As a kid I studied martial arts – Shukokai Karate, Shotokan Karate, Kempo Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and even some Jeet Kune Do that Bruce Lee created.
I’d train at various clubs during the week and at weekends I’d go to gradings and tournaments.
It was easy to see who the masters were even before they started fighting – their coveted black belts told you who to watch.
That belt told you how much discipline and time had been put into mastering their art. The black belt holder had reached a degree of mastery.
However, there was one guy that was beating seasoned black belts – even 2nd and 3rd dan – even though he’d only just gained his brown belt.
I went to his club to train under his sensei.
Arriving 15 minutes early, ‘my guy’ was training on his own and he’d already worked up a sweat, but I noticed he was doing purple belt moves. And a few minutes later he started doing brown belt moves.
Next session I arrived 30 minutes early and he was practicing blue belt moves, before moving onto purple, then brown belt moves.
Next session I arrived 45 minutes early and he was practicing green belt moves, before moving onto blue, then purple, then brown belt moves.
Next session I arrived an hour early and he was practicing red belt moves, before moving onto yellow, then orange, then green, then blue, then purple, and then ‘his’ then brown moves.
He practiced the fundamentals every single training session and that discipline made him a formidable opponent beyond his actual experience.
In business, I’ve noticed that the fundamentals aren’t practiced enough.
In fact, very often the fundamentals were never mastered in the first place.
For example, when I talk to salespeople, marketing people and even the C-suite in organizations I find that they are all working on advanced level communication …
And almost without exception, when I ask them to give me their elevator pitch, they stare back blankly.
In business, the elevator pitch is white belt stuff.
Skip that and you’ll always be a vulnerable black belt.
