If somebody tells me I've reached my potential in the martial arts, that Im the best I will ever be and I will never get any better, I don't buy that. I don't believe stuff like that because I don't believe in a recipe for failure.
I Don't Buy It About Having Reached My Potential
- Thread starter PhotonGuy
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Did someone actually tell you that? As long as you continue training, you'll never reach your potential.
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Everyone has limits, but unless you spend most of your life training then you probably haven't maxed out your potential. Potential also changes with age / health and depends on what potential you are focusing on.
That's such a strange comment that I can't see how someone would be positioned to say something like that unless you are trying to achieve a certain goal. Depending on what that goal is the comment may be accurate. For example, my potential to be a professional fighter is no longer an obtainable reality so the bet I can do is just become a good non professional fighter that only trains for self-defense and not competition. Context is everything.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
@PhotonGuy where is this comment coming from? Did someone actually tell you this?
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
“If you always put limits 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.” ~ Bruce Lee.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
That is the Greatest question ever. I think the latter is a much worse statement. Especially is someone is saying this to their self.
D
Deleted member 39746
Guest
Honestly there is a capping point for how good you can be. It scales with your age as well. Say if you start at 5 and keep doing it around late 20's to early 40's are probbly going to be your peak and you will never be as good in all regards as you were then, because you would have the atributes and technical knowledge, your atributes will slowly dimish down to old age and your risk of injury increases into old age as well.
Or none is my answer to that. No one but me can determine my potential-and even I don't really know it, I just know if I'm doing what I can to reach it.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
A lot of these comments sound like they are coming from a very neutral place. You can bet in upper level sports you are going to be pushed well beyond what You think your potential is.
In a good program you are being coached by elite minded people, many who have truly 'been there, done that'. You learn pretty quick to listen to them. There are usually individual efforts that factor in but no one does it on their own.
In a good program you are being coached by elite minded people, many who have truly 'been there, done that'. You learn pretty quick to listen to them. There are usually individual efforts that factor in but no one does it on their own.
Yep exactly
. Well said, hence my addition on the end of my post.Yeah it's a strange thing for others to dictate what someone's potential or limit is, as though they can literally see it, and know "how it's going to end".
I agree we all have limitations, but to not live by them as a guiding force is probably important. But also accepting limitations in humility, and using it as a spurring force to learn more and become better. It's very easy (or hard and energy-expending really.. ) to be stubborn and prideful and not accept genuine limitations that are clearly there, and it's another thing to accept it and learn how to work with it, work around it, or USE it as a gateway to something deeper or better.
And absolutely, we've got enough crap to deal with inside ourselves without others adding stuff to it. But that's the thing, it all makes for a rich tapestry of experience, and being able to hear what others say in openness and not getting personally mortified and offended I think is something important to work on. Seeing where people are coming from, and more and more you can see if people are simply telling you something coming from their own conditioning and understanding, or from something they're really seeing that you just can't quite wrap your head around at the moment.
It depends on what we mean by limitations and potential and in what sphere of life of course, as always!
dvcochran
Grandmaster
Yep exactly
Yeah it's a strange thing for others to dictate what someone's potential or limit is, as though they can literally see it, and know "how it's going to end".
I agree we all have limitations, but to not live by them as a guiding force is probably important. But also accepting limitations in humility, and using it as a spurring force to learn more and become better. It's very easy (or hard and energy-expending really.. ) to be stubborn and prideful and not accept genuine limitations that are clearly there, and it's another thing to accept it and learn how to work with it, work around it, or USE it as a gateway to something deeper or better.
And absolutely, we've got enough crap to deal with inside ourselves without others adding stuff to it. But that's the thing, it all makes for a rich tapestry of experience, and being able to hear what others say in openness and not getting personally mortified and offended I think is something important to work on. Seeing where people are coming from, and more and more you can see if people are simply telling you something coming from their own conditioning and understanding, or from something they're really seeing that you just can't quite wrap your head around at the moment.
It depends on what we mean by limitations and potential and in what sphere of life of course, as always!
