Pushing Boundaries

A lot of people have been staying at their peak. They don’t go higher ‘cause they don’t push the top. If you keep going at your limit, you will never change your limit. I hear too much “it hurts too much”, “I can’t do it”, “it’s too hard”. No pain, no gain. This isn’t just a saying masochist would use. It is very literal. If it doesn’t hurt, you will never increase your capabilities. I’m not saying “boo hoo” to those who have these excuses, but I am saying that you need to deal with it. It’s a fact of life that needs to be faced if anyone expects to get better. A balloon will not inflate if you put it in your mouth and hold your breath, you need to force the air into it. You need to force past your limits, or your capability level will not “inflate”. We all have to push farther than we can go. Go to your limit, and then do 10 more, or more if you can. Without extra push, you will not expand your comfort zone, you will not improve your forms, you will not extend your endurance, and you will not build your strength or flexibility.
I see a lot of laziness and hear a lot of excuses. I see pushups that are just a bobbing of hips or a slight movement of the arms. I see swung kicks and kicks that I can’t hear (I should hear pant legs swish with every kick). I see situps with swung arms for momentum or hands holding onto legs to pull up with. I see bent back legs and toes out to the side in bow stances. I see guards down at the waist. If you say you can’t, and you don’t push yourself, then you are right, you can’t. A lot of people think “giving your best” means going as good as you feel you can go. Doing your best means going farther than you can go. It has to hurt, it has to make you tired, or it is not quite your best, it is just your average.
On that note, I think I need to remind a lot of people how to do a proper bow stance, and pushups. I see the majority of a lot of classes with serious flaws in these two things. So first off, pushups should have: a straight back, focus your chest (not your hips) to touch the ground, neck straight, head not bobbing, arms at lease bent 90 degrees, feet uncrossed (a lot of people think crossed feet makes it easier, but it actually adds more weight to the limbs that are on the floor), focus on your chin (not forehead) touching the ground, and your arms should not be too wide. Secondly, bow stance needs to have your weight at 60% on the front and 40% on the back, both toes point forward, feet are not lined up with each other (they should be shoulder width apart).