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Limits, by and large are self-imposed. Some limits of course are not, like genetic factors, for instance. We have two arms, two legs and we are limited by what two arms and two legs can do.
But there are other kinds of limitations, which are self-imposed - holding back in a fight, for example - and that, like most self-imposed limitations, can be self-defeating. The point is, unlike having only two arms and two legs, self-imposed limits are of our own doing and if we "do" them then we can "un-do" them.
That much is obvious, but it is not quite that simple: just because a limit is self-imposed and just because we can undo it does not mean it is easy to shift. It took Boddhidharma nine years to do that!
The great monk Boddhidharma who taught the Buddhist Monks at the Shaolin Temple how to build up their strength and defend themselves, sat facing a wall for nine years!
There is a tendency to translate this literally, that he never moved and sat in meditation posture continuously for nine years, but apart from the fact that that would be physically impossible, it misses the point.
The Boddhidharma story is a teaching story and the cusp of it is that the great monk faced a great obstacle, which stood in the way of his enlightenment. It took him nine years to break through this "wall" which represented his self-imposed limits.
So let's not underestimate our self-imposed limits. They took a life-time set up, they are deeply embedded in every tissue of the body and they won't take kindly to being pushed aside - even for enlightenment!
It is interesting to note that the teaching story uses the term "wall". Walls tend to be immovable. If you butt your head against one, chances are your head will come off second best. And that is what a self-imposed obstacle is: immovable - unless you are willing to meditate continuously on it for nine years!
And that's not going to be too easy, especially if you have to earn a living at the same time! There has to be a better way, and there is?
Let's take a simple punch, the very simplest punch you can think of. You will be doing it wrong. Don't argue with me on this. Unless you are a child prodigy, or a child virtuoso, you will not be doing it right. If you are not a child, but an adult, you will definitely be doing it wrong because by the time you reach even young adulthood you will have all sorts of self-imposed limitations, both mental and physical, in operation. These will interfere with your punch, even if your teacher is telling you you are doing it right!
Now there are a number of things you should know about self-imposed limitations. First of all, you don't even know what they are. Chances are they were put in place in your formative years and you have lived with them ever since early childhood and they are so much a part of your life that you accept them as "normal" or "natural" and never question them.
Which poses a real problem: how do we get rid of these limitations if we don't even know what they are?
OK. Here is the method, and...please note that it is a very simple method, but no less effective for that. Do not underestimate it: it is powerful!
OK, so let's work with that punch you are working on. Step number one is, try to get it as right as you can. Get it to the point where your teacher is telling you it is right. It won't be, but you must get it to at least that point.
Step number two, practise it until you can do it more or less automatically, that is, with a minimum of fuss and bother.
Step number three, and this is the crucial step?set aside some time, a long period of time, when you are unlikely to be disturbed by outside sources and then do that punch over and over and over, thousands and thousands of times, non-stop. This is it. This is the secret ingredient. Let's take a close look at it?
But first, let's back up for a moment?
If you practice this move ONLY a few hundred times, then it's the same old, same old. Nothing changes. All your self-imposed limitations and blocks are in place but you don't see them as such and in fact you are not even aware of them, but they are interfering with the efficient delivery of your punch.
Now understand this: it takes effort to maintain these blocks and limitations. They are self-imposed, it is true, but that means they are self-maintained - which means effort!
In other words, your blocks and limitations stifle your technique in two ways: one, it will mean you are using some part of your body incorrectly, which interferes with the delivery of the punch and two, it takes effort to maintain the blocks and limitations and that means less energy is left over to put into your punch.
Now, back to the "secret" technique? if you practice your punch mercilessly, hour after hour, thousands and thousands of times, non-stop, something will happen.
What?
Let's keep it simple: you, and your arms in particular, will get tired. Which means you will have less and less energy to expend on this exercise - until you get to the point where you have only enough energy to do the punch. And no more!
This is the crucial bit. Read that last sentence again. "You will have only enough energy for the punch and no more!" At this point you have no extra energy to keep "doing" your blocks and resistances and limitations and, temporarily, until you regain your energy later, your blocks and limitations and resistances, not to mention your fears and doubts, will drop away.
At this point you will be doing only the punch. No more. And no less. You will now be doing the punch as perfectly as is possible for your body, because there is nothing left over for all that other stuff that interferes with your punch.
But wait! There is one more step: awareness.
You MUST take special note of how this new-found punch FEELS. If you don't, then tomorrow you will be back to your old habits, and you will have gained nothing.
So take note of how the new punch feels, how your body feels, how you breathe, your state of mind and yes, tomorrow you will be back to your old habits, but you will REMEMBER. You will now understand your self-imposed limitations and you will whittle away at them mercilessly and ceaselessly - until you can reproduce that perfect punch every time!
Addendum: let me draw a parallel. I am a salesman and sometimes I have a "bad" day. So bad that I cannot even give the product away; so bad that most salespeople would quit. But I keep going.
And it gets harder and harder to keep going. And I get tireder and tireder and it becomes more and more difficult to do all those things that a salesman is "supposed" to do?you know: smile, act enthusiastic and so on. And indeed after a certain amount of time I don't smile anymore, and I don't act enthusiastic anymore and I make a sale!
Go figure!
You see, what I'm saying is that as a salesman I often do a lot of things that are not really necessary. They "feel" right (like smiling or acting enthusiastic) and so I keep doing them, but they are not essential for a sale.
Likewise when practising your punch: you will find that you do a lot more than you need to, and this is not only a waste of energy, but it is often counterproductive.
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