Andrea Contents
The Chinese bamboo tree and consistency for self-defense and combat sports.
Listen! I might have a little problem with that I’m going to tell you!
90 in the martial arts industry and in this case fitness will not like what I’m going to tell you.
See today as today all but the best who know the truth are looking for the magic pill, the perfect martial art, the perfect diet or the perfect training plan, etc.
But here’s the thing, they don’t exist,it doesn’t exist and it never will exist.
It’s sad I know, but it’s true!
I had the opportunity to work and compare myself with a lot of people through gym workouts, blogging, etc. and what I noticed is that there are two types of people:
- People who achieve their goals and
- people who don’t!
But what’s crazy is that the difference between the two is incredibly simple.
It all comes down to a simple quality!
Consistency
What is consistency
Let me explain, I know it looks a little off, but listen to me on this.
This is such a great parable that concerns beyond martial arts.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this story about the Chinese bamboo tree before, but this is one of those lessons you should keep and remember every day.
The Chinese bamboo tree teaches us successful lessons on:
- Patience
- Faith
- perseverance,
- growth and
- development and perhaps the most amazing of all these qualities, I’m talking about human potential!
I would summarize all these qualities in one word, consistency.
The history of the Chinese bamboo tree
Like any plant, the growth of the Chinese bamboo tree requires nourishment: water, fertile soil, sun.
In its first year, we see no visible signs of activity.
In the second year, again, no growth above the ground.
The third, the fourth, still nothing.
Our patience is tested and we begin to wonder if our efforts (attention, water, etc.) They will never be rewarded.
And finally in the fifth year, a miracle! We experience growth.
And what a growth it is! The Chinese bamboo tree grows 25 meters in just six weeks!
- But now think about it, does the Chinese bamboo tree really grow 25 meters in six weeks?
- Has the Chinese bamboo tree been dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth?
- Or was the small tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its outward growth potential in the fifth year and beyond?
The answer is obvious grows by 25 meters in 5 years but I want to tell you the same.
If the tree had not developed a strong invisible, hidden foundation, it would not have been able to sustain its life as it grew.
The same principle applies to people
People who patiently struggle toward dreams and goals worthy of success, building a strong character while overcoming adversity and challenges even when they do not see an immediate result grow and develop solid internal foundations that will serve to manage success, while the rich-winners and “lottery winners” are usually unable to sustain an untased sudden wealth.
If the Chinese bamboo tree grower had dug his little seed every year to see if it grew, it would have stunted the growth of the Chinese bamboo tree as surely a caterpillar is doomed to a life on the ground if it is freed from its struggle inside a cocoon prematurely.
How the fight in the cocoon is what will give tomorrow’s butterfly the power of the sail of the wings to fly, just as the tension against the muscles as we exercise strengthen our muscles, while the muscles left alone, immobile will soon atrophy.
What I really want you to think about now is the person who puts water and fertilizes the soil in the 5 years without seeing anything grow but who actually “feels” what he’s doing.
People are used to fast, smart things, instant gratification and it’s full of examples if you think about it and the shortcuts that are being sought and when they look at those who succeed they only see the ending and don’t really consider the most important thing, the process.
The same goes for martial arts but for life in general
If this person who grows Chinese bamboo stops keeping the soil “healthy” at any time, the bamboo tree would die.
The key here is that the baboon farmer is consistent and remains focused on his goal, his dream, his desire because he knows that one day all his efforts will pay him back, as they always do.
This is how the study of martial art, the care of health, fitness, anything also work.
You have to keep pushing, fighting and staying consistent in pursuit of your goal.
The sad thing is that most people very soon stop going in that direction and never see the “break” through which it really expresses its potential!
It doesn’t have the consistency.
But you’re not and you don’t want to be like most people, you’re not going to leave, not until you see the victory and I’m there every step of your way to guide you.
Let’s develop this quality to the fullest!
It’s not just about consistency but it’s something that goes beyond consistency.
The story“of the tree of human potential” (aka You)
is a perfect parable of our own martial experience with physical and mental personal growth, the change in attitude and ability to express yourself.
Non is never easy, it is slow to show any progress.
It is imperceptible to those close to you but visible to those who have the right sensitivity or easier to see to those who do not see you for a time.
I know that sometimes it is frustrating and unrewarding mto you have to feel that it is always worth it, you have to be patient and persistent.
This is the critical variable in achieving new skills and in the development of oneself.
