So you read my last blog post (Your Goal Should Be to Beat Your Teacher) and made it your goal to beat your teacher. But after training for a few years or maybe even many years, you still can’t beat them. Consider the following:
- You’re very likely starting your training later in life than your teacher. Learning a martial art is not unlike learning a language—starting when you’re young can be a big advantage. Did your teacher start when they were six years old, while you’re starting when you’re 30? If so, your teacher had almost a 25-year head start.
- You probably can’t train as much as your teacher did/does. This is especially true if your teacher is “old school,” from a generation or culture where training several hours a day every day was possible and maybe even the norm. Nowadays few of us can dedicate more than an hour or two a day a few times a week. And if your teacher is a full-time instructor, they’re putting in way more time just by “going to work.”
- You’re in a different environment than the one your teacher learned in. Related to the “old school” concept above, did your teacher learn during a time when you had to learn to fight just to survive? Or did they fight a lot because it was considered fun and a pastime? Times and cultures have changed.
- You’re not your teacher, who may have an innate advantage. For example, have you ever wondered how/why your teacher moves so fast? It could be they were born with more fast-twitch muscle fibers. Or have you ever wondered how/why your teacher is so powerful? Maybe they really are just bigger/heavier than you are or it could be that they were born with a superior structure.
I could go on, and I’m sure you can even come up with good reasons (not excuses) on your own. But don’t forget that these are reasons why you can’t beat your teacher—not reasons why you shouldn’t strive to beat your teacher. In fact, I might argue that these reasons might ultimately be the ones that enable you to someday beat your teacher; they may force you to do things differently (and better) than your teacher in order to beat them.
