This is an excerpt from Grandmaster lee's writing, it's not so much where you are, but where you're going. a little Bok Fu Philosophy is the perfect way to start off the week! Let's make it a great one!

“I think the most important thing to me as your teacher is not so much where you are but in what direction you’re going. To become a black belt and a world champion requires a commitment to excellence of the highest order. No one, as I’m sure you realize, is going to achieve anything worth achieving by simply doing what is required of them. It is really what you do above and beyond the required effort that will always really determine your true level of greatness in anything you do.

The ultimate victory in this subject to me is derived from the inner satisfaction and knowing that you have done your absolute best and you have gotten the most out of what you have given. Many of life’s failures are men and women who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up or stopped training for some reason. I am a great believer in the mirror test. All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person that you see there that you’ve done your best. Do it at the end of each of our workouts together. It’s what you continue to learn after you know it all that really counts to me.

A truly great winner is someone who sets his goals, commits himself to those goals, and then pursues his goals with all the ability within himself to a successful conclusion. The price, i want you to realize, will be hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether you win or lose, you have applied the absolute best of you black belt ability to the task at hand.

Your black belt spirit, the will to do your best and the will to excel you will find are the things that truly endure. I want you to know that these qualities are really so much more important to me as your teacher personally than the tournament or events themselves.

Remember the three kinds of people: those that make it happen, those that let it happen, and those that ask what happened. If you don’t invest very much, then don’t worry, defeat doesn’t hurt very much. and, of course, winning is not that exciting. Choice, in my mind, in this life, and not chance, should determine your destiny. good is not good enough where better is expected. I’ll always expect the best from you and you’ll always get the best from me. You will simply become, in this subject, as small as your controlling desire, or as great as your dominant aspiration, no more and no less.

The difference, I think, between accepting ordinary and extraordinary is maybe just a little extra discipline. It’s a funny thing about life – if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it. The key work here is refuse. Think about it.”

The secret powers of time