The Self-Discipline of Endurance
According to Webster's New World dictionary, endurance is the "ability to last, continue, or remain." Endurance is a principle that requires a certain can-do mindset. Most people that can endure are confident about completing a task.
What happens if a person does not have the will or confidence needed for challenges, which might take time and extreme effort? If a person thinks she cannot do it, stopping is easy.
Grand Master Sung Hong Park, 9th Dan black belt in tae kwon do, was the lead instructor and owner of Park's Martial Arts, Salisbury, Maryland. He taught people many different styles of martial arts. One of the styles was hapkido. Hapkido is known for joint locks, pressure points, sweeps, throws, hand striking, and kicks. When a student became a black belt in hapkido, he or she had self-defense skills for life. They also had to have demonstrated endurance.
Grand Master Park shared with hapkido black belts that for every 100 students that started hapkido, only one became a black belt. He did not make this comment in boast. Remember, he had a business. His business was to teach students. Instead, he was sharing facts. In the martial art of hapkido, the path to a black belt skill level was similar to a marathon, not a sprint.
Students in hapkido class had to demonstrate endurance. The training was physically and mentally challenging. Also, the skills needed to be proficient meant years of practice.
Grand Master Park and his instructors influenced my life and my perspective on endurance. I became an assistant instructor and later an instructor. I could see first-hand how challenging it was for students to commit the time, energy, and physical demands needed to learn hapkido and become able to apply skills proficiently. A student's confidence increases the longer he or she studies hapkido.
For most students, confidence levels improve early in training. Observing students move from one curriculum level to the next level is a rewarding time. Jaydon Reap, a hapkido black belt, also noticed and celebrated student transitions and improvement. Jaydon shared one of the first lessons he learned while teaching and practicing martial arts: rewards in life do not come from things given to you.
In our school, new students have to test and earn a white belt. Before earning his or her white belt, they participate in classes without any belt at all. After a short time, instructors test the new students. They needed to earn the belt.
Just like earning martial arts belts, it takes work and endurance to achieve things in life. Those things that you fight for will mean so much more. When not earned, that same satisfaction will not be present.
If accomplishments in life were easy, everybody would get the same exceptional results. People who demonstrate the self-discipline of endurance understand that they will have barriers along the way. They will also hit plateaus of learning (skill level remains the same). They have an awareness of these challenges and push forward for earned rewards. Those that learn how to endure and overcome challenges are the black belts of life.
The self-discipline of endurance is a life skill. It is not always the most talented person who succeeds. The people with a can-do attitude and the mindset that they will not stop until they reach their goal will achieve the most exceptional results. They will also know what it feels like to earn it.
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