Today someone told me the story of the three bricklayers. Apparently it's been around forever, but this is the first I'd heard it. To me, it speaks perfectly to the power of intention in our training. The original story goes back to a 1927 book by Bruce Barton entitled What Can a Man Believe? I've reproduced it below:
"The great fire of 1666 destroyed the central part of London and laid a large number of its churches in ruins. It completely gutted the old St. Paul’s and made necessary the building of the present noble cathedral. This was the opportunity for Sir Christopher Wren, to whom London owes very much for what is finest in its architecture and especially in the character of its central churches. He received for his compensation a salary less than that of the American unskilled worker, but as his epitaph truly says, his work was “not for his own but for the public good,” and will keep bright his fame forever.
"One morning he passed among the workmen, most of whom did not know him, and of three different men engaged in the same kind of work he asked the same question: 'What are you doing?' From the first he received the answer: 'I am cutting this stone.’ From the second the answer was: 'I am earning three shillings and six pence a day.' But the third man straightened up, squared his shoulders, and holding his mallet in one hand and chisel in the other, proudly replied: 'I am helping Sir Christopher Wren to build this great cathedral.'"
All three people were engaged in the same task. They might even get very similar results. However, who will they become because of the work they do? How much pride will they take? Will they feel their life is making an impact? They all have fine reasons for being there. Earning money is just plain necessary, and supporting one's family is certainly noble. But to do all of that and find triumph in the doing of it, like the third man, takes a special perspective.
I think martial arts are like this. Maybe you train to spend time with your family. Maybe you do it for personal development, entertainment, or to earn pride in yourself. There's nothing wrong with any of those things. However, you'll have a very different experience of the arts if you're "building a cathedral." If you look at the tasks you face and realize that you are standing in an unbroken line of people who have passed these traditions to you for hundreds of years, that changes your perspective. If you realize that you are a part of that chain of history, a part of that priceless "cathedral," that changes your purpose.
In both combat and training, intention drives action and results. In order to get what you want out of training, pick your intention carefully.
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