Do. Or do not. There is no ... uh ... no ... ugh, so old am I ...

So I watched 'STAR WARS' for like the 400th time the other night; one of the few movies I can actually say that about. I enjoyed it. Still. I've been watching and re-watching the trilogy for more than 30 years now, since I was a kid, as I'm sure many of us have. I can't remember the first time I saw it, I was too young, but I do remember the first time seeing EMPIRE. And it's at that part, the part, ya know, where your world changes, the bliss of childhood ignorance is torn off like a scab, and nothing is ever, ever the same because Vader says to Luke ...

"I ... am your father."

I'm nine - "HOLY. SHIT. His father? That sunnavabitch is his father?!" Instantly I'm yelling lightspeed at mom, like she knows: "Is he really Luke's father?! Come on, Ma, this is damn serious!" Folks in the lobby could hear me - probably ruined the movie for half of them. I think I went home and recreated that scene with my figures. Those movies made such an impact. One we can still feel today. But why?

Simple. Jedi and the Force. Period. Everything else is cool, don't get me wrong - Vader, Boba, they're great characters - but nobody wanted to grow up and become Darth Vader - 'kay, maybe the sociopaths - but the rest of us normies wanted, needed, to become Jedi Knights. And if you were one of the few that didn't, if your childhood consisted of football games and track meets, ballet lessons, girl or boy scouts, you know "normal" stuff, and you just never really took any interest in the Star Wars universe or had daydreams of swashbuckling it out, saber in hand, against a maniacal horde of Sith jedi, well, then, you should really seek professional help. You're sick. Go see somebody.

You see, these three films shed a little light on the complex reasons behind our own training. I mean, are we really training to become Jedi? (Yes!!) Of course not, but heroic movies inspire, especially these. And once you've watched them (for say, some 17 years or so) there's a sense of ownership one comes away with. Which in turn explains the backlash to Lucas' prequels - he didn't just play around with the look and feel of the world fans had inherited, Lucas consciously screwed with its founding principles, its fundamentalness as one rooted in the enigmatic faith in the Force - midi-chorlians be damned. I mean just listen to Obi-Wan explain it and you almost feel bad for Lucas for messing with his own work:

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us and binds the galaxy together."

Simple. Graceful. Could just anyone automatically use the Force? No. You had to train. Hard. Train hard to feel the Force.

Which bring us to the similarities between Star Wars and training (come on, we all knew this was coming). To become a Jedi meant becoming aware of the Force and increasing one's awareness of its power and potential. Students first had to recognize that the Force was in motion, in flux, all around them, all the time. Tapping into the Force was accomplished through hard physical training.

How is it any different with Taijutsu? (All right, except for the moving stuff with your mind, living for 900 years until you look like a green booger with ears, and lightsabers. We don't have any lightsabers ... *sigh*). Becoming aware of the kukan, which is in constant motion, constant flux, and increasing our awareness of it can only be accomplished through physical training.

But what is implicit in Jedi training is something we tend to take for granted in our own - faith. Jedi students (and yes, I know they're called 'Padawans,' I'm trying to limit my exposure to 'nerd'ioactivity here) have to believe control of the Force can be done and they can do it, even if they can't right away.

How is that any different for us? We must train with those select few individuals that actually can do it, so we can be inspired by their ability and confidence. This is why we train with people we trust and go to Japan - our own Dagobah - because if we dedicate ourselves to training we can eventually make it our own. I can picture Soke saying these very words ...

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmph! And well you should not ... for  my ally is the Kukan. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it ... makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us ... and binds us. Luminous beings are we ... not this crude matter. You must feel the Kukan around you - here, between you, me ... the tree ... the rock ... everywhere!

Without faith in training, we'll never make it. And then, how the hell are we ever going to lift our X-Wing out of the swamp? Hmm? Hmph!

LUKE
I don't ... I don't believe it ...


YODA
That ... is why you fail.