The Three Requirements for Attainment
Part 2 of Hacking-Kung Fu: Its Aims and Objectives
There are countless reasons why students fail to achieve their objectives in their Kung Fu-Hacking training, but to help us understand the factors that contribute to success, great masters have from their long years of study and experience, summarized them into what are called the Three Requirements for Attainment. If you have these three requirements, you will succeed in whatever you set out to do, in Kung Fu, Hacking , or any other field. These three requirements are:
- The Method
- The Teacher
- The Student
Quite naturally, if you do not have the method you cannot even start training towards your objective. For example, you may like to acquire the art of Iron Palm or attacking Web Applications, but without the method you cannot practice. If you ever acquire Iron Palm or the art of attacking web applications on your own, it will be by sheer luck and will take a very long time. Moreover, the result is unlikely to be as good as that developed from the proper method, and you may have some not so intended consequences and harmful side effects as a result of this approach.
But more important than the method is the teacher. In this Information Era that we are in, one can easily read up on many Kung Fu-Hacking training methods. There’s books. There’s web sites. There’s blogs. You name it! There’s a seemingly infinitesimal pool of resources where one can attain information on any given subject. But without the proper instruction of a competent teacher, it will be difficult – though not impossible – to get good results. Especially in the more advanced aspects of the arts. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being self taught but there are at least two reasons why a teacher is necessary. First, the teacher can explain the finer points and overcome individual problems- both of which cannot be done adequately in books nor blogs. The second reason is even more important although it is less obvious. You ready for this? Here goes:
The teacher provides the confidence that the student needs. In this way, the student is assured that whatever happens, the teacher is around to help. Sometimes, even save them! The importance of this cannot be stressed enough. (Taking the time to choose a good teacher is highly recommended.)
However, at the end of the day when all is said and done. The most important requirement for high attainment in any art, is not the teacher but the student. You may have the best of methods and the greatest of teachers, but if you are unwilling or not ready, you will not achieve the objectives of your training. Period. On the contrary, given that you have the right method and a competent teacher, what you need to do is in theory is very simple: you merely have to practice regularly and persistently according to the method and teaching. Now don’t delude yourself into believing that this is going to be a walk in the park. Far from it! Regular and persistent practice can be very difficult. Even so, it’s the Lack of practice, probably more than anything else, that is the reason why many students fail in their objectives.
Stay tuned for Part 3 where we’ll finish up our Kung Fu-Hacking analogy. Until then, hack on, gents!
Namaste.
