Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Practice, practice, practice...

I love the following quote from Musashi. This idea of constantly appraising technique and striving gives me great focus. When I feel myself drifting off during lessons I like to focus using this idea of always checking form and movement, getting feedback from my body and knowing that I'm staying on the path.

It's also interesting to see Musashi talk about the 'chosen' art-in a general way. Although he famously was a (two sworded) swordsman he encouraged training in other arts. I like to think that you can be a warrior in any artform where technical accuracy and physical discipline is present: art, flower arranging, karate ...

"Practice is the only way you will ever come to understand the Way of the Warrior is about. Constant striving for perfection of the self through the chosen art is the only path to enlightenment. Words can only bring you to the foot of the path, and to attain mastery and perfection you must constantly strive to better yourself through an understanding of your chosen Way."

Musashi's Book of Five Rings By Stephen F. Kaufman, Musashi Miyamoto.



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3 comments:

  1. Dan Prager11 March 2009 at 15:29

    Great stuff!

    Started to right a reply, but it morphed into a post of its own.

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  2. Sue C13 March 2009 at 07:06

    Wow! Am I learning the importance of practice,practice, practice at the moment. As I go up the kyu grades it seems to get harder and harder. It seems to take a lot more practice to get from competent to excellent than it did from novice to competent! Still I love it so I'll keep practicing...

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  3. Littlefair14 March 2009 at 10:32

    New techniques are taught in a moment really but you're right Sue, it takes the rest of one's life to master it
    :-)

    When I started training (especially with wrist locks and holds with throws) I was often baffled as to how this seemingly weird contortion of the limbs and body could ever be really useful! In isolation they seem contrived (they are). With accumulated experience the techniques seem to gather a collective knowledge and they cross-fertilise a lot more. This is how continued practice bears fruit...

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