Bricks

(thanks for the inspiration KGW)

Everybody loves Legos, right?  I can't think of too many kids, myself included, that didn't spend hours making all kinds of things with them.  Of course, we would start by trying to make the things we saw on the boxes. We'd pore over the manuals, step-by-step, and try our best to get the final product to look correct.  Of course, at some point we would always disassemble and start making new things of our own.  That's really what Legos are about.

I even loved the Lego movie, since it also hit on themes of fostering creativity and innovation - necessary aspects of every happy and successful person.

Martial arts are quite a bit like Legos, too.

Legos come in pieces. So do techniques.  Unique shapes, colors and attributes are found in almost every set.  At first, each piece is already interesting on its own.  We examine each piece as a discrete block: tall or flat, round or square, number of pegs, and so on.  Later, we imagine how to assemble them to create what we want.  We go from conventional designs like houses, cars, animals and the like into rocket ships, aliens and everything in between.

Techniques are also much more interesting when we consider how they can be combined to create different effects.  The more we learn and understand the attributes of each technique or tool, the better able we are to find the right place to put it in our flow.   Over time and with diligent practice, we become better able to express our thinking through how we move.  We combine and reassemble techniques dynamically to do what we want at any time.  We FLOW.  We can even imagine what pieces we might need for a particular objective we have in mind by imagining the attributes the pieces need to fit together.  Yes, we can do this thinking and problem solving with martial arts techniques too.

Of course, when building structures, the basics still apply.  We don't build buildings from the top down, we build them from the bottom up.  More about that topic here.  And here. A practical example here.

I used to visit friends who always had special sets and pieces I didn't have.  We'd trade and share Legos all the time, trying (not always succeeding) to make sure we got back and returned all the pieces when we were done.

In the Martial arts, we attend seminars, go to camps, watch videos and share with others to better see what movements they have that can enhance what we know.  The sharing and fellowship is truly one of the best parts of the training.

As Emmet Brickowski, protagonist of the Lego Movie, correctly points out "You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe.  And you are capable of amazing things.  Because you are the Special.  And so am I.  And so is everyone.  The prophecy is made up, but it's also true.  It's about all of us.  Right now, it's about you.  And you still can change everything."

Everything is Awesome!