Days of old …

Who are we? Who were our ancestors? Where did we come from?

These are questions that seem to have a lot of meaning for people. In my view though, our genealogical heritage means very little – mostly, the unfolding of our lives depends on what choices we make ourselves, and upon how we react to and learn from the outcomes of those choices.

Through our ancestors we have each inherited a certain unique mix of genes that make up the physical being that we are; but really, this is just a blank canvas; what we paint on that canvas, that is largely up to us.

On the mat, we each start out learning a very similar set of basics – but as time goes on, each of us builds a game unique to ourselves. In turn, some of us pass on some of what we have learned over time, to others, who in turn do the same, etc.

Where we come from may have deep personal meaning for each of us – but at the end of the day, it’s what we do with who we are now, and what resources we have available to us – that really matters.


Pic: The Will Family Crest: A naked guy and a lion - I don't know what it's all about - those crazy ancestors ... JBW

Further Entanglements

First ideas are very often the best ones – at least it has been so in my experience. On the mat for example (or in martial arts in general), we come up with a fundamental idea – if it works, we try it again and again, transmuting it, over time, into a real and dependable skill. But then we do something funny, we tend to try to expand on the idea by coming up with variations on it – sometimes we try out variations in an effort to improve on the original idea, but often we come up with variations as a means of entertaining ourselves (or others). This of course, can be an interesting exercise, but again, in my experience, that the original idea usually turns out to be the most ‘sound’, the most ‘dependable’ – the one that offers the highest probability for survival when we are really put to the test.

I think most martial arts systems start out built around one or two very basic ideas – then over time – they become overly convoluted and evolve into rambling structures that consist of many a weird and winding ‘rabbit hole’.

In technology though, this endless experimental expansion seems to bear more and more fruit – the i-phone is clearly better than the two cans joined by a length of string. So something else is at work there – but with evolution (of any kind) there also comes a cost. It’s not all ‘upside’. I look around me and see people eating at a table nearby – and four out of five are on their phones, checking their Facebook pages and texting no doubt – rather than just ‘being’ there with their friends. It all comes at a cost.

And so it is too with ideas. With food – the shift from organic (self gathered) to farmed and bought in a supermarket – convenient – oh yes – but there is a cost.

I often like to return the core idea of a thing – I like to see where the idea came from, before it evolved into something much more complex and (sometimes) over-embellished. And often (for me) it is when I return the original ‘core idea’ of a thing – that I can mush more easily transfer it (as a model) or overlay it onto another piece of subject-matter – and kick off another entangled learning experience.

I havn’t said it as well as I could have – not much sleep last night – but I trust you get the idea.

Best wishes: JBW

Connections ...

Our minds make connections when we learn something new – understanding comes from making lots of connections about a thing – then we ask, or at least I have always asked – ‘I wonder if those same kinds of connections will work over here, or over there?’ The right way of seeing something – the right kinds of connections we make about it – the more likely we are able to ‘overlay’ them onto a different topic/subject/problem.

For this reason, it seems a good idea to me (as taught to me by my late father) to view things in as many ways and from as many different angles as possible. I think that by doing this, we develop a kind of holistic view of things, that we can use to look at other things – and like anything else we practice a lot – it eventually becomes a habit.

I remember first learning the alphabet – before I went to school – but with a singular difference - my father taught it to me backwards; when I went to school, I learned it forwards – which still seems like the wrong way to me. The point though is that I have at least two ways of viewing the alphabet – and so it began my lifelong habit of trying to see things from more than one perspective.

I think we all do this in some way or other. We all have some things we know a lot about – or have expertise in; if we think about ‘how we think about our specialization’ – we can then try thinking about other things – things we know less about – in the same king of way.

I am saying the same thing over and over – but in slightly different ways; in the hope that everyone will get the picture.

Best wishes: JBW

Choose wisely ...

Choosing a place to train can be a difficult choice for those who are unfamiliar with the martial arts landscape. Many people, having little else to go on, make a choice perhaps based on price - or even worse - the rank the instructor is wearing around his waist. Choosing on price is akin to buying a car - there are cheap cars and there are expensive cars - generally, you get what you pay for. Don't expect to be driving off in a mercedes if you are only prepared to pay a KIA price. And making a decision based on rank is usually not the best way to go either - mainly because rank means so very little in today's martial arts world; people are awarding themselves ranks, that are not commensurate with their ability - and certainly the ranks has almost nothing to do with 'teaching skill'. So how does the novice proceed?

