In a consumerist world, we see people often buying the latest and greatest clothing, cars and electronics simply for the thrill of buying something new. These new things are no doubt exciting, but there is a problem though. New things come out every year. If we fall into the trap of buying something new at each opportunity for the thrill that it brings, we will quickly become dissatisfied (not to mention financially broke!). Obviously, we do not always need to buy these new things. They are not needs, but wants! We can easily re-wear the clothing in our closet, maintain our 6 year old car, use the same smartphone for 5 years, and get great quality photos with an 11 year old camera. We can still be happy with what we have in life, while gaining the discipline not to buy new things (and saving money) if we avoid the allure of the “Bright and Shiny”.
Having trained in Tang Soo Do for 20 years, I can attest that the people that stick with it for the long haul are great at avoiding the attractiveness of new things in their training, and are just as entertained with working on the basics. As time between rank tests increases as we keep training, we are introduced to new things less frequently. Instead we are forced to explore things we are already familiar with in new ways. These new ways of approaching old things often takes the form of dissecting a technique into infinitesimally small pieces or diving into applications. These two things represent a more complete understanding of the art toward mastery. In training, there also exists a “consumerist” practitioner. This practitioner will cross train in many different arts collecting different techniques to learn as much as possible, but will only have a shallow understanding of techniques.
Just like in the real world example of avoiding the consumer trap, we as martial arts practitioners will increase our wealth by avoiding the urge to get new things. In this case, the wealth we gain is a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Before chasing something new, remember there is always more to invest in what you already know (or think you know!).
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