Yoshu: Our Ethos of Excellence

It's basic personal inventory time:  How many actions do you perform each day which require skill?

If you're like me, the question brought up a surprising number of things relating to work, travel, activities, interests, games, and the list goes on and on.  We are surrounded by the possibility of developing skill-sets, learning new ones, or allowing those we already possess to deteriorate.

Here comes the second personal inventory question:  What would happen if you became dedicated to making those actions slightly better every time you performed them?

What if we did that?  I'm guessing that our lives would change.  Perhaps not immediately, but we would one day find ourselves operating on a different level than we were aware of before.  Of course, "better" is a subjective word, and we could have great discussions on what really is better.  So, instead I'll offer a different word in my next question.

What if we were dedicated to excellence in all of our skills?

As many of you know, since September of 2010 I have studied Yoshukai Karate.  The style is known by a few important names, including "The Actual Fighting Karate," which I'm sure raises the competitive hackles in our "cousins" in other knockdown styles right nicely.  But, today I'm referring more closely to the names derived from the style's Japanese name.  Yo-shu-kai, "Association of Continued Improvement" or in motto-fied fashion, "Strive for Excellence."  And, after this weekend's Summer Camp, I offer a combined definition "Yoshukai:  The Family that Strives for Excellence Together."  It fits nicely--WYKKO events are warm reunions, and we are all asked to get a little better every time we work together.

Yoshukai has been all about getting better for me--once I realized it was.  Yesterday, our class workshopped basic kicks, and there was something for everyone to improve upon--from the yellow belts in attendance to the 4th-degree black belt leading the class.  To me, yoshu means that we can never accept a technique as completed--there is always a better, cleaner, and stronger iteration waiting to be realized.  I'm finding ways to work this concept into any available avenue in my life.  And, you know what?  It's not easy, but the feeling when the effect starts to set in is nothing short of inspiring.

I'll let Vince Lombardi close for me on this one:

"Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good."

                                --Vince Lombardi, in his first team meeting as head coach of the Green Bay Packers