Strive for continuous improvement, instead of
perfection.
---Kim Collins (Olympian and
2003 World 100m Champion)
As students of the Martial
Arts, we are well acquainted with the notion of working steadfastly to improve
our discipline and our skills. One way to understand the discipline of constant
improvement is to remember the acronym CANEI—Constant and Never Ending
Improvement.
CANEI as a practice is not
limited to a particular area in which to strive for improvement because it’s
talking about you as a whole person. If you’re living the principal of CANEI,
you will constantly work toward perfection in all areas of your life– in
sports, school, martial arts, in family relationships, and other areas. We
should strive to improve all the time by learning and practicing.
Students who have paid
attention in their instruction at the Dojo will remember that, in our Student
Creed, there is a paragraph that very strongly echoes the idea of CANEI. Take a
moment. Recite the Creed to yourself and think about which paragraph really
speaks to the notion of Constant and Never Ending Improvement.
When you think about it, the
discipline of CANEI is extremely useful, and not just for your life as a
student of the Martial Arts. CANEI means knowing that a B can always be
improved to an A. It means that losing the big game can be transformed into
becoming a better player. It means that doing your best is not just something
you do occasionally, but every moment of every day.
CANEI also means that you
don’t allow failure to define you, but rather to motivate you to do better. As
Thai Martial Arts champion Tony Jaa said, “never be afraid to fail. Failure is
only a stepping stone to improvement.” So, don’t let that bad grade get you
down. Don’t allow a temporary setback to define you! Instead, use your low
moments to inspire you to do better and to constantly improve. No matter what,
you can always start to improve right now.
Part of being a Martial
Artist is having the courage and discipline to take the lessons we learn on the
mats outside the Dojo. Our task is to be examples, to be leaders in our
families, schools, and communities of what a Martial Artist really is. Using
CANEI will help you to reach your fullest potential and become the best person
you can be—the essence of the Black Belt Spirit!
What does CANEI stand for?
“Constant and Never Ending
Improvement, Sir!”
And, in case you haven’t
discovered it yet, paragraph four of the student Creed captures the essence of
CANEI.
“I intend to try my absolute best.”
