Everyone who practices martial arts wonders what the secret is to becoming “great”. Obviously, spending a lot of hours, days, months, and years on the mat is a key ingredient in greatness, but I’m not going to waste your time and mine writing a post about how you have to be dedicated and driven; that’s a given and the world doesn’t need another one of “those” articles.

Instead, I want to offer a practical tip that will serve you in both your martial arts training and anything else you do in life. It’s general success advice and it applies to learning anything.

You must continually poke the box.

One of my favorite authors and thinkers, Seth Godin, recently released a book called Poke the Box. It’s a very short and simple book and it’s based on two of the most important concepts of human development: curiosity and initiative.

So what’s it mean? In Seth’s words:

Poke the Box is a manifesto and a permission slip. A manifesto in that it argues that the only real way for us to succeed today is to take initiative. It’s not given, it’s something we do. We provoke, create a ruckus, experiment, fail, repeat, learn, succeed.

And it’s a permission slip because some people are waiting for one.

Poking the box is not always safe and we’re taught that it’s often better to just let someone else risk the possible failure associated with it than to step up and do it yourself. Thus, we have a world where the majority are mediocre and there are only a handful of remarkable people.

Poking the box in martial arts training…

What does poking the box in martial arts training looks like? First, let me tell you what most martial arts students do:

As a student goes from being a beginner who knows nothing to an intermediate belt who knows a little bit, they practice what the instructor tells them and they begin to identify what they’re good at. Too often, they stick with what works instead of continuing to evolve. Companies also tend to do this because it feels safe. It’s a huge mistake.

The better option is to be like Google. You’ve identified what works, but you’re unsatisfied with staying on that same level. Instead, you continue to test, fail, and learn until you discover more about yourself and the world around you. When you continue to initiate and face the consequences (good and bad) of that initiative, you find more opportunities, you find more information, and you eventually achieve a level far higher than those around you. That’s poking the box.

Keep pushing more buttons. Find out what every single button does. Take the box apart. Put it back together. Find alternative uses for it.

In martial arts, specifically sparring, it’s the students who are willing to put themselves in bad situations, who are willing to take risks, and who are willing to fail who eventually become the best. Constant experimentation is the best form of learning. Instead of following the map (instructions given by the teacher), they draw their own map through constant personal discovery. There is no better path to understanding.

Refuse to be comfortable. Refuse to play it safe. Poke the box every single day. Do this and see what happens. Do that and note the outcome. If you’re great at attacking, experiment with counter-attacking and vice versa. If you prefer to be far away, resolve to start fighting close. If you love scoring to the body, start experimenting with ways to score to the head. Try the stuff you’ve never been willing to try before.

Easier said than done…

Look at the obstacles that present themselves to those who poke the box (and these are just martial arts related):

• You might get laughed at.
• You might fall down.
• You might get kicked in the face.
• You might get the wind knocked out of you.
• You might lose to a lower belt.
• You might feel weak.
• You might get totally beat up.
• You might look goofy.
• You might hate losing.
• The list goes on…

Looking at this list, the obvious response is to avoid poking the box. That’s a scary list. Certainly, sticking with what you’re already good at is far safer. That’s probably true, but good is mediocrity. Good is the enemy of excellent. Champions aren’t good; they make the good look poor.

If you’re willing to take the risk and if you’re willing to be the initiator–if you’re willing to poke the box–there is greatness ahead for you. And that goes for every aspect of your life.

For a bonus, read the book to find out why trying to avoid failure is actually counterproductive.

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