It is amazing to me how some people expect extraordinary results in their martial art training but are not willing to put forth the time and energy necessary to achieve even ordinary results. They approach their training in a random, hit-or-miss fashion.
While martial art is a physical activity, like any other physical activity it is primarily skill conditioning and neural training. Developing the neuromuscular coordination necessary to perform complex motor tasks such as throwing a kick, evading an opponent’s strike and countering them, executing strike, a throw or takedown, etc. It requires thousands of hours to develop proficiency at those skills and achieve mastery.
As such, consistency in training is crucial. Consistency is the hallmark of people who achieve excellence in any field of endeavor. While there might be certain individuals who exist “outside the curve” and excel without seeming to have to put in a lot of effort, for the majority of us such is not the case. Progress is always gradual and doesn’t always follow a steady, regular path. Sometimes it’s irregular. It’s not goal-oriented, it’s process-oriented. If a person only does their martial art training once a week and does nothing else the rest of the time with relation to it, the brain may remember but the body and muscles will not. Fifteen minutes each day is better than two hours once a week.
Bruce Lee could be looked at as a benchmark for consistency in training. So could many other notable martial artists such as Dan Inosanto, Rickson Gracie, and George St.Pierre. Each of these individuals has devoted thousands of hours to their training. Granted, most of us are not professional martial artists and have other things going on in our lives such as jobs, family, etc., which makes it impossible to devote 7-8 hours every day to training. But what about one hour per day, or even thirty minutes? How much time each of us can and will give to our training is an individual thing.
The bottom line is that if we approach our training in hit-or-miss fashion, we can only expect to get hit-or-miss results. Strive to make sure that consistency is a key factor in your personal training.