Aug 09
24
Shibumi – The Pursuit of Perfection
Occasionally, you experience moments of perfection: A day when no matter what punch, kick or move was thrown at you, you were totally on your game and you were untouchable and felt indestructible.
This is what you should strive for every day. The ultimate goal is to experience this on a more regular basis, working at your ultimate peak of potential 100% of the time.
Although, working at 100% all the time is virtually impossible, you will find that pursuing small moments of excellence is a more attainable goal. The theory behind this is simple – if you know you are capable
of working full tilt for three minutes, then you do this as often as possible until you can add another minute, and then another, until you reach 10. As you practice this mentality, you strive to reach a total of 45 minutes. This is called "the maximization of potential." To take your potential and maximize it fully, for as much time as possible without quitting, is Shibumi, the pursuit of perfection.
Shibumi is a Japanese word and the activity it defines is a part of the Japanese culture, known in English, as the refinement of one’s soul. Doing your best, yet sometimes failing, is inevitable, but not trying or not doing your best intentionally, known as "pacing yourself," is truly what can label you as a failure. The goal of the martial arts, as well as life, should be to strive always to perform at your utmost ability, work full tilt and espouse the mentality of the pursuit of perfection.
When you start, it is okay do this for only five or 10 minutes. That is the natural order of this exercise, but when you train your mind to understand and pursue this kind of commitment then you will experience moments of perfection more regularly. You can add a little each time you pursue perfection, and soon you are working harder then you ever imagined. Once you adopt this mentality, you will find the tasks that you thought were difficult are now easy, and soon you will realize that there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome. You will push your threshold to an entirely different level, realizing that accomplishments you once thought were impossible are totally possible. Still, sometimes, even though you believe you control your mind, you are a victim of thoughts that have been ingrained in you since you were young.
At those times, you may even fail because you believe the goal or the dream to be beyond your reach, or not realistic, but anything is possible if you have the right mindset.
If you practice hard enough, then you will discover aspects of yourself that you never believed to be possible. You will live the life of perfection – you will live Shibumi every day.
