Does it work?

Everyone wants to know which styles really work in a real life situation.
Everyone wants to know what techniques really work in a real life situation.

When you look at styles or techniques as one works while the other doesn't, it's disrespectful and it causes never ending arguments. 
Rather than wasting so much time and energy on thinking this way, I think in a different view point. 

Every style and technique has the chance of working, failing, and everything in between.
It's not about finding the best ones, but instead knowing the pros and cons to figure out the when, where, and how.

Take a tennis racket for example.
Let's say we have two rackets, one is a cheap $15 racket while the other one is an expensive $100 racket. 
If you give the pro the cheap $15 racket they are still going to play like a pro. 
If you give the beginner the $100 racket they are still going to play like a beginner.  
So what I'm trying to say is that it's not the style. 
It's you the individual. 
So my philosophy was to become the best student that I can be. 
Does it matter if I train in the world's best style or the third best style, or fifth best style?
If I'm a good enough student then I could train in the worst style and still find a way to benefit from it. 
My dad said to me, you can learn from anyone if your willing to learn, even if the person does it all wrong, then you learn how not to do things. 

I constantly ask myself this very important question.
"What can I do to increase it's chance of working in a real life situation?"

With this view point, I'm the one that's responsible, it's in my hands whether something is effective or practical. It's up to me. I don't blame the style or technique, those things are just the tool.

Say you fail a calculus test in college, so you start yelling that calculus is stupid and it doesn't work. Nobody will take you seriously. They will look at you like it's not calculus that's stupid.
It should be about being a good student. 
Not about blaming the course or the teacher. 
All you can do is do your best to study and learn. 

No matter what style or technique it is, I think one can find it's effective and practical use through practice and effort. If you want to be able to use your tool in real life, then you need to have a realistic viewpoint and have realistic expectations.

Never lose faith that something can indeed work, even if you can't figure it out at the moment.
It may take weeks, months, or even years until you find a way to make it work for you, but what's important is that you keep finding a way, you keep working on it and you will find that you get better and better, you are crafting, honing your skills. 

Martial arts is not some product that you buy, it's something that you grow and develop through nurturing. 

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