It’s time for class. Tom walks into the KMA gym and notices that Mary and Matt are already there. There are about six minutes before class starts. Mary and Matt notice Tom come in and yell over to him, “Come on Tom, come get us”. All three of them begin running around doing rolls, pretending to spar each other, or playing tag. However there is one student standing calmly in the middle of the room. He wears a focused look on this face while he analyzes his moves in the mirror. Gracefully, he slides one foot in front of him, bending his knee as he lowers himself into a nice low forward stance. He looks back and checks to make sure that his back leg is straight, while slightly bent and that his foot is angled 45 degrees. Mary, Matt, and Tom continue to scurry around him, but he does not even pause to notice them.
“Hey, who’s that?” Mary asks as she and Matt stop to catch their breath.
“Oh, that’s Jason” says Tom as he falls to the ground, exhausted from chasing Mary and Matt around the gym. “He was in the beginner’s class but he just got promoted to green belt a few weeks ago. Master Circle gave him the student of the month award because he did his whole test without making one mistake. He was really good and boy can he kick high”.
“Why don’t you ask him if he wants to play with us?” asked Matt as he wipes the sweat from his forehead.
Tom closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nah, he won’t. Jason is always practicing his form or his kicks or working on his stances. He’s nice to talk to but when he starts working on something he doesn’t let anything distract him. Jason even won the focus contest during the warriors challenge a few months ago. Even Master Circle couldn’t make him laugh or move or anything”.
Master Circle begins class and let’s everyone know that he will be pre-testing those that have met their attendance requirement. The students work hard and at the end of class, Master Circle calls Tom and Mary up to receive their stripe for passing their pre-test. Matt hangs his head and kicks the ground with the ball of his foot. Master Circle told him that he needed to work on his form a little more. After class, all of the students run to the dressing room to get on their clothes. As Mary and Matt walk out, they noticed that Jason is still in the gym. He is standing in front of the mirrors practicing the new part of his Pyang Sah-dan form that Master Circle just taught him.
Matt sighs deeply, “Geez, Master Circle just taught Jason that part of the form and he already does it better than me”.
“Well, maybe if you ask him he can help you too. Jason helped me with my hand and foot basic last week. He showed me a trick for how to remember the combination for number one and two. Now I can remember it really well”, replied Mary as she walked with Matt towards the door.
Matt just closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “Ah, that’s okay. I’ll figure it out some other time. Hey, guess what? Tag…you’re it”.
The best and most respected people in the martial art world are the ones that practice excellence. Some of us only practice when we are told to do it or when someone is watching us. The best students are the ones that are willing to train when there is no belt to test for or prize to win. It is only through constant hard-work and focus that you can improve your skills and continue to advance. The next time you are wondering which of your fellow students will do the best at their test, win the trophy at the tournament, or become the next master, just look around the room. It will be the person that is standing off in the corner or in the room practicing their art, when no one is looking.
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