I was a junior investigator already, with a few successful cases behind me and already being recognized among my superiors. My advise: never let that sort of thing get to your head.
I was instructed to report to Sensei Y________ at a training facility known only as 'The Dojo'.
Advanced training I was told. I complied of course, but I was not happy about it. I had no plans to be one of the Black Ops Girls. I was not an assassin.
It's funny how our own misconceptions can become our greatest obstacles. I suppose I was expecting instruction in the "Wo Fang Xin Iron fingers of Death" or some such silliness.
Instead, I spent hours learning how to listen.
I spent days locked in the treasury until I could correctly answer the question: what is more valuable gold or corn? I'll give you a clue. It's not about hunger or economics. It's about post-formal thinking.
I was taught that there is a time to run, and a time to stand still. Timing can mean everything.
"There is timing in the whole life of the warrior, in his thriving and declining, in his harmony and discord. Similarly, there is timing in the Way of the merchant, in the rise and fall of capital. All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this." - Miyamoto Musashi
I was taught that balance is important in all things, and in some cases really, really important.
"You should not have a favorite weapon. To become over-familiar with one weapon is as much a fault as not knowing it sufficiently well. You should not copy others, but use weapons which you can handle properly. It is bad for commanders and troopers to have likes and dislikes. These are things you must learn thoroughly. " - Miyamoto Musashi
And I learned how to cook rice. Very important when you have to feed a school of hungry ninjas.
hajime choro-choro, naka pappa, akago naitemo futa toru na
There was time to read, time to train. But if I was to say I came away with anything from my time in the Dojo it was that all things are fluid by nature.At the end of my time at the Dojo, the Sensei told me that I had learned next to nothing, that he would consider the time spent instructing my dense self wasted, except that I now showed a slight degree of promise.
From what I had seen of the Sensei, this was very high praise indeed.
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