4 ms·

But the whole point is that two months is NOTHING. I ran 50 miles in an ultramarathon last year and it took me 6 months of pretty intense training (one marathon

by chime 17y ago

But the whole point is that two months is NOTHING. I ran 50 miles in an ultramarathon last year and it took me 6 months of pretty intense training (one marathon or longer every weekend in june & july). Even my six months were absolutely nothing compared to the guys who've been running for past 20 years. There is NO way I could have done anything during those six months that could have made me anywhere as good as the pros. So yeah, Karate Kid is indeed not possible.

sumeetjain 17y ago
6 months : 50-mile ultramarathon in real life 2 months : Winning a city-wide karate championship in a movie These seem proportional to me.
- shaddi 17y ago
  I'm not a runner, but I would assume that unless you're already pretty physically fit or have running experience you can't start from scratch and run an ultra-marathon in six months. Full marathon practice sessions weekly for two months! I would reckon being able to recover between those that quickly is a skill developed over years, even if not necessarily from running. FWIW, I think the point was that even if the kid took 2 months of "moive time", the audience perceived that time to be only a few minutes. Two months of solid work is a lot, and I don't think a few minutes of film can do justice to that.
CWuestefeld 17y ago
...or in some cases, that it's not possible at all, regardless of effort. I wanted to be able to play guitar well, but I've come to terms with the fact that I suck. People told me that continued practice would make me better. And maybe it would, to a certain degree. But no matter how much I practice, I'll never be able to play like Jimi Hendrix, because he had a very long finger spread. My hand just can't cover the same range. Similarly, Salieri worked his butt off, just to be shown up by the upstart Mozart. It's not fair, but some people really are better than others at certain things.
- jamesbritt 17y ago
  " But no matter how much I practice, I'll never be able to play like Jimi Hendrix, because he had a very long finger spread. My hand just can't cover the same range." FWIW, I bet Hendricks didn't get to be Hendricks by working to emulate some other player's style. And for all we know, he may have been pissed that his big old hands got in the way of playing some other style he really liked. Knowing you are not going to play like Hendricks, it's maybe time to play like CWuestefeld. (Also, Django Reinhardt had a damaged left hand, with limited mobility. He kicked ass, though.)
lotharbot 17y ago
"But the whole point is that two months is NOTHING." Two months isn't NOTHING. It's just a lot less than it takes to become a world-class expert. Karate Kid wasn't going up against a pro who'd been doing it for 20 years. He was going up against another high school kid in the "all valley championship". He had some karate background and a master trainer. It may not be totally realistic, but it's not off by such a huge amount as to be "indeed not possible".

by chime 17y ago

sumeetjain 17y ago

6 months : 50-mile ultramarathon in real life 2 months : Winning a city-wide karate championship in a movie These seem proportional to me.

shaddi 17y ago
I'm not a runner, but I would assume that unless you're already pretty physically fit or have running experience you can't start from scratch and run an ultra-marathon in six months. Full marathon practice sessions weekly for two months! I would reckon being able to recover between those that quickly is a skill developed over years, even if not necessarily from running. FWIW, I think the point was that even if the kid took 2 months of "moive time", the audience perceived that time to be only a few minutes. Two months of solid work is a lot, and I don't think a few minutes of film can do justice to that.

CWuestefeld 17y ago

...or in some cases, that it's not possible at all, regardless of effort. I wanted to be able to play guitar well, but I've come to terms with the fact that I suck. People told me that continued practice would make me better. And maybe it would, to a certain degree. But no matter how much I practice, I'll never be able to play like Jimi Hendrix, because he had a very long finger spread. My hand just can't cover the same range. Similarly, Salieri worked his butt off, just to be shown up by the upstart Mozart. It's not fair, but some people really are better than others at certain things.

jamesbritt 17y ago
" But no matter how much I practice, I'll never be able to play like Jimi Hendrix, because he had a very long finger spread. My hand just can't cover the same range." FWIW, I bet Hendricks didn't get to be Hendricks by working to emulate some other player's style. And for all we know, he may have been pissed that his big old hands got in the way of playing some other style he really liked. Knowing you are not going to play like Hendricks, it's maybe time to play like CWuestefeld. (Also, Django Reinhardt had a damaged left hand, with limited mobility. He kicked ass, though.)

lotharbot 17y ago

"But the whole point is that two months is NOTHING." Two months isn't NOTHING. It's just a lot less than it takes to become a world-class expert. Karate Kid wasn't going up against a pro who'd been doing it for 20 years. He was going up against another high school kid in the "all valley championship". He had some karate background and a master trainer. It may not be totally realistic, but it's not off by such a huge amount as to be "indeed not possible".