paint the fence

Daniel Larusso gets jumped by a bunch of dudes dressed as skeletons.

Then Mr. Miyagi appears and beats them up.?

Daniel is saved!?

But Mr. Miyagi won’t always be there…

So Daniel wants to learn karate.?

And Mr. Miyagi promises to teach him karate.?

They form a sacred pact.?

Daniel must do what Mr. Miyagi says.?

No questions.?

Daniel agrees.?

They start training.?

Daniel’s first lesson??

Waxing a bunch of old cars.?

~

This is pretty fun for the audience.?

We know Mr. Miyagi is a karate master because we saw him beat up a bunch of bullies (nice!)

And we thought that we were going to get an epic training montage.?

But what we get is Daniel… waxing cars, sanding floors, and painting the house.?

Daniel is confused.?

We are confused.?

Daniel breaks and yells at Mr. Miyagi.?

They had a deal! He was supposed to teach him karate!

And we as the audience are sitting there thinking “hey Daniel is kinda right here buddy, what gives?”?

Mr. Miyagi says:?

Show me sand the floor.?

Show me wax on, wax off.?

Show me paint the fence.?

Then Mr. Miyagi starts punching.?

And everything clicks immediately.?

Mr. Miyagi didn’t just teach daniel karate.?

He taught all of us karate.?

And more importantly… that “not everything as it seems.”?

~?

So often we teach in the most direct ways.?

Imagine if Mr. Miyagi said, “move your hand in a counterclockwise circle to block your opponent's stike”

An accurate description to be sure.??

But we wouldn’t remember.??

The best teachers come at it from a different angle.?

And their lesson becomes unforgettable.?

Wax on, wax off.?

For as long as you live… you will remember what that means.?

And I would love for you to remember…?

That what you teach isn’t often as important as how you teach it.?

- Ian

P.s. we make cool content for B2B companies (like the Webby-winning Murder in HR). If you want to learn more check out Caspian Studios.?