Proof is On the Floor: An Addendum

[Maybetrue]

i used to think like that when i was younger. just train,etc... but when you lose that physical aspects due to age you begin to realize that the true instructors are the one that can pass knowledge and continue the art. IT DOES HELP with credibility that the instructor was a great technician and kumite man when he was younger so you know that instructor is teaching thru execution and experience.

just my non 2 cents.

[sensei8]

i used to think like that when i was younger. just train,etc... but when you lose that physical aspects due to age you begin to realize that the true instructors are the one that can pass knowledge and continue the art. IT DOES HELP with credibility that the instructor was a great technician and kumite man when he was younger so you know that instructor is teaching thru execution and experience.

just my non 2 cents.

Solid post!!

Your 2 cents, imho, is worth trillions!! Limited physical aspects, as you've pointed out, are taken into consideration by that one tireless witness...The Floor!! As I get older, I'll be 58 this October, limitations are beginning to appear, and without my permission, and I'm learning to adapt to my limitations, but I can still teach! I might not be that spry whippersnapper anymore, but my value on the floor is my knowledge/experience of 51 years on the floor, and because I can still teach, I can pass my knowledge/experience to those wanting it.

Credibility exists, and when realized, the floor bow's out of the equation, and unbridled training continues without reservations!

[JR 137]

"The floor" perhaps taken to the next level...

The Guy in the Glass

by Dale Wimbrow, © 1934

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,

And the world makes you King for a day,

Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,

Who judgement upon you must pass.

The feller whose verdict counts most in your life

Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear up to the end,

And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test

If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy,

But the man in the glass says you're only a bum

If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,

And get pats on the back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartaches and tears

If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

http://www.theguyintheglass.com/gig.htm

The first time I heard it was when I was pledging my fraternity. One by one we were brought into an empty and dark room with only a candle and mirror. The person who'd later become my big brother read it while he was out of sight. Then you'd sit there for what seemed like forever until you were lead out of the room. Very powerful. I live my life, and subsequently my MA training according to what the poem says. Not that I'm some converted follower of a poet cult, but the poem speaks nothing but the truth.