Muscle Memory

A practice of wu wei

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times” [Bruce Lee]

Proficiency is a beautiful thing. When we have reached a point where we can perform an action without having to think about it, it frees our mind to focus on what we wish to focus on, bringing us closer to non-action. In martial arts, we often hear that we must practice a certain technique hundreds of times over, and the same thing holds for all aspects of life. There where we want to live a truly fulfilling life, we must be able to have our body, mind and soul align with our actions.

There are many places where we can practice our karate, but we must always remember that these exercises are not in vain. Everything that we master, every time we paint that fence, we come closer to that effortless action that applies to all things in life. Therefore, we must embrace that part of our lives, practicing the karate of all things daily and continuously.

In this way of viewing things, nothing that is done in life is a waste if the right mindset is adopted. We must always see the bigger picture in the things we do, and we must always aim for that wu wei in life. Time is only wasted if you let it be wasted, so embrace everything on your path.