Can't fully agree with the first paragraph but the second one is spot on IMHO. Learning from others experiences and knowledge is undoubtedly one of the hardest things to do, especially when we are in the peak of the 'ignorance of our youth'. It is truly like talking to a brick wall. And I was a Very thick brick wall.
Yeah, but those coaches don't know your potential either. They can make guesses, but I've been around enough coaches to know that they're wrong more often than right.
Ah fair enough. I guess what I mean by it is that we all do have limitations. Just as a fact, we do. But to not let that be a limit to how much we explore and develop ourselves. Agree that putting a 'cap' on what we should aim for isn't always beneficial, as our minds and beliefs can be our biggest opponent in how much we unnecessarily limit ourselves. And barriers are constantly being broken down by not adhering to common opinion.
For example, I currently can't run due to my pelvic tension issues. Or moreso I can, but I know the painful consequences of doing so.
For me to then conclusively say that I will never ever run again would a limit that I'm being guided by, that I've unreasonably put on myself. BUT... as a limitation that is literally there right now, it allows me to use it to explore other avenues, deepens my understanding of my body and capabilities, and allows me to work around that. AND also I can use it as a way to move forward into being able to run again if I choose to do so.
So to not let it run my life, and therefore come to a hypothetical conclusion from it, but to allow it to inform me of my current limitation and what I can do. I could stubbornly and pridefully deny it and pretend it's not there, or I could accept the reality of it, without it being the only factor that guides my future behaviour. If that makes sense!
Ah unless you were referring to this aspect of my post, someone else dictating your potential. Totally agree, that coaches and elite level trainers will have such extensive knowledge, and may be able to see where they can take you, even if we can't see it currently. Best to listen for sure!
I was referring moreso to uneducated and more opinion based stuff that people push onto you, somehow knowing your potential without having the knowledge of you or the experience to elevate someone's level.
True also! It takes quite an experienced coach to know where they can take someone, but yeah they certainly don't always know everything.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
In aggregate I suppose. But it is scalar. The volunteer dad coaching a pee wee sport doesn't have to know a great deal about the sport beyond the rules of the game. I coached Jr. pro football which is ages 4 through 12 for several years. All volunteer so the majority of 'coaches' were dads who just wanted to help. We developed a short coaches class that everyone was required to pass and there was a cap placed on the number of coaches a team could have.
Within the coaching tree we had to disperse the coaches based on experience so that any one given team would not be stacked with coaches to keep the competition as equal as possible. At those ages you seldom see a budding prodigy. Still there was always a lot of passion and energy from the kids and coaches alike.
Good times.
When I played high school and college football I heard many stories and experienced coaches who were exceptional at developing players. They usually had a truly infectious quality about them. I think it was their ability to 'wear' their passion the way we wear clothing. Looking back I can see now how focused they were in their efforts. Being more of a generalist, it is an amazing quality to me at that level. I cannot imagine how guys like Pete Carroll or Andy Reid have done it so well for so long.
I have personally coached over 50 teens to the finals in AAU TKD, 16 grabbing gold. It started out much like prepping for any tournament does. Then, as I learned more about the process, we developed a 16 week run up to the circuit. Not all kids were invited to the run up. Not all kids finished the run up. No harm, no foul. Those that did I consider truly unique and exceptional both physically and mentally. I have no doubt it takes a healthy amount of both to be elite.
When I made my Olympic run I was much older than the average competitor (26). I did not have a sponsor and did not have a coaching team in the normal way most all competitors had. I had a strength/condition trainer and a fighting coach. And I still had a full time job(s).
So much of the coaching I think this thread is talking about was not there for me but was not really needed since I already had it in me. I missed going to Korea by 2 matches. Still feel pretty good about that.
My only point to the last part is to say that because of the elite coaching I received in the past, good qualities were engrained in me.
drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
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You have reached your potential with them.
dvcochran
Grandmaster
Probably, but that comment would be a really good button pusher for some people. Nothing better that getting pixxed off to get motivated.
