Introduction to Athlete's Way of Excellence
Excerpted from Athlete's Way of Excellence
CHAPTER 1 / Introduction
Perfect timing, being in the Zone, doing the right thing at the right time, is all about being in a state of excellence.
Five-thousand-year-old Chinese wisdom teaches the way of how “to be,� as well as what and when “to do,� in harmony with our surroundings and our circumstances. Those same principles have been used by masters of kung fu and other forms of Asian martial arts for thousands of years. Mastery of this Way of Excellence allows for an effortless going with the flow of what is, regardless of the situation and circumstances at hand.
Bruce Lee, the iconic kung fu martial artist and movie star, made this way of living part of his life with his saying: “Be like the bamboo; bend slightly with the wind and spring back stronger.�
The Way of Excellence describes a method to master a skill. This is the ancient practice of kung fu. The original meaning of the word kung fu is made up of two Chinese characters; the first, kung, means skillful work or endeavor and the second, fu means time spent. To practice kung fu in the true meaning is to spend time perfecting a skill. A master of kung fu is one who displays tremendous proficiency in one’s craft.
To paraphrase Bruce Lee: “Kung fu is an integral part of the philosophy of Tao and Zen, the ideals of giving with adversity, to bend slightly and then spring up stronger than before, to have patience in all things, to profit by one’s mistakes and lessons in life. These are some of the many aspects of the art of kung fu; it teaches the way to live�
The word “way� has many meanings. In this text it is defined as; how something is done, a method or system that can be used to do something; the course, path or road traveled from one place to another. A course of action, a series of actions or sequence of events leading to a direction or toward an objective, a possible decision, action, or outcome.
Athletic peak performance is brilliant, and it takes place in a state of peace and grace. It is never forced nor tense. It happens automatically without thinking. The individual often states that it felt like time slowed down and all their senses were heightened. The experience is euphoric, and every athlete who has ever experienced this state wants to experience it again. The problem is how do you live and train to reach this stage on a regular basis? How can we sustain this state of excellence for longer periods of time?
Ancient Chinese wisdom teaches four stages of “doing� and one ever-present stage of “being.� Those stages of excellence are explained as a metaphor. A metaphor is telling a story using figurative language or symbols. Those four stages, or durations of time, are metaphorically named after the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter.
The first stage is “Spring� � a time for Commitment. A new beginning, a time to give birth to a dream, realizing a goal, making a decision and committing to a cause of action. The second stage is “Summer� � a time for Action/Competition. The action that leads to accomplishment over a period of time with proper repetition. The third stage is “Fall� � the outcome or Result. Something that happens as a result of an activity or process. The fourth stage is “Winter� � the Recovery. A necessary stage of reflection and recovery before a new cycle of growth can start over.
Each one of those four stages can last for an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, or any duration of time. Hence it is a metaphor of time named after one of the four seasons. Excellence is “doing� the right thing at the proper time (season). Each “season� represents a duration of time doing the “right�
thing. Each stage is one of four, all necessary, that make a whole complete cycle of excellence.
The Ancient Chinese also talked about a fifth ever present stage of One-Mindedness. This stage is about “being� of Present Mind, calm and at peace in the here and now.
The act of “doing� in each of the four stages of time are explained as a parable. A parable is a short story that teaches a lesson. The parable of the “seed� is teaching us that everything we think, say and do is a “seed planted.� Everything we think, say and do has consequences. As we sow, so will we reap. The principle of the seed is to bear fruit and to multiply. This is a universal law that we can be ignorant about, but we cannot escape its consequences. When you plant a seed, you do not get one seed back, instead, you get tenfold or a hundredfold. This is why it is important to plant a good seed to bring forth a great harvest.
