Wednesday, August 26, 2015

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?


 “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

It is no secret that I am a Bruce Lee fan.  Perhaps fan isn’t the appropriate word.  Disciple?  Anyway…

What is he trying to tell us?  To me, it is perfectly clear.  The man who practices 10,000 different kicks only one time each would, theoretically, have a wide range of knowledge about kicking.  However, his execution of each kick would be terrible.  His technique would, more than likely, be incorrect and ineffective in a real life scenario.  Translation: He gets his butt whooped.

Now, someone who has practiced one kick 10,000 times would almost certainly have a mastery of that one kick.  He would execute it correctly and appropriately.  He would know all the ways to deliver it in a real life scenario and I would imagine would have a much better success rate than the 10,000 different kick fool.  Translation: Maybe doesn’t get his butt whooped.  Instead whoops opponents butt.
But what is Bruce really trying to get at with this statement?  The operative word here is “practice”.  Let me put it in simpler terms so some of you millennials understand it (and some D3 and D4 guys… you know who you are).  Two guys practice free throws.  One of them practices his shot 10 times and then goes home.  The other guy stays there and practices his shot 1,000 times.  Who do you think will have the better free throw the next day?   
Again, not to harp on this topic but if you want to be good at paintball, here’s a newsflash… you have to practice.  You have to commit to a regimen that is either equal to or greater than your potential opponents.  You have to do it better and smarter.  Ask yourself, how much do you want to win?  If it is a driving goal of yours to be successful at something whether it is as a paintball team or as a professional nose picker, get your butt out on the field and get at it.  (Keep the nose picking to yourself)
Don’t just run points.  That isn’t practicing… it is but it is practicing how not to get better.  That is the 10,000 different kicks guy.  I am not saying you shouldn’t run points.  What I am saying is you should do MORE than run points and scrimmage.  You should constantly strive to stay sharp in the fundamentals: snap shooting, laning, run and gunning.  No one likes to run drills but those who do them are always a step ahead of the competition.  You should practice situational drills.  You should practice communication drills.  You should do muscle memory drills.  You should practice, practice, practice. 
I will make this one short because I have to get back on FB as I have seen there are many sheep who are in need of saving from their political ignorance and lack of logical, rational and critical thinking (I blame the new math… driving kids straight to the streets).  I will leave you with another quote from Bruce.  I want you to apply it to your practice schedule.  He said, “If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
Boo-yaa…
Be water my friends,
Michael Bianca
Prime Paintball