Preparation and Perfection

The movie "The Last Samurai" brings out the value of adequate preparation -- whether in war or in life. Not just adequate practice as a way of life, but practice that aims at perfection.

I can remember my own nervousness at holding for the first time an M-16 Armalite rifle with live bullets at the Fort Bonifacio Firing Range in the early '70s. Like dogs, our squad leaders barked at us awkward cadets as we lay there, aiming our guns at the target. Occasionally, one of us would feel a sudden kick on his feet as the order to "spread your legs" echoed. It may have been far from the terror one would feel during a real battle but it certainly kept you alert and alive at every moment.

Your mind went into focus and even fantasized (more like deceived itself) at hitting the bull's eye on your one and only shot for the ROTC Scout Ranger Training course for the entire semester. One bullet -- I guess it was all our tuition fee could afford to cover then. (Or I may have been absent during other firing lessons.) So, it was all you might ever have in shooting training in case a real war came about. Some of us did get to apply that miniscule practice when ROTC cadets were deployed as security troops during a National Elections period.

My father had a more amusing experience right before the war. He had just graduated from UP Los Banos and had also gone through basic military training just before WW II broke out in 1941. Departing from Negros Oriental, he and other soldiers had their only shooting practice on board a boat bound for Manila. They shot at party balloons in the air! If we didn't know the failures of Gen. MacArthur in implementing the Defense Plan for the Philippines then (and, in particular, the War Plan Orange) that eventually led to the Fall of Bataan, we would have easily blamed this lack of combat preparation of our veterans as the main reason that caused our defeat to the Japanese.

Be alert. It's one good advice to keep at all times. A very simple one but one that entails a ton of preparation in whatever field you may apply it. The student, who must go to school to face tricky math and chemistry exam questions as well as drug pushers and cellphone snatchers, needs it as a constant companion. The father or mother, who must deal with emotional or business decisions in the process of raising a family, needs it as a defense against many kinds of failures. The politician, who must address multifarious issues that will affect the future of a town, a province or an entire country, needs it to stay effective and useful.

Preparation starts with the first bullet fired in focused practice, the first assignment read or done well, the first law followed with a good conscience or even the first prayer uttered earnestly in the morning. Victory comes to those who never forget the first good lessons but practice them to perfection.