Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mini Revelation

I was reading Mat's Way this afternoon and left a comment how sometimes I felt it was hard to express things in class when there is only small revelations every once in a while. Those are interspersed with hours of labor perfecting technique and trying to learn new things.

I remember when everything was new and it was a tremendous effort to sift through everything I was learning in order get to settle in my brain. Now so much of it is rote so I can focus on the nuances. I was struggling to describe in posts past, but tonight I got a metaphor pop in my brain.

I realized that every night that I go to class it's like the first time learning technique, but I have all the skills and didn't realize it. It's like now I'm the first time natural will all the gifts, but I also have the gift to see what's wrong in others and myself without being critical.

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Teacher asked me to teach our sixth Kata/Hyung tonight. I must say that it went very well and as a class with had a beautiful synchronisity to our movements. At one point during our kicking drills we all knew that we in synch and balanced as well. You could feel it extending to the new students and it seemed to carry on throughout the class.

Sweet.

3 comments:

Colin Wee said...

I myself took six months as a black belt to get moving in a forward stance correct. Now I teach that insight (and others) to my students - who possibly don't practice it as hard as I did nor as many times as they should.

These are all gems that I hold close to me and I teach willingly. I talk about them a lot too. And blog about them. But without the associated months of hard work I myself have invested, those insights don't seem to come across as gems to be highly prized.

It's very personal this journey.

Colin

Potatoe Fist said...

I couldn't agree more. I just didn't realize the extent or nature of the journey.

KataCat said...

Hi,

I used a quote from this post regarding synchronicity in my blog - with a link to your blog. My apologies as I should have mentioned this sooner. I hope it is OK? The subject is martial arts and dance in answer to the Diary of Martial Artist's post on same subject.

I'm lucky, because the flip side of being 2nd kyu with LOTS to learn, is that I get plenty mini revelations. It's rewarding and is one of the things which keeps me hooked: there is usually a 'aaah' moment every 2-3 sessions and between each one I practice and think some more. Going back to the basics and getting closer to doing one at least proficiently is especially good.

This is what tells me karate is a long study, a lifetime dedication, as there will always be something to learn about mind or body.

Thanks for your entertaining and interesting posts.

Cat

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