Consistency
At the beginning of nearly every semester at Rutgers Kokikai Aikido , I have at least one new student who says something like this: "Sensei, I really love aikido, can you tell me how I can practice more often than two days a week? I want to practice every day ." I always tell them that two days a week is optimal, especially considering how much school work they are likely to have. My teachers always said that two days a week was just enough for people who have a "life in the world," whether it's work, school, or taking care of family. I have heard that the cheetah is the fastest animal on land at 113km/hr, but cheetahs can only maintain top speed for short bursts. A slower animal with staying power can overtake a cheetah. There are plenty of martial arts stories about students who are in a hurry to become masterful, and the moral is always the same: there are no shortcuts and consistency is key to mastery . If the student is insisten...