The ability to stay“consistent”even when you’re not able to see any growth on the surface just like the Chinese bamboo tree is the strust we learn from the Chinese bamboo tree
Can we stay focused and continue to believe in what we’re doing even when we don’t see immediate results?
In a culture driven by instant gratification, this is our greatest challenge.
We often say or hear phrases like, “Keep trying! NEVER GIVE UP!”
But who really does?
Very few.
The change can sometimes be slow, sometimes even invisible but suddenly, as in the case of the Chinese Bamboo Tree, surprising.
He continues to believe in this important work.
We live in a society in rapid crisis.
A company that wants everything fast!
We are frustrated if we have to wait more than 2 minutes for the service on the mobile phone, or a red light, a sharing of a photo on social, etc.
We want instant solutions for every complex problem and every fractured relationship.
Everything and now!
Perhaps it’s time to reflect on an old ancient poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that is as true today as it was when he wrote more than 100 years ago:
“The heights that great men have reached and maintained
They were not reached by a sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Always toiled upwards all night. ”
It doesn’t work like that, and the final lesson from the Chinese bamboo tree is key to reconnecting with reality.
Even in cinema as in the movie “Limitless” that taking a pill you became the best in the field of your interest, and the abuse of Aderral to be able to have better intellectual performances, to get to doping, pills to lose weight, etc. always the search for shortcuts.
However, to succeed the road is always different, all this requires one thing: faith in what you are doing.
Growers of the Chinese bamboo tree believe that if they continue to irrigate and fertilize the soil, the tree will grow suddenly opening the soil and growing in an incredible way with very solid bases.
Well, you have to have the same kind of faith in your bamboo tree,whether it’s running a business, winning a Pulitzer Prize, raising kids, or whatever it is.
You have to be confident that if you continue to “do”, hofining “your craft”, reading and learning, you too will see rapid growth in the future but first it requires you to build a solid foundation in order to grow very high.
That’s the hard part for most of us.
The consistency of continuing to do with perseverance and commitment even if you can not yet see the result.
We’re so excited about the idea that it’s been planted inside of us that we just can’t wait for it to bloom.
Therefore, within a few days or weeks of the beginning of “sowing”, we become discouraged and begin to doubt ourselves, or worse, to stop.
Sometimes, in our doubt, we dig our seed and plan it elsewhere, in the hope that it may soon arise in more fertile ground.
And for this you constantly change martial art or sports, training method, etc.
We see this very often in people in life in general who constantly change what they do or in people who change their passions without consistency and even spouses in the search for “greener pastures“.
These people often remain very disappointed when they discover that their Chinese bamboo tree does not grow faster in the new location, because that’s not how the process works.
Other times, however, people water the land for a while, but then quickly discouraged.
They begin to wonder if it’s worth all the effort.
They don’t understand the power of consistency.
This is especially true when they see their neighbors succeeding with other trees.
They start thinking:
“What am I doing trying to grow a Chinese bamboo tree?
These are the people who return to their old jobs and their old ways.
They move away from their dream in exchange for a “safe thing.”
Unfortunately, what they can’t understand is that pursuing your dream is a sure thing if you don’t give up and becauseyou keepwatering and fertilising your dreams, it will come true, just like the Chinese bamboo tree.
The consistency.
It can take weeks to see the first results or it can take months, even years,but eventually the roots will take hold and your Chinese bamboo tree will grow.
And when he does, he’s going to grow in an extraordinary way.
We’ve seen it happen so many times:
- Henry Ford had to water his Chinese bamboo tree through five commercial failures before he finally succeeded with the Ford Motor Company.
- Eddie Arcaro, the legendary jockey lost his first 250 races as a jockey before winning 17 Triple Crown races and 554 bets totaling over .30 million.
- Etc. is full of examples in business and sport
Do you have a Chinese bamboo tree inside you?
Remember that:
- just wait to break through quindi keeps watering and believing and you too will fly high before you know it.
- the foundations are made of many things also of skills and skills/skills and that’s why it takes time to develop them and based on your dream and your starting point/quality takes more or less time.
Remember that the only secret is consistency!
Conclusions
I hope that the history of the Chinese bamboo tree even if you did not talk about martial arts inspired you and whatyou will start doing starts with a different approach as the result of this small but powerful history of the Chinese bambootree..
Consistency is an approach you should never forget.
Street Fight Mentality & Fight Sport
Andrea
