Learning from Mistakes

Friday Knight News

Qualitas Potentia Nostra: Quality is our might!

Practice makes perfect is a fallacy. Perfect practice makes perfect is also a fallacy. However, correcting mistakes in your practice helps refine your skills and that is about as good as it gets. So, what do you look for when you train? Some people like to set a goal and try to reach a certain magical number. Other people shoot for getting into the required area and either making the minimum if things are tough, or surpassing it when things are going well. So, is it merely repetitions that you require for a good workout or do you have another set goal in mind? Don't get me wrong I have tried all of the above methods in my training.

Although the goal of trying to get a perfect technique is always out there, unattainable but out there. It doesn't matter if it is done with a punch, a kick, a throw, or a sword cut it is still elusive. Even when other people have said that I had performed perfectly, I was not convinced. I always try to correct the things I feel not just things that are perceivable with the eye. Maybe it's because balance, power, or even having the aesthetics off, from my point of view, diminished the technique. It is more than mere vanity though, or at least I hope so. But such is life when our bodies are at their healthiest and most fit we need the experience and when we have the experience we need the health. Yet there are other goals we can set, things that rely on a more mindful approach.

Tokyo's Meiji Jingu Iaibattodo contest, Glenn Waters wins the Yoko Narabi contest.

Even so I know there is no such thing as a perfect technique. Still, this idea of perfect techniques has been a Holy Grail type of pursuit for me from my youth. As someone who has never been pleased with anything I've achieved or accomplished, I like the thought that maybe one day I will find it. This reminds me of a time when I was frustrated with my side kick back in my youth. Despite being in splits I felt my kick was horrible. I had actually worn the soles off of my feet several times trying to get good at throwing this kick. I finally learned how to avoid this mistake, it was a painful lesson none the less.



Later on I was working out after class with a Hapkido master that had arrived from Korea a few months earlier. The Hapkido master spoke little English, and it was shortly before I got my green belt as a young teenager. We had already thrown 2,000 kicks (and twice as many punches), in the two classes that had lead up to this moment. Since I had only taken a few throws on this night, I had a bit more gas in the tank, even after the four hours of back to back classes. He and I took turns making our gi's (tobok), pop as we threw side kicks back and forth. He had started first, but by an accident in my timing I had begun to kick just before his foot touched ground, before he could start his second kick. I kept up the rhythm making my kicks seem to pop just before his,or so it would seem to everyone else that came into the room after we had started. At any rate after 30 minutes of exchanging kicks he told me that I had a perfect side kick. I had never heard him tell anyone else this before or afterward. At least I finally recognized that the speed and power of our kicks were the same, but the only difference was in the timing. We are doing well when we learn from our mistakes or if we are smart we are doing our best when we can learn from the mistakes of others.

Felix Culpa: Happy Fault, Happy Mistake.

My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with some science fiction, a dose of conspiracies theory, along with laughter, love and mystic experiences. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream meditation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.

Conversations with a Sage (Book 1 of the Dream-Walker)

Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to cope with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past. 

Xander and the Assassins Gift (Book 2 of the Dream-Walker)

The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.

Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)

Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.

Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)

Jace Lee The Shift: We meet Adam, (a new apprentice to Dream Walking), while he is fighting for his life. Adam is also struggling  to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee. Jace is a younger man than himself that has trained under Xander Davidson. His mentor likewise isn't without problems, Jace is attempting to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers, but his abilities may just be a harbinger of things to come.

Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)

Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.

Jace Lee and the Tutelage of Ming Wu: Dream Walker 6 

Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.