Mirrors

One of the rooms I train in at the dojo has a wooden door set into the mirrored wall.  I usually get to see myself in the mirror in whichever room I'm in, but sometimes I'm lined up with that door.  When that happens, I can't watch my technique.

It had been a long time since I had been lined up with that door, but Friday night I found myself blocked by it.  And it felt odd, being very aware of not being able to see myself or my techniques.  I had to feel where my hands were, how my torso was angled, how my legs were bent.  Before the end of the night, I started feeling like the mirrors had been a distraction.

I find that for taiko, it's often nice to have the mirror; I can watch how I look in relation to the rest of the group.  But for karate, moves are more geared towards the individual and much too fast for a mirror to give me the kind of feedback that's useful.

Two different arts, two different views of the mirror.  But to expand on an earlier post here, I wonder how much the mirror becomes a distraction when we do taiko?  It's hard to ignore seeing yourself directly in front of you!  It's something that takes your attention, something for your eyes to look at and take processing power away from your brain. 

Those who don't have mirrors often wish they did, but for those who do have mirrors, don't get "shiny object" syndrome and forget to think about the things you don't see or the things that you can't.