The Spring Commitment phase represents the beginning with planning and decision making or in other words “planting a seed,� making a commitment. The Summer Action phase represents activity, labor of love, and joy, or in other words tending to the soil and planted seed by “watering and weeding.� The Fall Result phase represents the outcome, completion, and closure, something accomplished or learned i.e. “bringing in the harvest.� The Winter Recovery phase represents experience, reflection, storage, recovery, and rest. All are necessary before you can start over with a new beginning or “Spring.�
The ever-present moment is the state of “being� not “doing,� to be grounded, calm, and present in the here and now. “Being� of Present Mind and at peace in each “season� of “doing.� Timing is doing the right thing at the right time. Doing one thing at a time while “being� in excellence.
No one questions the success of the current New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. With 15 Division championships, 8 AFC Conference championships and 5 Super Bowl championships in 18 years as a head coach, he has created a dynasty. This was done in an era of the salary cap.
In professional sports, a salary cap is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money a team can spend on players� salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team’s roster, or both. The salary cap was installed to create a competitive balance in the league. The Patriots became victims of their own success. Their players� value increased to such an amount they could no longer hold onto them all. Every year, the Patriots lost players who were offered more money and bigger contracts by other teams who had not exceeded their cap and could afford them. How could Belichick keep winning and be as successful as he had been when he had to bring in new, less experienced and less expensive players every year?
Belichick is famous for his expression, “Do your job.� The success of his teams can be summarized by the fact that each and every player knows what their job is and when to do it. Knowing what to do and when to do it is a requirement to be in the Way of Excellence. A team is no stronger than its weakest link. Belichick knows his players� abilities and does not ask or expect them to do more than they can do (doing their best). When they do what he tells them, when he tells them to do it, they are usually successful.
The Way of Excellence is all about timing, doing the right thing at the right time. Even if you are an athlete in an individual sport you still need the knowledge of “how to do your job,� knowing what to do and when. In Athlete’s Way of Excellence, ancient Chinese wisdom is used to metaphorically explain what to do, when to do, and how to be.
Striving to apply the wisdom of the Way of Excellence in your athletic pursuit and everyday life will bring excellence. This book will present 12 lessons for you to read and practice on your path to excellence. Each lesson teaches mastery of one of the stages.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Lee quotes excerpted from The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee by John R. Little. This edition published in 2016 by Chartwell Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 142 West 36th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA
CHAPTER 1 / Introduction
Perfect timing, being in the Zone, doing the right thing at the right time, is all about being in a state of excellence.
Five-thousand-year-old Chinese wisdom teaches the way of how “to be,� as well as what and when “to do,� in harmony with our surroundings and our circumstances. Those same principles have been used by masters of kung fu and other forms of Asian martial arts for thousands of years. Mastery of this Way of Excellence allows for an effortless going with the flow of what is, regardless of the situation and circumstances at hand.
Bruce Lee, the iconic kung fu martial artist and movie star, made this way of living part of his life with his saying: “Be like the bamboo; bend slightly with the wind and spring back stronger.�
The Way of Excellence describes a method to master a skill. This is the ancient practice of kung fu. The original meaning of the word kung fu is made up of two Chinese characters; the first, kung, means skillful work or endeavor and the second, fu means time spent. To practice kung fu in the true meaning is to spend time perfecting a skill. A master of kung fu is one who displays tremendous proficiency in one’s craft.
To paraphrase Bruce Lee: “Kung fu is an integral part of the philosophy of Tao and Zen, the ideals of giving with adversity, to bend slightly and then spring up stronger than before, to have patience in all things, to profit by one’s mistakes and lessons in life. These are some of the many aspects of the art of kung fu; it teaches the way to live�
The word “way� has many meanings. In this text it is defined as; how something is done, a method or system that can be used to do something; the course, path or road traveled from one place to another. A course of action, a series of actions or sequence of events leading to a direction or toward an objective, a possible decision, action, or outcome.
Athletic peak performance is brilliant, and it takes place in a state of peace and grace. It is never forced nor tense. It happens automatically without thinking. The individual often states that it felt like time slowed down and all their senses were heightened. The experience is euphoric, and every athlete who has ever experienced this state wants to experience it again. The problem is how do you live and train to reach this stage on a regular basis? How can we sustain this state of excellence for longer periods of time?
