As always, excellent writing and food for thought. Although self-esteem is not an aim of what we do, it can be an unintentional benefit to both self and art. It's one thing to believe a technique from the manuals would be lethally effective if someone executed it with force, another thing to believe you would be capable of executing it with force, and yet another thing to have proven to yourself what happens when you actually execute it with force. All are valuable insights, but the last one builds confidence in self as well as art, which in turn inspires further training and study and through those efforts, increased skill.
For instance, although I believe in practicing with intent, I had a lot of trouble learning to physically do that and I knew I had to overcome that in order to progress. Details aside, I have the opportunity at work to practice striking with intent, using sharp weapons and a stationary, inanimate object as a target. I recently missed my target and broke off part of a table. In doing so, I finally proved to myself that *I* was able to cut with sufficient force to cause damage. Even such a small step shows progress and every bit of progress inspires one to strive for more progress. It wasn't my intention to learn a lesson about myself when I cut with intent and I don't think I'd have learned quite the same lesson if I'd pulled the cut and merely scratched the table. Still, it's a valuable lesson because otherwise I certainly wouldn't have realized how much I need to improve my aim. <img src="/forum/images/icons/blush.gif" alt="" />
