Watching a black belt exam

[pegkerr]

Tonight, the head instructor of the girls' karate school, Mr. Sidner, was testing for his fourth degree black belt, so Rob and I and the girls went to watch the exam. It was the first time we've seen a black belt exam, for all the black belts testing region-wide. The whole thing lasted about three hours. I found it fascinating (the girls were

Comments

[chance88088]

hiya. I am not an architectural scholar, however it is the biz I work in, if you have any question, please feel free to ask at chance at cmorrison.com because I do know some stuff.

[jbru]

Ericka took karate classes for people with disabilities at Courage Center locally. There are pictures of her taking first place in forms and sparring somewhere in the depths of my computer at home. She was very impressed by the fellow with (I think) CP who had lost most of the use of his arms and sparred mainly with his feet; she said he had "wicked" feet.

You may be approaching architecture in a way that is too precise for your needs. Do you need to relate the specifics of how to do architecture? Those are the parts that are mathematical and precise. The parts that other people see are elegant, subtle and artistic. I recommend going to the Weismann Art Museum on the U of M campus. In a conference room therein, are Frank Gehry's concept sketches; if anything can cure you of the idea that architecture is mathematical and precise, it is those sketches.

[jbru]

Having done some poking about, I think this animated gif covers what I'm talking about:

http://www.weisman.umn.edu/architecture/surprises/images/building_animation2.gif

[pegkerr]

Wow. Thanks for showing me that.

[d_aulnoy]

Dunno if this will be at all reassuring or not, but, being as I'm both a silversmith and a literary critic, and someone who was utterly enthralled by _Emerald House Rising_? I'd say that your research skills and your inherent understanding of the topics that you choose are both in *very* good shape. Just me ...

[rachelmanija]

I think that in karate, as in writing, showing up and doing your best is the most important thing. But then there comes a point when you have to go beyond just showing up and doing your best. I'm not sure how that pertains to writing, but I know I've gotten to that point in karate. How to transcend just trying hard, I'm not sure, but when I figure it out, I'll let you know.

[sartorias]

Karate, like everything else, gets broken into tiny units at first--manageable units. And you drill them every day, over and over, then start putting them together into the forms.

So can you break the writing down into smaller increments, especially while you're busy and there are so many demands on your time?