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       #Post#: 74--------------------------------------------------
       Raising "The Bar"
   DIR By: Sensei Stephens
       Date: January 13, 2013, 2:16 am
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       As martial artists, it is our duty to always reach for higher
       peaks. We push for our limits with a certain philosophy. Limits
       are shy and don't like to be touched. When you touch your
       limits, they inch a little farther away, making you have to
       reach a little more to touch them again. We call this "raising
       the bar". This philosophy eventually brings us to some extreme
       behavior that some would consider foolish or even reckless. We
       take harder hits, we break harder materials, we fight harder,
       and we press on long after others would give in. We push
       ourselves until our will can no longer carry us. It is at that
       time that we look to the administration, our leaders, to help us
       move that bar.
       As chief instructor, it is my job to regulate the bar that we
       all work to reach. It is my job to make sure that my students,
       and their students as well, can make the most out of their
       training while minimizing the volume of actual injuries. It is
       my job to guide each through their own optimal growth. It is
       also my job to watch over each student and make sure that they
       do not over reach. It can be disastrous to reach beyond your
       present potential, rather than simply brushing against your
       limitations. This is a burden that every leader in every martial
       arts organization bears.
       I have been in a situation, as I am sure many have been, that
       the administration governing my training felt that my
       limitations had been reached before I had even really felt them.
       There are times when the leadership becomes frightened by their
       own students. Leaders begin to believe that people are pushing
       too hard, reaching too high, and putting themselves at risk in
       the name of their training.
       It is my belief that when this sort of scenario presents itself,
       it is up to the students to teach the teachers. Because you do
       more than I am willing or able, does not mean that you have gone
       too far. It is a simple reassurance of a point I have made many
       times: My best is MY best. Do not hold yourself to the
       limitations or accomplishments of the person standing next to
       you. There is no single bar that we all should measure up to.
       Reach for your own bar and help your neighbor reach for theirs.
       Do not be ashamed that you are not as strong as the person next
       to you. Be proud of your own strengths. Do not boast because you
       are stronger than the person next to you. Spend that energy to
       look at your own weaknesses or to help your neighbor overcome
       theirs.
       The goal is to be moving ever forward and upward, both as
       individuals and as a whole. And if the administration demands
       that the bar be lowered or even locked in place, it may be time
       for new leadership.
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