Consciousness

Years ago I was at one of Mr. Harris’ weekend seminars at the school, and a brown belt from another San Diego academy was there.  At the time, I was a purple belt, and the closest brown belt in our organization was future KOTC Champion Matt Stansell.  I remember thinking, “Wow, that guy’s a BROWN BELT!”, and listened intently as I overheard him talking to another seminar attendee about the journey:

“It’s not just how much time you’re on the mat.  It’s how much you’re thinking about it, and how much it’s in your consciousness.”

That made a lot of sense to me.  Watching is practicing.  Mitori Keiko.  Writing down the day’s techniques is practicing.  Observing class.  Creating combinations in your mind is practicing.  Of course, this has to be tempered with the physical expression of the art, but it’s not limited to that.

Man becomes what he puts his mind on.  Study on this.