By Brandon Scriver

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“You need experience to know the right questions to ask—but the humility of a beginner to actually ask them.”
— Eye Square Martial Arts

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Start Where You Are, Not Where You Think You Are

I’ve been around martial arts for a while now, and I’ve realized something:
I may not have any natural talent—but I do have one advantage.

I can set aside what I think I know and approach training with the mindset of a beginner.

That mindset? It’s everything.

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🍵 The Lesson of the Full Cup

Senior Grand Master Ed Parker Sr. once shared a story:

A potential student came to visit a master.
As the master began to demonstrate some basic movements, the student kept interrupting:

“Oh, you mean like this?”

Each time, he’d perform his own version of the movement.

Finally, the master stopped and said:

“I’d like you to practice these two things.”

He showed the student two deceptively simple techniques and told him to return in a couple of months.

The student did as instructed. When he came back, the master asked him to demonstrate.

The student replied:

“I practiced those two movements so much… I forgot everything else I knew.”

The master nodded.

“Good,” he said. “Now you’re ready to begin.”

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🧠 The Beginner’s Mind

If you’ve trained even a little while—maybe just enough to earn a green belt—you’ve probably started building a mental collection of techniques you think you understand.

Then you visit another school.

It’s different. The movements feel off. Maybe even wrong.
And yet… something about it sticks.

“You can imitate technique—but you can’t fake understanding.”

There are always skills that transfer across styles, but martial arts isn’t just mechanics.
It’s mindset. It’s movement with meaning.

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🔄 Try Emptying Your Cup

Walk into a new style as if you know nothing.
Leave your “technique backpack” at the door and just… learn.

Ask yourself:

• 🟢 What’s different?
• 🟢 What feels familiar?
• 🟢 What’s the intention behind these movements?
• 🟢 What strategy is this art trying to express?

There’s an odd paradox in martial arts:

You need experience to know what matters—
But you need the humility of a beginner to see it clearly.

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💡 Final Thought: Return to Zero

The more you grow, the more important it is to let go.

True mastery doesn’t mean knowing everything.
It means returning—over and over again—to the beginning.

Empty your cup.
Then refill it.
Then empty it again.

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“Cultural Preservation… with Bruises.”
— Eye Square Martial Arts