Karate Kid

“I like this fence,” I said to Jess, as we walked down the path between houses to Clifton 2, “This wooden one.”

“What do you like about it?”

“It reminds me of the karate kid.”

“Why?”

“Did you ever watch the karate kid?”

“No,” Jess said.

I explained that Mr Miyagi instructed Daniel to hit nails into a wooden fence.

Jess listened and then said, “I like how formative karate kid was to you. You relate it to a lot of things as an adult. Did you watch it a lot as a child?”

“A lot.”

In our home, we weren’t allowed to watch a lot of tv – that’s putting it mildly. For most of our childhood, we were allowed one program each (I have an older brother) on Saturdays and Sundays – so that’s half an hour – and we could watch each other’s choice. This meant that Clyde, my older brother, strongly influenced what I chose to watch. We were encouraged to play outside and to draw and to read. Every now and then we got to watch a movie. You’d think that having such restricted tv watching would mean that we’d always choose a new movie to watch but it didn’t. Top Gun and the Karate Kid and a movie called Undercover Blues got selected again and again.

Our favorite line from Karate Kid actually came from the second movie. Mr Miyagi tells Daniel: “Best block, no be there“.

Words to live by.

I’m reluctant to post another poem to link to today’s writing because I did it yesterday and I don’t want this to become a quote journal but I think it’s too good to pass up – so here it is: A longer and more beautiful way of saying, best block, no be there. Written by Portia Nelson.

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost… I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

I walk down another street.”

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply