get 1% better each class. If you do that you’ll be on your way to mastering this crazy thing called martial arts. You have to crawl before you walk!

–Master Danny Ives