In the 1984 movie “Karate Kid”, Daniel came to his teacher, Mr. Miyagi, to learn karate.
Daniel thought he would immediately start a mock battle with his teacher with chops, punches and kicks.
Instead, his teacher handed Daniel a paint can and paint brush, and instructed him, “Paint the fence, UP and DOWN”. He showed Daniel how to stand, hold the brush, focus, and perform rhythmic up-down strokes while breathing in and out. To paint the fence, Daniel made hundreds of such strokes.
The next 'lesson' Mr. Miyagi had in store for Daniel was to “paint the house, SIDE to SIDE,” with rhythmic strokes and breathing. And again, hundreds of strokes.
For their third 'lesson,' Mr. Miyagi gave Daniel a pair of sanding blocks and had him “sand the floor – make CIRCLES.” Rhythmic strokes and breathing, repeated hundreds of times.
Just when Daniel had had enough of doing chores, Mr. Miyagi dramatically showed Daniel how he could use these three “moves," mastered to the point of automatic reflex, to repel any attack the teacher might make.
Every game has its moves.
The moves of any game are the small skills that make a large game possible.
Maths, languages, coding, piano, tennis, golf, gymnastics—all of them are built upon very basic tasks that are combined into larger and more complex ones.
Even a new business or scientific pursuit can be begun with small, learnable, and repeatable skills.
The willingness to start small and simple can give us access to games that we might think are too hard for us.And the willingness to LEARN THE MOVES with reverence and joy can build the foundation of a great game.
