What a difference an inch makes...

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So I've been taking Capoeira for just over two years and you'd think that, in this time, I'd have made some serious progress. Yet despite all my work and effort, even the simplest things it turns out I still have room to improve on. The ginga, the basic step or stance of Capoeira, I had been doing wrong until just recently, maybe three weeks ago. My legs have hurt ever since, as I'm trying to start doing it right, which is good. It's not necessarily that I was going ginga completely wrong, it's that some of the finer details of the technique were eluding me. Just one class with a different instructor and bam, I'm learning new things.

As for why I'm talking about this now, last night I learned something equally mind-blowing. Cartwheels, called au by Capoeristas, are a basic thing. I was taught them either my first or second night of class. I've been doing them ever since. I thought I was getting pretty good at them. Turns out that during that time I had been placing my hand ever so slightly wrong all this time. The difference in hand placement is at most a couple of inches, and is probably just an inch, but it has such an impact on not only all my au, but handstands, back bends, and other stuff that it's incredible. Honestly, if I showed you the difference, you might not even see it. I wouldn't have until last night.

I'm often awed not by how much I've learned, but how much more I have to learn even about things I thought I knew. Sometimes, like last night, I got this by asking an insightful question that led to a sudden realization. Other times I learn things through instruction. I'm not sure which is more but I definitely believe one thing:

Never stop asking questions. Sometimes the answers will astound you.