That was the simple yet powerful message delivered to 40 of the best martial artists in the country, as the Australian Kyokushin Karate Development Squad set up camp in Griffith over the weekend.

Sensei Frank Cirillo believed all of the students got plenty out of the trip, which combined technique refinement with motivational seminars from some of the best in the business.

"It was a really good weekend, very professionally done," Cirillo said.

"We basically told the development squad that we're putting all of this (effort) into you and we don't want 99 per cent or 'I guess so' or 'I'll have a go'.

"Because of everything we're trying to do in making the sport more professional, you're either in or you're not."

The athletes were put through four hours of intensive training on Saturday, under the watchful eye of head coach Steve Hardy, with Cirillo saying the students made the most of being under the same roof as the leaders of the sport.

"They really took everything on board, and you could really see that it was genuine," he said.

"It's always a danger when you're talking about motivational speakers that it could come across as cliche, but they realised that this is what it's going to take to get to the top."