In the beginning, you go from 0 to 1 in about six months. And that step is huge. You go from knowing nothing to being able to survive an attack from an untrained opponent. Every class is exciting.

But after the initial burst of improvement, you’ll likely enter a plateau. And this is often where people quit.

“It’s not fun anymore.”

“I’m bored.”

“It’s the same thing over and over.”

“I’m not getting any better.”

“I want to try something else now.”

Being on a plateau is where most of your training time will be spent. There will be occasional peaks and valleys, but it mostly feels like you’re not making any improvement. If you can find a way to accept that, you can reach mastery.

I can see how being at a school where white belt sparring is allowed can keep a student interested a little longer than being at a school like mine, where white belts aren’t allowed to spar. But, my belief is that even if a student stays for an additional year or two, it doesn’t matter if they quit at year three.

The biggest population of quitters are white and blue belts. It’s the same. When a blue belt quits, it’s the same as quitting at white. After several months, it’s basically like never having trained at all.

My goal is for my students to train forever. It doesn’t have to be at my school, but I do want to teach them how to train in a manner that’s sustainable through their lifetime, even if it’s somewhere else.

Your future self wants to thank you for not quitting.