The other day I was thinking about a time when my boys were young. We had signed them up for Karate and they had been in the sport for a while. I never got involved other than to watch them or drive them back and forth. My wife took them more often than not. There were several things I really enjoyed about it. I liked to go to the tournaments and I liked to see demonstrations. To see the things that even the smaller kids could do was a treat.
I remember one day that I went to a demonstration which I found particularly fascinating. Our kids' Sensei was a 3rd degree Black Belt and his Sensei came to town. This guy did some stuff that I remember to this day. First, I saw him make a fist and allow a car to drive over it. Wow. I was so glad that he didn't ask me to drive the car. Secondly, I saw him chop the top off a coke bottle with his bare hand, without knocking the bottle over. I was impressed, you bet.
I admire the dedication of people who accomplish mighty things. I have done a number of things that took years of work to achieve and I love to see it in others. I really miss hanging around with all those gym rats. I liked to see their grace as they performed their demos and their self confidence was evident. As a rule, they were mostly easy going and well mannered, with some exceptions. The kid's teacher would throw people out that were reported to be using their skills for bullying others. This was the first thing that influenced me to trust the kids to his teaching.
The human body is capable of doing undreamed of things. In martial arts, as in any other thing, it is good to remember to live in balance. To chop the top off a coke bottle without moving it is cool, but you should be able to change a light bulb. What I mean is, be functional as well as impressive. You'll be happier.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
I remember one day that I went to a demonstration which I found particularly fascinating. Our kids' Sensei was a 3rd degree Black Belt and his Sensei came to town. This guy did some stuff that I remember to this day. First, I saw him make a fist and allow a car to drive over it. Wow. I was so glad that he didn't ask me to drive the car. Secondly, I saw him chop the top off a coke bottle with his bare hand, without knocking the bottle over. I was impressed, you bet.
I admire the dedication of people who accomplish mighty things. I have done a number of things that took years of work to achieve and I love to see it in others. I really miss hanging around with all those gym rats. I liked to see their grace as they performed their demos and their self confidence was evident. As a rule, they were mostly easy going and well mannered, with some exceptions. The kid's teacher would throw people out that were reported to be using their skills for bullying others. This was the first thing that influenced me to trust the kids to his teaching.
The human body is capable of doing undreamed of things. In martial arts, as in any other thing, it is good to remember to live in balance. To chop the top off a coke bottle without moving it is cool, but you should be able to change a light bulb. What I mean is, be functional as well as impressive. You'll be happier.
From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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