A Scoutmaster Minute is a short talk the Scoutmaster gives at the end of a troop meeting: one idea, a story or two, and a challenge for the week ahead. This is one I gave to our troop.
Good evening, Scouts.
One of my favorite movies is Kung Fu Panda. It’s the story of Po, who learns he’s somebody truly special and becomes the Kung Fu Panda. What a lot of Scouts don’t realize is that Kung Fu Panda was inspired by the real kung fu movies and TV shows I grew up with.
Bruce Lee. The biggest star of them all was born right here in the Bay Area, in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He wasn’t just an amazing actor. He was an amazing martial artist. And he once said something I’ve never forgotten:
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
Think about that. Was he talking about kung fu? Or was he talking about Scouts?
Your Scout Handbook. It’s packed with what feels like 10,000 different skills you could learn. But on your own journey in Scouting, you’ll learn one or two of those skills really, really well. That’s practicing one kick 10,000 times.
Some of you are going to be great at building a fire. Others are going to be great at knots and lashing. Others will be fantastic at cooking for the whole patrol.
Here’s the beautiful part. If each Scout practices their skill 10,000 times and becomes an expert at it, and our troop has a whole variety of those experts, then I’d argue that’s what makes an amazing troop. That’s what makes a fantastic team.
So, Scouts, as you head back out to school and to your families tonight, think about the people you want to surround yourself with. Would you rather have people who know 10,000 different things a little bit? Or would you rather have a team where each person knows one thing really well?
Good night, Scouts.
More Scoutmaster Minutes are collected under scoutmaster-minute.
