Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there...

I came across a status on Facebook by an old colleague and friend who now runs his own Consultancy Firm working on developing people (take a minute to check it out, his website's pretty cool www.gingerguruconsultancy.com)

The status was "Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there..." I absolutely love this statement and it reminds me of when I first began working with the man who I always consider to be my main instructor, the late Sensei Fred Fitzgibbon.



Sensei Fred Fitzgibbon

Sensei Fred was one of the best instructors I have ever known and a person who I respected immensely. He took me under his wing at the age of 14-15 and spent more hours than I could even begin to count, teaching me in the small dojo, downstairs at the WJJF HQ.

His knowledge was fascinating but no where near as fascinating as the fact he was well over 70 and yet he would get off the floor when you'd thrown him and thump you for not throwing him hard enough, (he really was the hardest pensioner I have ever known) or as was usually the case with me....doing it right, with the latter he also drove me absolutely insane sometimes, because, like the quoted status says, he stuck with one thing until I got there (even if it took hours)!!!!

At the age of 14-15, my attention span was "limited" at best so I probably equally drove Sensei Fred mad yet not once did it show. I remember once time in particular when Sensei Fred decided (as he often did) to randomly pick a technique to go over, on this particular day it was the wonderful stomach throws.

Now before I go any further with this story just picture a 14-15 year old boy grabbing a pensioner by the lapels, sticking your foot in his stomach, throwing himself backwards and pushing said pensioner over his head and half way down the dojo........then picture said pensioner getting up, marching back up the said boy and saying, "your left foot was about an inch and a half off to the left, you need to pull it in". It almost sounds unreal, but that was Sensei Fred.

To help you picture this, take a look at the video I found on YouTube below (not exactly the way I'd do it, but it's just to give you an idea)




Anyway, back to the story....
Try as I might, I could never ever get this right, I thought it was right after all it generally ended wtih the person I was throwing being around 5-6 feet away from me (some of my friends Lee, Matty, Mikey, James would say that's not right, it should be 8-10 feet but at the time, we we're in the very small dojo (now a store room) it just never "felt" right.

On this particular day I must have done this throw, which is not the most comfortable of throws for your partner, at least 30 times and every time Sensei Fred would find something, something usually very very small, that was wrong with it, it drove me absolutely insane.

No matter how much I said, "can we work on something else", or "can we do something different" there was no chance, Sensei Fred was determined that I was going to get this right and simply asking me the question "what's the point in giving in?" stopped my moaning there and then.

He stuck with it, with one particular technique for around 2, 2.5 hours moving my left foot literally no more than a few centimeters either to the left or right each time and eventually I did it and it felt effortless, it felt "right" and Sensei Fred got up and simply said "got it" followed by (bear in mind we'd spent over 2 hours on this) "so what do you want to do now?".

Sensei Fred Fitzbiggon (left) with
Sensei Neville Kershaw

Personally, I think there are a few lessons in this story (I say personally because it's only my view);

Firstly, the postage stamp metaphor is great, but the message is as it says - "stick to one thing until you get there", if you don't get it right, keep going, keep trying, keep perfecting it until you do, don't give in, don't move onto something else, as Sensei Fred said to me "what's the point in giving in?"......I still say that to myself today when I need to.

Secondly, for instructors and students alike, it's usually the little things that make the most difference, a few centimetres in foot position really can make all of the difference, it's the little things that matter, don't settle for something "looking right" if there is something bugging you about it, something not quire right........keep at it, keep questioning it, keep adjusting it until you've got it. Trust me, the feeling you get (as either an instructor when the student get's it right or as the student who has persisted with something tirelessly) is fantastic.

Thirdly, trust your kinaesthetics

"Kinaesthetics is the study of body motion, and of the perception (both conscious and unconscious) of one's own body motions" - Wikipedia (For a more detailed explanation of what the big word means click HERE)

Learn to "feel" the technique, we often get so wrapped up in the "thinking" about a technique, planning each step in our mind before we do it, to remind ourselves of the correct way of doing it, that we don't learn to "feel" the technique. We don't learn to recognise the very fine movements, the way they feel, do they feel awkward, do they feel natural, does it feel comfortable, does it feel "right". Going step by step is fine when we first learn a technique, but we should pay attention to our body as we advance to a better technical level. Learn to understand the way it feels when we do it - and not just to the obvious feeling of getting it wrong (pain). Paying attention to this will help you to find those very subtle points I'm talking about in my second point above.

Lastly, to all of my students particularly the teenagers and adults, an apology. I'm sorry I know I drive you bonkers with my persistent picking and pointers, but if you read this article, I hope you will understand and appreciate the reason I teach you, the way I do. (I'm not sorry really, it's for your own benefit).

Hope you found this very long ramble useful
Paul