A young martial artist came to an old teacher to perfect his martial arts skills under him.
The student has learned martial arts over few years from different teachers, therfore
already had some knowledge about martial arts.
The young person sat in front of the old teacher and started to talk about his martial arts
knowledge, experiences and his skills.
The teacher listened silently, but the student is still talking about his
knowledge gained from his past teachers.
The teacher called a student and asked to bring tea for them. He returned with a tea pot and two cups.
Then, the teacher put one cup infront of himself and the other cup infront of the young martial artist.
Then, he started to pour tea in to the youngsters' cup. The cup was filled. But, the teacher is still pouring tea
in to that cup. It began to overflow.
"Teacher, the cup is overflowing. No more tea can be poured in to the cup" told the youngster.
"Oh! you understand. You have to empty your cup before you taste the teachers' cup" replied the old teacher
with a smile.
- Enlightenment -
Student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"
The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."
- Chasing two rabbits -
A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. "I'd like to improve
my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I'd like to
study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?"
"The hunter who chases two rabbits," answered the master, "catches neither one."
- Martial artist with one eye -
A young boy came to an old teacher to learn martial arts. That old teacher was one of the best teachers
in the country at that time.
"Teacher, can I be the best martial artist in the country if I trained under you?" asked the student.
"Certainly ..." replies the teacher.
"How many years would it take?"
"About ten years."
"That's too long. If I practice with you daily, how many years would it take?"
"Twenty years."
"If I train with you three times a day on each day, how many years would it take?"
"Thirty years."
"How would it be ... When I am training more times, it must be shortened." the student asked with wonder.
"You are already watching your final aim with one eye. So, how could you go your journey with the other single eye?"
