Snatch tha pebble from my hand, grasshoppa.

After kendo practice, while everybody was still lined up after mokuso, my sensei asked everybody a question... "How does one obtain excellence in kendo?"

"Practice more basics!"
"Concentrate on your footwork!"
"Hands and feet together!"

"No. No. No." My sensei shook his head and kept looking at all of us students.

"For one second, think outside of kendo. How does one obtain excellence in anything in life?"

I knew the answer without even really thinking about it. Maybe I just didn't want to say it, maybe I wanted the n00b students to have a chance to say it... I thought about just staying quiet and saying nothing, but the answer tip-toed outta my mouth and floated onto the floor in a soft whisper.

"You have to want it."

My sensei nodded in affirmation.

"Yes. You have to want excellence... and you have to want it badly."

*Thus ends another fortune cookie entry*
posted by G at 3:59 AM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33