There is a saying... "It looks like a flower but it does not smell like a flower."
I have heard this applied to Karate students. The student kicks, punches, blocks, and performs kata like a Karate student but something is not quite right. It is like a flower with no smell -- a living flower should have a fragrance.
What is the Karate student missing? The answer is sincerity. A sincere student is like a living flower. Without sincerity, a student can be nothing more than a plastic flower -- an imitation of the real thing. Plastic flowers don't grow.
Respectfully,
Charles C. Goodin
