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Monthly Message: November 2002
Fellow Karate-ka:
Keep working hard to obtain your goals!
You want to be the best that you can be. So dive into those requirements
for the current belt level that you are trying to achieve and do a
little at a time. Tackle one of the requirements on your list and learn
it well. Then move on to another. It's not enough to know how to perform
each one. You need to be able to show that you understand each new
requirements and can execute it to the ability of the belt level that
you will be testing for.
The learning process for each new
technique must be mastered in the mind first and then executed with
practice in the body second. Over feeding yourself never amounts to
anything good. Too much information for the mind and the result is
confusion. Focus is gone because there is too much to absorb. Surface
understanding is all that is accomplished. On the other hand, if you
learn one thing at a time and understand it, then you will move more
quickly to the next level in your training.
We all want to show that we can do our
best and that we can learn things quickly. This is true but only in the
capacity of general knowledge. It is a different story when it comes to
fully developing any subject matter. It must be studied thoroughly and
practiced many times over before our mind and body comprehends the
individual parts of each technique that we are trying to learn, what
they mean, and how to effectively use them in any situation. To top it
off, how would we teach our new technique to someone if we don't have a
firm grasp of it?
A fellow karate instructor told me one
time: "Inch by inch is a sinch. Yard by yard is very hard."
Take your time and learn each given
technique on your requirements sheets one at a time and learn it well
before you decide to move on. You are on a journey of becoming a black
belt. You want to be the best that you can be. Develop the black belt
attitude and learn your techniques one at a time and learn them well!
This is the way.
Sensei Dave
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