How fast?

Martial arts are rife with wise-sounding generally zen-ish sayings and stories. One common one follows...

A prospective student went up to a master, and asked him how long it would take to learn his art. The master responded, “10 years.” The student, flabbergasted at the idea of committing for ten years, asked, “What if I train twice as often as the other students?” to which the master responded, “20 years.” Even more aghast, the student asked, ”What if I study 8 hours per day, every day, as hard as I can?” The master responded, “30 years.”

Take from that whatever meaning that you want – and the story does have some value. But there is also something to be said for the willingness to commit and devote yourself to serious, regular, repetitive, consecutive training. Simply put, the more often you come, the more you get out of it, and the faster you get it.

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I have found that regularity of training counts for more than intensity of training.