Your Own “4-Minute Mile”
There comes a time in training when the proverbial wall gets hit. Anyone can hit a wall – those who study martial arts for recreation as well as elite practitioners. In fact, those who have gone farther in their art may have gotten themselves stuck a few times. When you are stuck, you feel as though you have reached to peak of your skill. What you need to get unstuck may not be what you instinctively try first.
Whether you are learning through my self defense videos or through a martial arts DVD program or you are meeting with a class once or twice a week; the wall is there. But you can get around any wall if you just think of the old “4-minute Mile”.
The four-minute-mile is one of the most famous illustrations we have to show the power of what is possible. It dates back to 1954, and has been told and re-told in locker rooms and convention halls ever since. For years, even the best runners in the world could not break through that four-minute-mile mark. Many came close, some within mere seconds; but it seemed no one would ever break that time. In 1954, a runner named Roger Bannister accomplished what no one had been able to for all the years runners had been tracking speed. And guess what? Of course, runner after runner broke that time. Within three years of Bannister’s accomplishment, 15 other runners had also run a mile in 4 minutes or less.
So what happened? Did these runners simply try harder? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Try harder? Well, yes; but that’s not all. What happened with the runners after 1954 was more mental than physical. The accomplishment of one runner was what it took to make other runners believe they too could accomplish the time they all wanted to reach.
If you are currently feeling stuck in your training, changes may need to be mental before they can be physical. Self defense videos are a great way to learn; but you need to see yourself hitting that next level before you will actually do it. A martial arts DVD will teach you strikes and other moves; but you still need to engage your mind in any learning to move up the ladder.
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