Harvey Kartel wrote on 10/23/16 at 22:52:51:Fabrice Baro wrote on 06/09/16 at 10:09:27:Speaking of Karel, I stumbled upon an old post from 2003 when his MC1 flap was 12"30 and he didn't understand how to improve it. It's funny because my PR is exactly the same, and I can't seem to find how to improve it
See Fab, this is proof that you, too, could be playing at Karel's level 13 years from now. But you've really got to put in the time, the effort, and most of all, the HEART!
I keep trying to explain to Jordan (Castleton Snob) that the sky is indeed the limit for him. Nobody can realistically expect to jump from Knight/Veteran up to Myth in a few weeks, or a few months. You've truly got to have SMK in your blood to make it work. If you don't pour your heart and soul into it, you'll never realize your full potential!
Always good to hear from you Nick
The heart is here and has been here since the very beginning (i.e. when I got the game in 1993 or 1994) since I practiced time trial relentlessly. But to reach the top level, several thousands of hours are required, and I calculated that I spent not much more than one thousand in my 3-part career (mid 90s, mid 2000s, mid 2010s). At the current pace (about 1 hour per week) it's unlikely I will get even close. But as I said before, I enjoy every single PR, so it's not a problem. Speaking of PRs I just reached 1'02"10 at MC1 PAL this weekend (non-NBT, no pipe jump, and despite a pipe hit on lap 2), down from 1'02"32 so I'm very excited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-CO0CRlUsI would say it looks sharper than my 1'00"47 in NTSC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HND5uvcY284Harvey Kartel wrote on 10/23/16 at 22:52:51:In the past I've drawn a parallel to obtaining a black belt in a martial art. Nobody goes into the dojo and gets a black belt on their first day. I believe it takes a couple of years, at the least, to achieve the black belt, and you've got to train regularly and devotedly. If it were so easy, everybody would have a black belt, and the black belt wouldn't have such prestige, would it?
Karel is a "black belt" in SMK. (Think of the Myth standards as being like the black belt-- they'd lose their awesomeness if everyone could hit them in just a few weeks' practice.) You're probably more like a green belt, while I would consider myself maybe brown belt. As with learning a martial art, in SMK, you've got to practice progressively more advanced and difficult moves over and over again and learn to execute them with precision and focus when you race for your PRs. If you don't dedicate time to expanding your repertoire of skills, you won't reach higher standards in SMK... or a higher belt in karate.
Perhaps this kind of single-minded determination to improve yourself will carry over into the real world and real-life skills that could make you money...
Obtaining a black belt is relatively easy (I know, I have one
). I would rather compare this to getting advanced black belt dans, since only a select few get there.
Apart from this nit-picking, this is a very good analogy Nick.
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