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Listening to the Labyrinth Worm

June 30, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: 'taught me' series, Martial Arts, Philisophical, Tips and Tricks, karate, mindset

Have you ever seen Labyrinth, starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly? It’s a 1986 movie that features the combined talents of Jim Henson and George Lucas. The film is weird, remarkable, and freaky…in a good way.

In the movie, a young Jennifer Connelly (Sarah) is aggravated with her life and role as perpetual babysitter to her younger brother (Toby). She wishes the Goblin King, a character from her favorite fairytale, would come take him away forever. Unfortunately for her, the Goblin King (Bowie) hears the request and obliges.

In order to save Toby, Sarah embarks on a long adventure through the Goblin King’s Labyrinth to save him.

Very early on in the labyrinth Sarah becomes befuddled. No matter how far or fast she runs, she can’t find any turns in the maze. It just seems endless and straight. She resolves to solve this puzzle by running even harder and faster down the corridor.

After what seems like an eternity of running, Sarah becomes flustered and stops.  While agonizing over her fate, she hears a strange voice…

So What?

At first Sarah’s journey seemed pretty simple – all she had to do was run as hard and fast as possible and she would eventually find the solution. However, she quickly realized the limited scope of her progress as she simply ran the preset path without thinking.

Eventually she paused…and met someone who was able to change her perspective. It turns out the improvement she was looking for miles down her current path existed right where she was standing.

In fact, had she been a little more patient, she could have learned even more.

In your training you can bang full steam ahead as long as you want, but there’s no guarantee it will get you where you want to go. The walls will dictate you if you let them.

Always listen to a humble worm when it’s trying to show you other perspectives. Talk to as many worms as possible. Listen for as long as possible. Become a worm yourself.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 and is filed under 'taught me' series, Martial Arts, Philisophical, Tips and Tricks, karate, mindset. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • I love the twist on Labyrinth! And it makes sense to me. Just goes to show that no matter where you are in your practice, it helps to remain open to new ideas and perspectives. They just might shed light on past frustrations or reveal a whole new path. :)
  • Branden
    But for goodness sake... Don't eat the worm! I've heard that makes things a bit fuzzy, especially if you're in Mexico....

    But I digress... Nice post Matt san! At the very least (knowing your movie loving nerdom like myself) I figured you'd give a great review on the movie, but was just as pleasantly surprised when, as always, you put the martial twist on things!

    Bravo
  • Labryinth is a great movie. They don't really make them like that any more. Kudos for spotting the martial arts connection. Bloggers are like journalists, always trying to find the angle!

    Your talking about training smart, thinking consciously about what direction you need to be going in in order to properly progress. I think you have to keep reviewing your position, just to make sure you haven't gone astray.

    Nice post!
  • agreed u.s. - I doubt we'll see another labyrinth. also your analysis is right on the money!
  • wimde
    Good post. Like Mike, I didn't see right away where you were going with it. But it's a nice metaphor. Cool!

    Wim
  • Nice Post. It seemed like an odd post at the begining I was going to abort but decieded to read it to the end. Very Interesting,

    Good Luck to you, Mike
  • thanks for sticking with me mike, haha. I like to change things up every now and again.
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