“Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend”- Bruce Lee
The principle of “Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast” is anything you do quickly, you need to be able to do slowly and correctly first. Martial artists will always practice their movements slow and controlled before they develop speed. What you don’t want to do is unlearn bad habits, especially the habit of rushing. And believe me, when I met my coach, I had to unlearn quite a few, because I hadn’t taken the time to fully learn the movements nor had I been properly taught before. It’s nobody’s fault, but it’s something I had to relearn. This same concept and amount of grace, I want you to give yourself when learning new habits and functioning under pressure.
If you are wanting to build a solid foundation and make lasting change, my best advice is to start slow.
I know it sounds counterintuitive, because all you want is use this new found fire at the start of a new year to fuel all the things you’re going to accomplish this year. I get it, and that fire will be a great kickstart to your journey, but if you take on too much at once, you will eventually burn a short quick flame and poof….burnout sets in and when we are tired, we are not as controlled in our decisions, suddenly we crumble because our foundation is faulty. This is also why in one my previous posts, (link below) I talk about building foundational habits and looking to the stoic virtues when we reach exhaustion.
Consistency and solid foundation are the keys to the kingdom.
Allow yourself to flow into different phases of life and still maintain what you are at your core. We are building your character; your foundation.
Calm in the Chaos
I think it stands to make sense that we more often than not, just want to get there.
When my opponent is in front of me—life for this amount of time becomes chaos. I am facing time pressure, the pressure to act quickly, the pressure of facing a danger in front of me, and the pressure of what if I mess up. Of course I want to finish the fight as soon as I can, but it’s the long game I prepare for. Moving accurately and actually landing strikes means more than moving too quick and miscalculating.
The last thing I want to do is go blazing into the fight and now all of a sudden my cardio has gone to shit, my mind is cloudy, I can’t calculate what’s happening in front of me, and the next thing I know I’m getting backed into a corner—or worse, laid out on the ground... If you feel burnt out, or that you lack clarity and judgment…you need to slow down.
A Process for Pressure:
Don’t look too far ahead. Pay attention to what is in front of you— That is your target.
Gather your breath so you’re not panicking in survival mode—
Breath is your control.
Distance yourself from the noise. Change your perspective —
Get out, don’t stand in one place, move.
Learn things won’t always go your way.—
Take the hits and keep going.
This is learning Flow.
Trigger Happy
My grandad who is an avid marksman, taught me this lesson since I was just a young child. As he taught me about shooting and the safety and responsibilities that come with the sport, his words have continuously echoed throughout my mind, especially when I started my martial arts journey. He would teach me how to place my grip, draw the gun from my holster, aim with accuracy, and only place my finger on the trigger when absolutely ready to fire. “Slow, smooth, and fast. Don’t be trigger happy.” The same way I practice fighting: remaining poised, focused, unrushed, and able to unleash accuracy and power whenever I’m ready.
I want to give you the same tools I was given to take control of your life.
I want you to feel in control.
The Dichotomy of Control
“The key to control is not controlling external events, but in controlling your own mind.”- Epictetus
Epictetus’ teachings on the dichotomy of control involve recognizing what is within our own control and embracing what is not. As humans we have more power than we truly know, but this power comes from within. Yeah, all those cartoons you watched as kid that talked about this stuff were right. It’s within yourself.
“But Bex, I have so many things I want to change, I need to implement all these changes or it will take me forever. I feel ready now!”
On the contrary, you will be on your way to efficiency. I want you to accomplish every single goal and habit change you set out for yourself, but understand, my purpose in writing this is to show you that the slower you go with consistency and accuracy, the faster you hit the target. The faster you hit target one, the sooner you get to move to target two. As we lay down these foundations you’ll suddenly see yourself start to emerge, a new you crafted form fortitude.
