Assassin's Creed
3 September 2007 19:07![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The thing about top level athletes is that their sport equipment becomes an extension of them. Tennis racquets become, in the mind of the player, a 'furthering' of their own arms. Their hands become giant paddles with which to hit the ball. Golfers at the top of their game couldn't tell you where their arms end and the clubs begin. Polo mallets as well. Basketballs. Even race cars. They get absorbed into a athlete's personal energy field and mindset to the point where the equipment becomes part of the human body.
The thing about top level musicians is that their instruments join with them in a hybrid form that equals more than the sum of its parts. It's a true mixing of artistry, equipment, craftsmanship, and talent. A separation between the person and the musical generator becomes impossible. It's obvious to viewers. Musicians themselves will talk of a trance. A sort of disappearance takes place when the music is played flawlessly and with passion. The person combined with the piano or the guitar or what have you become a synergistic union that is both here and not here.
The thing about top level assasins is that they become extensions of the tools of thier trade. Their relationship with the tools is the opposite of the relationship that athletes have with their tools. The assassin's art is unlike the art of music. The killing weapon, be it a knife or a rifle, bleeds its stillness and coldness into the user if he or she is proficient. A sniper knows that when he shoots, he cannot breathe. In effect, he must mimic death in order to provide the stillness that will make him capable of making a gift of death to his target. An assassin frequently has to wait for hours or days before his quarry affords him a moment of opportunity. A passionate kill usually causes mistakes and evidence. A good assassin must be cold, methodical, ruthless and above all, patient. The plan, the tool, and the execution use the talented assassin as an extension of themselves.
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The thing about top level musicians is that their instruments join with them in a hybrid form that equals more than the sum of its parts. It's a true mixing of artistry, equipment, craftsmanship, and talent. A separation between the person and the musical generator becomes impossible. It's obvious to viewers. Musicians themselves will talk of a trance. A sort of disappearance takes place when the music is played flawlessly and with passion. The person combined with the piano or the guitar or what have you become a synergistic union that is both here and not here.
The thing about top level assasins is that they become extensions of the tools of thier trade. Their relationship with the tools is the opposite of the relationship that athletes have with their tools. The assassin's art is unlike the art of music. The killing weapon, be it a knife or a rifle, bleeds its stillness and coldness into the user if he or she is proficient. A sniper knows that when he shoots, he cannot breathe. In effect, he must mimic death in order to provide the stillness that will make him capable of making a gift of death to his target. An assassin frequently has to wait for hours or days before his quarry affords him a moment of opportunity. A passionate kill usually causes mistakes and evidence. A good assassin must be cold, methodical, ruthless and above all, patient. The plan, the tool, and the execution use the talented assassin as an extension of themselves.
tags