Wisdom from the great Mr. Miyagi.
There are plenty of quotable quotes in the Karate Kid movies. If you haven’t seen them, they’re worth watching.
Lots of wisdom applicable to life and guitar playing.
In the first movie, Daniel is supposed to be learning karate from Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi has him doing mundane, every day tasks like waxing his car, painting a fence, and sanding his deck.
Daniel, being a short sighted and impatient student, is frustrated that he isn’t learning karate, just doing chores.
Little does Daniel know that the chores he’s doing are teaching him karate.
In fact, they were teaching him the foundational skills and techniques of karate.
I’m no Mr. Miyagi, meaning I don’t teach my students through having them do my chores (though, hmm, not a bad idea lol), but I do teach the fundamentals.
Fact is, you don’t ever stop going back to fundamentals.
I do simple exercises every day to keep my fundamentals sharp.
Like working my picking hand, working my fretting hand, and legato techniques.
Sometimes it’s the boring fundamentals things that actually help me the most.
If you’re stuck in a rut, it may just be the fundamentals that you need to go back to and work on.
It ain’t very exciting, but that’s the way it is sometimes.
Keep reading: Why your picking hand is holding you back and a daily picking-hand exercise.
Best,
Nicholas