"If it don't look good, it's no good!" -Samurai ideology
One of the ideas about the Martial Arts that is sometimes over looked is that it is supposed to look good when executed, especially during combat. The Samurai would rather die in a battle than win with uncalculated, unstructured, lucky movements. To the Samurai, a moment of combat was a picture being painted.
I personally adopted this as my discipline for professional MMA & Muay Thai fighting. In every fight I would have rather loss than won by some lucky crap that I happened to toss out at the moment. I held honor towards my opponents as warriors and every warrior deserved to lose only to respectable technique & skill, not garbage.
Combat is an intimate moment between two human beings where they share and trade emotion and behavior at it's most powerful and dangerous state, while putting body and life at risk. It is a holy moment of true sacrifice by both who choose to engage against each other.
My Muay Thai Kru Ron Smith used to tell me... "When you fight Jermaine, the Gods stop to watch."
Many may have taken this as a compliment and gotten a swelled head over it but I didn't. I took it as a warning to assure that I did everything right when under combat pressure. I had no plans on upsetting the Gods with a sloppy, ego filled win.
Regardless of if you are a Martial Artist or not, you should always view that which you do in the same manner. Every time that you do what you do, you are creating a piece of art with your signature on it that you may be remembered by. And it might be the only thing that certain people get to remember you by. From the dishes, to taking out the trash, to laying out a fork, to saying hello, to leading the way, to getting dressed today. All that we do is who we are.