The difference between the "Master" and the "Beginner" is actually very small. I realize this is shocking to some, but it is true nonetheless.

Funakoshi Gichin, the Kaiso (founder) of Shotokan Karate, has been quoted as saying "Victory and Defeat are determined by attention to simple things"

In traditional ryuha one hears of okuden or hidden teachings (奥伝 - okuden, lit. "transmit the heart" or "interior tradition"). One may expect these things to be great secrets (how to smash your enemy like The Hulk while sipping jasmine tea) but in reality these tend to be small things ("balance your weight like this" or "shift the grip on your jo to this"). For this reason Western martial artists sometimes feel let down, or cheated, or "ripped off" when they finally learn the carefully hoarded wisdom of generations. Upon consideration you might realize these small things have been carefully hoarded through the ages because these small things have kept your predecessors alive.

Several of the TKD schools in my area have intramural or "Pod" tournaments and I always try to attend when possible; I get to see friends, watch good competition and a different style of martial art. Two tournaments ago I had a young Black Belt ask me to watch his pattern (kata) and give him any feedback I might have. At the end, I changed one small thing - his hand position when performing a spin heel kick. Right away he noticed a difference in both his balance and the "feel" of his kick. At the next tournament (this past Saturday, May 2nd) this young man made a point of finding me to tell me he had been working on the change, that his pattern (kata) had improved to the point others were noticing it, and that all of his kicks were getting better. One small thing...

Speaking of kicking and small changes, a few weeks ago I was working on soto geri (side kicks) with another Sensei and one of his students. We were kicking a hanging heavy bag, both of them were getting about a 30 degree swing on the bag. After I changed their upper body position slightly both of them were getting 80-90 degree swings with each kick. Yet the student remarked it felt "like I am not using any power at all". One small thing...

On a sad note, at Saturday's tournament another Sensei related that a student for which we both held high hopes had decided to quit. It seems she was "not learning anything new". Her Sensei (correctly) pointed out that both he and I had given her several things to work on for improving her technique and developing her skills, and also that she was not even trying to implement those things; so she was not ready for something new. She has decided to go and "do something else"; perhaps the understanding of small things is beyond her.

Pay attention to the small things, the simple things. All great things are built of many small things.