Ancient Chinese wisdom teaches four stages of “doing� and one ever-present stage of “being.� Those stages of excellence are explained as a metaphor. A metaphor is telling a story using figurative language or symbols. Those four stages, or durations of time, are metaphorically named after the four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter.
The first stage is “Spring� � a time for Commitment. A new beginning, a time to give birth to a dream, realizing a goal, making a decision and committing to a cause of action. The second stage is “Summer� � a time for Action/Competition. The action that leads to accomplishment over a period of time with proper repetition. The third stage is “Fall� � the outcome or Result. Something that happens as a result of an activity or process. The fourth stage is “Winter� � the Recovery. A necessary stage of reflection and recovery before a new cycle of growth can start over.
Each one of those four stages can last for an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, or any duration of time. Hence it is a metaphor of time named after one of the four seasons. Excellence is “doing� the right thing at the proper time (season). Each “season� represents a duration of time doing the “right�
thing. Each stage is one of four, all necessary, that make a whole complete cycle of excellence.
The Ancient Chinese also talked about a fifth ever present stage of One-Mindedness. This stage is about “being� of Present Mind, calm and at peace in the here and now.
The act of “doing� in each of the four stages of time are explained as a parable. A parable is a short story that teaches a lesson. The parable of the “seed� is teaching us that everything we think, say and do is a “seed planted.� Everything we think, say and do has consequences. As we sow, so will we reap. The principle of the seed is to bear fruit and to multiply. This is a universal law that we can be ignorant about, but we cannot escape its consequences. When you plant a seed, you do not get one seed back, instead, you get tenfold or a hundredfold. This is why it is important to plant a good seed to bring forth a great harvest.
The Spring Commitment phase represents the beginning with planning and decision making or in other words “planting a seed,� making a commitment. The Summer Action phase represents activity, labor of love, and joy, or in other words tending to the soil and planted seed by “watering and weeding.� The Fall Result phase represents the outcome, completion, and closure, something accomplished or learned i.e. “bringing in the harvest.� The Winter Recovery phase represents experience, reflection, storage, recovery, and rest. All are necessary before you can start over with a new beginning or “Spring.�
The ever-present moment is the state of “being� not “doing,� to be grounded, calm, and present in the here and now. “Being� of Present Mind and at peace in each “season� of “doing.� Timing is doing the right thing at the right time. Doing one thing at a time while “being� in excellence.
No one questions the success of the current New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. With 15 Division championships, 8 AFC Conference championships and 5 Super Bowl championships in 18 years as a head coach, he has created a dynasty. This was done in an era of the salary cap.
In professional sports, a salary cap is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money a team can spend on players� salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team’s roster, or both. The salary cap was installed to create a competitive balance in the league. The Patriots became victims of their own success. Their players� value increased to such an amount they could no longer hold onto them all. Every year, the Patriots lost players who were offered more money and bigger contracts by other teams who had not exceeded their cap and could afford them. How could Belichick keep winning and be as successful as he had been when he had to bring in new, less experienced and less expensive players every year?
Belichick is famous for his expression, “Do your job.� The success of his teams can be summarized by the fact that each and every player knows what their job is and when to do it. Knowing what to do and when to do it is a requirement to be in the Way of Excellence. A team is no stronger than its weakest link. Belichick knows his players� abilities and does not ask or expect them to do more than they can do (doing their best). When they do what he tells them, when he tells them to do it, they are usually successful.
The Way of Excellence is all about timing, doing the right thing at the right time. Even if you are an athlete in an individual sport you still need the knowledge of “how to do your job,� knowing what to do and when. In Athlete’s Way of Excellence, ancient Chinese wisdom is used to metaphorically explain what to do, when to do, and how to be.
Striving to apply the wisdom of the Way of Excellence in your athletic pursuit and everyday life will bring excellence. This book will present 12 lessons for you to read and practice on your path to excellence. Each lesson teaches mastery of one of the stages.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bruce Lee quotes excerpted from The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee by John R. Little. This edition published in 2016 by Chartwell Books, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 142 West 36th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA
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