We’re Just Babies Man

I recently took my first Karate class. From the time I decided to take the class up to the actual first class, I had been most excited! I decided to take the Karate class because I have a membership at the community center and wanted to take a class I had never taken before.

Karate was an easy selection because it’s teachings of self-defense. My mom had always wanted me to take a self-defense course. In addition, I felt it would be a great complement to my current yoga practice.

Crawl Before You Walk
So here I was, early and waiting. The youth Karate class is before the adult Karate class. Most of the children and their parents disseminated and went on their merry way, but there were some hanger ons. Maybe the children were with the adults that were staying for the adult Karate class and so they were just playing around until the adult class started, so I thought.

So cool, I’m sitting and waiting. It’s time for the class to begin. An instructor calls for the class to begin. I only see little people lining up and one other adult besides the two instructors. I must be in the wrong class!

One of the instructors breaks the class up into groups. I catch his attention. I inquire about being in the “right” class.

He assures me that I am in the “right” class that the children I see around me are very advanced in the practice and I am the beginner of this class. Well all right!

The instructor paired me with another young lady, around eleven or twelve. He showed me ten basic stances and a few other moves. After showing me, he watched and assisted as the young girl and I practiced.

Look, Listen & Learn
I expected handouts and literature on the language and the poses I had practiced, so I could study at home. The Sensei informed me that the practice was in my mind. I would learn through seeing it and then doing it.

In that one night I learned that, we are always just babies in some aspect of our lives. Babies don’t know our language, they learn it by hearing it repeatedly, and they don’t study a handout. Babies don’t know how to crawl or walk, they learn it by simply doing it over and over until they do it right. Again, they don’t study handouts.

It was a most humbling experience. I expected to see adults because it was an adult Karate class, but it wasn’t about age, it was about mastery. These children were mastering an art and were far more advanced than I was.