We hope to be awarded our new belts either this Tuesday, or next Saturday unless the class gets canceled due to the Open Martial Arts Tournament in Sylvan Lake. We hope to go observe this but we have no plans to participate.
Last night we went to see Mozart’s Requiem with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Richard Eaton Singers, and the Edmonton Ballet. It was very impressive. Apart from the great music and dance, what struck me the most was how agile, fit, and strong the male and female dancers were. I could not help but think of how they would all literally kick our asses in kata because they would be really good at it. The analogy between ballet and kata is a good one with the exception that our kata are very hard and ballet is much softer. I am not speaking of difficulty here. When I say hard I mean with power and precision and sharpness, whereas ballet and some forms of Kung Fu are softer, with more fluid grace.
These dancers would have no problem dancing through a 5 hour Black Belt grading before lunch. They make hyperactive kids look downright sleepy. You know, the kids who run around aimlessly and bounce off walls without stopping.
I am very impressed and more than a little inspired by these athletes. It’s strange how taking lessons in a hard and ruthless fighting art like karate could make me appreciate the finer arts as well. Or at least the athletes who we saw dance last night.
