Patience is Key to Learning
January 22, 2024 Uncategorized 0 comment isheehy24
My mother always told me I needed to be more patient. So, this is a story where I learned that many good things and positive results come from being patient. I started martial arts at one place when I was around 3 years old. I had no issues in the martial arts until the place I had been training with for about 6 years started to lose students and die out. So I find a much better place with top-notch instructors and great peers. However, they were almost too good. My training at the other place did not compare to what these people were doing here, and I was frustrated. It was like I had to relearn everything and it took quite some time to advance to the next rank, but I knew it was possible so I decided to be patient.
When I first started at the new dojo I was shy and anti-social. Then that is when I met one of my best friends to this day, Isaac. He guided and helped me understand how the dojo operates and how I can get better. However, after a few months of hard work and practice, I still had not reached the level I should have been at for the rank I was. So, I realized that this process of going from one dojo to another is going to take time and patience, which as I said earlier, is not my strong suit. I just could not understand why I was not testing like the other kids. I felt like the people sitting in a broken car on the side of the highway watching everyone fly by them.
After many more months went by, at the end of class on Tuesday at 7 P.M. my hard work and patience paid off. My instructor, Sensei Ryan, is standing at the front of the class holding a few sheets of paper. He calls out my name and I walk up to him and grab the paper. As soon as I grab the paper I start reading and I realize it is my first testing notice at the new dojo, and I am ecstatic. All my patience paid off and now I finally started to get back into a groove. From there I continued to be patient with my training, knowing there would be good and bad days to come. Now because of my patience, I am an instructor, and a pretty decent martial artist winning tournaments all over New England. Even getting ready to test for my 3rd degree black belt now.
So to think I had not been patient and just gave up on this wonderful journey. I learned so much from being patient and now I know that many amazing things can come with patience.
