And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make. (Lennon and McCartney)
Many people turn to me with Krav Maga questions; how to improve at the fastest rate, how to become a certified instructor, how soon can I award them a black belt.
I totally understand; I too felt that way for a long time. In fact I used to have a dream while I was struggling to get my first black belt, that some master instructor would notice me and say, "Hey, you deserve a black belt" and just give me the rank on the spot.
Now, years later, that has happened many times, I have more awards and diplomas than I know what to do with, but it no longer matters to me. The rank is so insignificant that it is difficult for me to imagine how important it once was to me. I can give you a black belt diploma right now, but so what? What would that give you unless you truly earned it? You would really be only a paper tiger, a tiger on paper (your diploma).
Wisdom comes from many places, many sources. I am a Beatles fan; There is a great track at the end of the Abbey Road album, great music but not a lot of words, but those few words count.
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make.
What this means, in my humble opinion, is no one can give you anything. You want to be loved? Then you have to create that love, nothing in life is free. The love you take with you is the love you yourself have made, the relationships you have invested in, the friendships you have worked on, you create love.
No one can give you your Krav Maga skills, in the end it is only what you yourself make that counts. The skills you take are equal to the effort you put into it, the time on the mat. Yes, a better instructor can get you there faster, a more evolved system can dramatically improve your abilities, but still, you will have to put in the time, you will have to sweat and even bleed a little, this is the law of nature.
The ability you have is equal to the time and effort invested. This is true for music and for martial arts. The Beatles started their careers with poverty and much rejection. One recording executive who rejected them, said, "guiter music is on the way out." (early 1960's, he was wrong of course). But they put in the time, just compare their first efforts to the final product, Abbey Road. In the end the success you take is equal to the success you make.
Krav Maga is no different from other relationships; You neglect it and it will neglect you, you nurture it and it will nurture you. And In the end it is up to you.