Skilled Eyes Make Skilled Hands
| King Shit
I've had this bit from Jujutsu Kaisen rattling around in my brain for over a year now. Todo has come to realise that he and Yuji are soul-bonded, friends by cosmic necessity, true Brothers.
He values perfection and in Yuji he sees the potential for it, but he also sees slop - gut instincts, untrained technique, and careless application.
Episode 16 opens with a monologue on the artistic practice of learning by looking - that "it is impossible for the hand to evolve faster than the eye" (or "the hands cannot surpass the eyes", depends on the translation I think).
To be entirely honest, I could have sworn the line was "skilled eyes make skilled hands" - possible I just localised it to something more idiomatically English and pithy. Or I saw a third, secret translation that there's no record of online. Oh well.
Anyway, this idea - that in order to truly learn one must be able to observe - has genuinely affected my life and my approach to pursuits of skill.
From things as frivolous as Rocket League mechanics to learning to efficiently make documentation at work, I've been able to push through struggles by reminding myself of Todo lecturing Itadori about doing magic punches properly.
I'll be watching some interview with an artist talking about the minutiae of an how a work that inspired them was crafted, and I'll be doing the Leonardo pointing face like "oh hey skilled eyes make skilled hands, that's the thing!"
I saw this video about athletes' vision and exclaimed "Skilled Eyes!" without thinking too much about it. It's not quite the same thing, but I think the same idea applies - they use their eyes more actively in their craft.
My partner is getting a bit sick of it - she can see it coming. She knows what to look for.
UH OH
I've been finding myself watching shows with a bit more of an active eye myself in recent years - not just passively letting it wash over me but thinking about what I'm seeing while it happens.
This predates watching JJK. It's probably why the line struck me so hard - not only was I paying more attention to what the show was saying, it was also talking about a thing I was trying to do. Kinda meta!
I recommend doing this! It's very easy to get into the habit of just consuming media but so much of it has something it's trying to say and you rob yourself of joining that conversation with the authors if you don't listen.
Sometimes dialogue in a fight scene interstice will improve your life.