Mr. Han putting Dre through his paces
Last weeks post 10 Lessons Learned from the Karate Kid Movie got the ball rolling. We came up with ten more life lessons learned from watching this movie. Thanks to all who contributed.
Lesson #11—Focus on the task at hand. By constant drilling and practising, you are gaining “muscle memory”, so even the simple things like putting a jacket on and taking it off in a certain way will become second nature, becoming life skills we can use without even thinking. Contributed by Tayla Meath.
Lesson #12—Never judge a book by its cover. The old mild-mannered maintenance man is not what he appears to be; a kung fu expert. Mr. Han was clearly capable of doing more than just “fixing a tap”. How would you ever know? Contributed by Wendy Leeming.
Lesson #13—Balance is important in life. You cannot always just work, work, work. Dre pulled Mei Ying away from her music practice for a few hours, which re-charged her spirit and helped her relax during her stressful audition. You need rest and social time to balance out your hard work. Contributed by Sinem Kileci.
Lesson #14—What you name a movie contributes to its success. Although this movie was about kung fu, not karate, the name Karate Kid taps into the success of the earlier movie. The older generation, now parents of children who will see the movie, are very familiar with it. Contributed by Grant Hogan.
Lesson #15—Everyday movements can contribute to what we learn in class. Putting on the jacket, avoiding something thrown at you, or waxing a car (first Karate Kid Movie) can make martial arts movements second nature. Contributed by Nathan McCarney.
Lesson #16—Honour your word. If you say you are going to do something, do it. Dre promised to attend Mei Ying’s audition. Despite great hardship, he got there. He was true to his word.
Lesson #17—The only person you need to control is yourself. The wise Mr. Han counseled Dre on this. Dre could not control what the bullies or Mei Ying’s parents did or thought, but he could control what he did. A wise person does not worry about what is out of his or her control.
Lesson #18—The teacher can learn from the student. Mr. Han learned a lot about living life from Dre. He put some of his sadness about the past aside and put his energy into the building of Dre’s spirit.
Lesson #19—The martial arts can teach you respect and manners. Mr. Han did not like how Dre showed a lack of respect for his mother. By forcing Dre to do the jacket drill, he was also teaching him to have better manners and respect for his mom, and the importance of doing the right thing.
Lesson #20—The martial arts can build your confidence. Dre’s mother was amazed by the difference in his confidence at the end of the movie. The martial arts is about getting out of your comfort zone, which builds your self esteem and self confidence.
Find out more about our Sydney kids karate classes
“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”
Bruce Lee quote
Hi Matt – great looking site – love the black. Enjoyed reading your article about the movie. I haven’t seen it yet but your 10 lessons learned might persuade me to go!
great article do you have facebook fan?
Thanks Jan, hope you can see the movie. Maybe you can add some more lessons. Thanks miss holiday. Our fan page is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Australias-Youth-Self-Defence-Karate/186066242133
My boys do Martial arts and having been doing it now for over a year. They love it ! I do too, it teaches them so much, respect, stranger danger aswell as the Martial arts 🙂
Good post and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you for your information.
Thanks Hayley, appreciate your comments. Glad your boys have benefited from the martial arts.
Hi Matt, I visit your blog. It’s kind of remind me a few years back when my elementary sport teacher was trying to teach karate to my schoolmates and I. I was the only one who couldn’t follow the lessons, I couldn’t gain the muscle memory. I think I am not talented in doing martial arts.
Thanks RanHae, perhaps you gave up too early. Many slow starters end up being the best martial artists.
Such an amazing article! I Seriously enjoy reading it, very good insights, the article is very ell-Stated. A thumbs up!
Hey man, I own a website too and I almost never see spam comments on your posts. How do you manage to stop it all? Do you just manually moderate all of it?
Yes jocuri de gatit, I have to manually moderate all of it, although the spam catcher throws almost all the spam into file 13, where it belongs. It is time consuming, and makes me want to send it plus all the rest back to where it came from. Thanks for your visit and welcome.