The Master said,
“A true teacher is one who,
keeping the past alive,
is also able to understand the present.”


Analects of Confucius - Book 2, Chapter 11
(Translated by Unknown)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I first learned to shoot archery I signed up for group lessons. Our instructor was a jolly round fellow who couldn’t have been nicer. Though not athletic in appearance, he exuded the air of a master archer in character. He wore league shirts, for example, and spoke the language of archery with fluency.

There was, however, a mixed bag of talent when it came to the students. The best part was we’d shoot at these giant foam blocks that were encased by wood, so when someone missed completely there’d be a loud bang as their arrow smashed into it. When missed just right, the arrow would bounce off the wood and come skidding back toward the shooter.

Once we all got the hang of shooting at twenty yards, our instructor challenged us to step back and try thirty. I was up first with the compound bow I bought for hunting and honed in through the peep sight, zipping my shot right into the bullseye. It felt great doing so in front of this teacher I now admired.

“You know,” he said, borrowing a recurve from another student’s hands. “I was never much for using sights when it came to hunting. I was always more of an instinctual shooter.” This meant he would hunt the old fashioned way, like a tribesman who relied on this ancient skill for survival.

As he stepped up to the line, tension filled the air, as there was a collective realization we’d never actually seen the Master in action till now. He drew in a deep breath, raised the bow, drew it back, and held steady aim. Time slowed as we observed an artist at work, his lazer focus impressive as hell.

Finally, he released.

BAM!--the arrow came skittering back to the line, the only sound in an otherwise quiet room.

There was a long pause where we all stared at the result.

“Well,” he finally broke the silence, handing the bow back to the girl he borrowed it from, “I haven’t gone hunting in quite a while.”