Last week I posted about Paganini being next.  He is – The Witch’s Dance is the next song in Book 2, and I am itching to get going with him.  In Wednesday’s lesson Teacher asked me if I was ready to move on or if I wanted another week with The Two Grenadiers.  I was so tempted.  I wavered, asked her what she thought, generally hesitated, felt quite non-executive, and then said I’d wait.

There is no need to rush.  I’ve waited this long for Paganini, and while I’m enjoying The Two Grenadiers and can play it through, I know that focusing on it for another week will be productive.  Of course that’s not to say that practicing only the songs I already have wouldn’t continue to be productive for quite some time!

My style of karate is very rich in curriculum – there’s lots to learn at each new level.  Many people, early in their training, feel it’s important to learn new material very quickly, and then go onto the next thing as quickly as possible and proceed to learn that as quickly as possible too.  Karate, as a –do form in Japanese lingua-culture, has an ethos that is not well-represented by such rushing.  The –do forms in Japanese are all paths to personal fulfillment, and inherent in their practice is the notion that the journey itself is the practice.  There is no real destination.

Of course many of us, karate folks and non-karate folks alike, try to take that approach into our whole lives.  And how ‘bout that – playing the violin is part of life, yes?

Thanks for reading.

Ryan