You can lead a horse to water but…… you really can’t make them drink it.  While people are certainly not horses the analogy does ring true with people as well.  This is especially true for those teaching the martial ways.  You can show a practitioner what to do, how to train and how to improve but quite frankly they have to do the work.  As an instructor you need to understand this so that you do not get disappointed.  I have been disappointed a few times through the years teaching the Martial Sciences.  Once it affected me quite a bit and even hindered my own training for a while.  However, I realized over time that while I am providing the knowledge and the skills it is completely up to the individual to learn them and make them their own.  As a teacher I show the way, give support and the opportunity to succeed.  Really after that it is up to the practitioner to run with it.  What I cannot allow or what any teacher cannot allow is for the teaching process to get in the way of their own personal training and goals.  This also is true for a practitioner as well.  You cannot allow other people to distract you from your path.  You have to make sure that you are focused on your training and personal improvement.  No, as a serious martial practitioner you owe it to yourself to make sure that your development is a priority in what you are doing.  You cannot allow yourself to be affected by all of the distractions that are around you.  Whether it is family life, work, school, etc.  You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to train and persevere through distractions.  That really is not always that easy.  As I get more experienced through the years I find that I am pretty good at separating these so that my training is never affected.  I owe that to myself and my family who count on my skills to protect them.  So in the end I show a way……..  Absorb the lessons if you so choose!

Brian R. VanCise

Note: This blog is opinion only and neither Instinctive Response Training LLC or Brian R. VanCise are responsible for any third party actions.

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