Reflections

This post is going to be me reflecting on two things, one a video that my teacher showed me last week, entitled "Barnsong" and the other an article called "Practicing."

Barnsong

This video was about a WISE student who had planned to build a barn. Throughout the course of his project he was working. From the video, it seemed that all he ever made time for was his project because of all the work that he completed. Unfortunately, he did not make enough time for many of the tasks that he had to do and I am running into a similar problem. I am finding it extremely difficult to perfect and polish my techniques. I am seeing improvements in the way I strike, but it is coming along rather slowly.

At the end of the video, the WISE student had not built the barn. He only had built part of it, but he did eventually construct the barn after his senior year was over. I think the fact that he actually completed the construction of the barn was very inspirational. His project involved an extreme amount of time and dedication, something that if applied to my project, I will gain a significant amount of experience in Karate and be a much more driven, and capable karateka.

Practicing

I learned a lot from this article. One of the first sentences I read was that "When it comes to learning, there is no substitute for actual hands-on experience." Learning techniques the proper way is entirely based on experience. Martial arts teachers impart their experience and teachings to their students and the only way they can do that is by making their students practice the techniques.

The article also mentions the fact that repetition is key to practicing. In Karate, karateka are supposed to train to make their techniques become second nature and applicable to almost every situation. I have to work harder and become more dedicated to my project so that I make the time to practice every day.