Best advice ever

[Spartacus Maximus]

What was the single most influential or useful advice for your training you ever got and where did it come from? If you had only one thing to offer to a student of yours about to become an instructor ?

[sensei8]

"GET UP!!"

Both Soke and Dai-Soke barked these words to us quite often, and to be frank and honest, that has made the world of difference in my MA journey. Things happen, as they're suppose to, yet, no matter how that thing has occurred, GET UP; dust off the dust, and persevere, no matter what.

The idiom that says...

It's not about how many times one gets knocked down, but it's about how many times one gets back up.

So, GET UP...GET UP...GET UP...

[MasterPain]

"Breathe."

Whatever you're doing, breathing is kind of important. And it's funny how despite being an involuntary action, people tend to forget to breathe while focusing in on something. Breath control can help with taking a blow, delivering one, helps keep you from gassing out as fast, and keeps you from dying.

[Zaine]

"You're the only one who cares if you fail."

An visiting instructor told me this one day. Changed the way I saw learning in general. If I was the only one embarrassed by not doing it correctly, then I was the only one getting in my way. Training became much smoother after that.

[bushido_man96]

"You've got to keep pluggin' away." Advise I got from my dad. No matter what, you got to keep on working.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Life is too short to stress

[sensei8]

Life is too short to stress

Man oh man, I really need to incorporate that in my life; I stress way to often and way to quick.

[DWx]

I'm going to cheat and give two

First one:

"Every black belt started at the back of the room" (as a white belt)

Second one isn't strictly Martial Arts related but it has had a huge impact on my training:

"No more zero days"

A "zero day" being a day when you didn't do anything to improve your life. It can be a simple as doing 10 push ups, or washing the dishes, or learning about something new. Sticking by this mantra makes it much more likely I'll go for a run or go to the gym instead of sitting on the sofa all day in front of the TV.

[MatsuShinshii]

Since it seems we are doing quotes here are two that stuck with me;

"Never stop being a student. No matter how skilled or knowledgeable one may be there is always more to learn, maintain a beginners mind" and "never be to full of yourself to think that you have nothing to learn from those you teach, a beginner does not have preconceived notions and often see's what your clouded mind can not"

However there is one quote that has always stuck with me, but was not from Shinshii (from who I have no idea);

"The person who succeeds is not the one who holds back, fearing failure, nor the one who never fails-but rather the one who moves on in spite of failure"