Redding Shotokan Karate

To paraphrase Ohshima Sensei, if you're happy with your level, that's where you'll stay.

I guess, implicit in that statement is the warning that one is probably never good enough to truly be able to be happy with one's level.

People have used many different methods of ascertaining their level, whether that level is good enough, and ways of advancing their level. In the old days it included lethal combat (battle or duel), and practices more severe than anything we can imagine today. Now we ask our seniors to push us, hoping they remember fully the traumatic experiences of their early workouts. We also ask them to criticize us, hoping their eye for detail and dedication to proper technique and mentality will translate into instruction that we can use to grow.

I learned from my teachers that hard as it is to place yourself before others in order to reveal your weaknesses, it is harder still to teach yourself without their honest criticism. Who isn't nervous doing kata in front of a group? A senior? A group of seniors? Ohshima Sensei? You have to 1) honestly and humbly do your best; 2) accept their criticism with clarity and understanding, knowing that they only hope you can use it to improve yourself; and 3) honestly and diligently practice to try to incorporate the help and eliminate the weaknesses they point out.

My desk calendar quotes an old Chinese proverb:

Be not afraid of growing slowly.
Be afraid of standing still.