There is a certain game where you are rewarded each time you successfully complete a circumnavigation of the board. There are many hazards on the way designed to delay you and deprive you of these rewards but the worst has to be being sent back to the beginning just as you are about to achieve your goal.
For the aspiring martial artist the situation is somewhat similar. The first move is made and you find a school or teacher. If you are lucky and determined you manage to make it through your first cycle without too much mishap. Getting a good teacher is as much a matter of geography and circumstances as anything else unless you do your research carefully and are prepared to travel. Even then your teacher may have to stop teaching for various reason, insufficient students, major injury, personal or other reasons . Indeed you may have to give up through injury, redundancy or job relocation . For any of these reasons you may have to go back and start again. If you are fortunate you may find a replacement teacher who teaches the same art that you had been learning to the standards that you were accustomed to. More often than not this is not possible so you have to find another teacher in another discipline where you will be expected to start from the beginning again.
This is very difficult for many people, the longer they have learnt something and the more effort they have put into it the less they are inclined to leave it behind and become a beginner again. They often fall by the wayside never to take up martial arts again until what they have learnt is a dim distant memory and they discover they can no longer walk up the stairs without losing their breath, all the while maintaining their self image as a fighting fit martial warrior.
In Martial Arts the most important aspect is the Spirit , which is a combination of mental toughness and determination to succeed and the never say die attitude. Following this is the stamina and physical fortitude required to withstand the most fearsome attack and the power to attack with debilitating force. The least important element is technique. Thus in the early days of the aspirant much time is spent developing the physical conditioning and the mental toughness.
This situation reverses itself on the maturity of the martial artist. At the later stages all should have a significant level of physical capability and spirit hence superior ability (Kung Fu), the combination of these three elements, will determine the outcome.
Superior ability is not merely a matter of being able to do complex and difficult kicking and punching combinations, it is also the ability to read the situation and know what is going to happen at the earliest possible moment and hence be able to make the appropriate response. It is about being able to take advantage of the smallest opportunity and use it to its fullest extent. It is about once the opportunity has been seized you do not stop until it is over. It is abput knowing when to fight and when not to.
The acquisition of superior skill is a long road, the practitioner must be prepared to start again and again, to be encounter setback after setback but not give up, to constantly re-evaluate their knowledge in the light of experience. With determination and persistence and an open mind a superior practictioner will eventually discover what they need to know.