Today's Lesson: Always Practice the Basics
When I got home from work today, I sat down to watch an episode of King of the Hill, before Karate class. It was the one where Stricland Propane was having it's annual Grillstravaganza, and Hank took Bobby in to work to teach him about selling propane and propane accessories. He didn't let Bobby sell anything, instead insisting that he work on 'the basics' like wiping tanks and calabrating gauges. After some comedic hilarity, Bobby learned a valuable lesson, that mastering the basics and not compromising your integrity is the key to good salesmanship.
Then I went to the dojo, and while I was in the dressing room getting ready for class, I was talking to Sensei Marty. He asked me what I like to do, and I told him I liked art, and that I drew and did computer graphics. Then he told me that he was an artist too. He said he drew, painted and sculpted and that although he liked sculpture the best, drawing was the most important skill because it's the most basic. "That's where everything starts," he said. "Every artist needs to know how to draw."
Class started, with Sensei Marty teaching, and guess what the theme was. If you've guessed 'basics,' you're right. He emphasised that if your basics are good, your Kata and Kumite will be good too, and that if your basics are lacking, everything else will be lacking too.
It's not often that a day has such a consistant theme. Maybe the gods are trying to tell me something. I think I got the message.
Then I went to the dojo, and while I was in the dressing room getting ready for class, I was talking to Sensei Marty. He asked me what I like to do, and I told him I liked art, and that I drew and did computer graphics. Then he told me that he was an artist too. He said he drew, painted and sculpted and that although he liked sculpture the best, drawing was the most important skill because it's the most basic. "That's where everything starts," he said. "Every artist needs to know how to draw."
Class started, with Sensei Marty teaching, and guess what the theme was. If you've guessed 'basics,' you're right. He emphasised that if your basics are good, your Kata and Kumite will be good too, and that if your basics are lacking, everything else will be lacking too.
It's not often that a day has such a consistant theme. Maybe the gods are trying to tell me something. I think I got the message.