Different Paths, Same Mountain

The martial way is not a walk, nor a marathon, nor a sprint.  It's a climb.  Sometimes you can climb in rapid bounds, making progress quickly.  Sometimes, it's a crawl.  Sometimes you backslide and need to recover lost ground again.  Sometimes the ground is solid with good traction.  Sometimes it slips into a gravel slide and you fall off the path.

There are many opinions on the proper method to scale the mountain.  Some will camp at the base and jeer at anyone who attempts, but those individuals quickly fade from sight as you make progress. 

Some who do make the trek say a sprint is best, but they tire quickly from their unsustainable exertion and don't climb very high nor very long, preferring to return to base camp and repeat the sprint when they regain strength to try again.  They are of the belief that the best method is to just sprint for longer and longer, until they are able to summit the mountain in a single intense effort.  Few of these types get near the top, though they often inspire those at base camp who get brave enough to consider their own attempt.  It's also a great way to get in shape, even though they never get close to the top.

Others say a steady pace is best, preferring to progress continuously, but at a slow pace.  These sorts insist on progress, but underestimate the mountain.  Sometimes climbs are predictable enough that a steady pace makes sense, but other times the slope increases, traction decreases, or surrounding weather worsens to the point that a more gradual pace or even setting camp partway up the slope is warranted.  At those times, just standing still on the wind ravaged slope is hard work, and progress will need to wait for rest or sunnier days.

So, the best way to summit the mountain is to move quickly when the going is easy, move gradually when the slope increases, and learn when to camp in place and lie in wait for strength to climb a steep pass.

There are also many paths up the mountain.  Some are brutal and unforgiving.  Some are more of a gradual grind.  Some paths just wind around the tip of the summit and never progress to the top.  Any way you get to the top, there is no way to rest up there.  You must struggle to the summit, and struggle to remain on top.