Questions, questions and more questions .....

You study hard. You practice till you drop. You train and train and train. All for the day you achieve your black belt. All good and you continue on because you know in your heart you have only begun to learn and there is so much more you can achieve in your dojo. All good.

As you progress do you notice how often you ask questions? As you progress do you notice when you speak with authority and have less and less questions to ask? When is it that you no longer have to ask questions because you have assimilated all you can about your system and the martial arts in general?

As I age and as I put more years under my belt, no pun intended, I notice that when I think, teach or write I am leaning a bit more toward asking more questions to clarify what I know and to learn more of what I don't know. Questions, when I don't hear questions over statements of proverbial facts I begin to wonder if I have been doing my job on passing down marital arts to those who would follow. 

I would have thought just a few years ago that I had reached a level where I would not often need to ask questions yet I am actually noticing that what I am learning today tends to send me more questions to ask. Maybe that is key to any endeavor including martial arts, to ask questions constantly and continually to learn new things and to vet our what I already "think" I know. It is about the constant change that occurs naturally in nature and that means in our efforts of life and martial arts. 

Questions, are you asking questions? Are you caught in the making statements of what you think are facts syndrome? You can even have a balance in both making statements and asking questions or even making a statement of fact as if it were a question to validate or change what you know so you can be more informed - is this enlightenment or at least the path to enlightenment?

Is enlightenment actually knowing that you can not possibly know everything and questions are mere clarifications to the moment in time you live? Keep asking questions, keep learning and keep open to changes to what you know or think you know!