People searching for the right martial arts school will ultimately have to ignore the diplomas on the schools wall; look past the shiny marketing pamphlet and make their decision based on what they see, hear and feel. They should look at the kind of people training at the school; and ask themselves if they want to spend time in the company of those people. They should watch a few classes, at more the one school and compare how the instructors relate to and teach their students. They should talk to the instructor and to the best of their ability, convey what they are trying to achieve; a truly professional instructor will try to help them, even if it means sending them elsewhere – (note: this practice is not wide-spread)
In my view, an instructor must embody the concept of excellence. He or she must be excellent at what they do and be excellent in their ability to inspire and guide others toward that same level of excellence (if not surpass it). Further, in my view, an instructor must live congruently – that is, they should display excellence in other areas of their lives as well; not just in their chosen art. Many will disagree with this; but I think it is what really separates the ‘men’ from the ‘boys’. In short, an instructor is a leader; and a big part of real leadership is to be able to inspire others to ‘rise above’ and achieve the ‘extraordinary’. If an instructor cannot ‘rise above’ himself (or herself), in all aspect of their lives, then they are falling short in their understanding of what it means to be a leader. JBW

Entangled Learning

This is how I have come to understand the world. I have adopted this style of learning as my way of seeing the world and unravelling how it works; as my way of living and learning in it.

I came up with the idea of Entangled Learning some time back – I am not sure when; perhaps in some form or other I have always seen things this way. To describe it, I have borrowed the word Entangled from the world of Quantum Physics, where it is used to describe how particles of energy or matter can become correlated in a way that one behaves the same as the other, irrespective of how far apart they may be. This is dry stuff – and boring to most of us (but certainly not to quantum physicists) – so for practical purposes we should think of Entangled as simply meaning ‘inter-twined’, ‘connected’ or ‘strongly associated’.

In learning about something – and by this I mean really learning; deeply learning; studying, dissecting and understanding a thing – we will inevitably uncover a certain set of truths or principles that underpin that understanding; and it is this set of truths (principles/laws) that serves to become the engine that drives our understanding of other things – seemingly unrelated things.

If we learn a thing – we have, at our disposal, the knowledge of that thing. But there is only limited leverage (if any) to be enjoyed in the owning of that knowledge (or skill). But if we can look deeply enough, and clarify our understanding, and in doing so, deepen our knowledge of the underlying principles of what we study, we can (if we are so inclined) perhaps begin to see how that knowledge can be applied to other aspects of our lives. If we can succeed in doing just this we are leveraging that knowledge into further understanding or benefit. This is a powerful face of leverage that often eludes those professing to understand what leverage means.

In short; to reduce it to the most basic idea, it is this: when we come to understand a deep truth in one thing – in looking we will find it in other things.

This may or may not be of interest to anyone but myself – but it is something I have wound and bound to the way I live my life and see the world – and for me; it has underpinned what success I have enjoyed thus-far. I could write volumes on this subject – because like most things, it can be broken down and mapped out to the point where it would become obvious to almost everyone. The deep truths I have come to understand in my martial arts practice are now woven throughout the fabric of my life – through my marriage, my investments, my re-creational pursuits, my fitness regime, etc. I use that understanding to solve problems, to play, to grow, to learn and uncover yet more truths …

Dry stuff … but very meaningful to me.

JBW

Informed Risk

As a follow-upon my last post -  would like to talk a little more about RISK-TAKING.

Once again – it’s not that I am against risk-taking (my life has been one big RISK-TAKE) – but I do very strongly think that we should take an INFORMED approach to risk-taking – of we want to develop trends of success in our lives.

I head into the wilds a couple of times a year – being dropped by chopper or hiking into remote areas of wilderness. I have certainly had more than my share of risky moments ‘out there’ but to a large extent, I have gone into the situation ‘highly informed’.

I have risked hard-earned money in both the share and property markets – and I have done so ill-informed (and lost a lot) and I have done so well-informed and done well from it. Taking risks is necessary – if we want to live a life full of adventure and success – but we should be as informed as well can possibly be if we want to emerge with ‘improved hardwiring’ – the kind of ‘hardwiring’ that sets us up for repeat performances in our future.

Risk is essential to growth and learning – but informed risk is what separates those oriented toward repeated success and those who are not. JBW

Confidence

How do we increase the square footage of our confidence arena?

We all build confidence by trying and succeeding. It sounds so simple; but the fact is, that when we take risks, the possibility of failure is real – and in some situations can be devastating.

The new-age wisdom is that we should be totally okay with failure – in fact, we should embrace it. The logic being that we learn by trying, failing, trying again, failing again – until we get it right. I agree that this is true – but I also, on some deeper level, I feel that in order to enjoy above-average success in life, we need to set ourselves up in such a way as to minimize the ‘failure experience’ – or at least the negative effects of it.

Success breeds success. Failure is okay as a learning experience but you don’t want to keep failing forever. When we are successful with some venture; when it works out the way we planned it to work out (or better), we are likely to do it again, and again. Most times, a thoughtful, considered and well-planned approach can maximize our chances of success.

Sure, start off (when the stakes are small) with risk-taking and experimenting – but when the stakes are higher (eg: when things like your life savings, your marriage or your own life are on the line – consider carefully – plan – seek advice, etc)

We are the architects of our own lives – we need to start out with lots of sketching, erasing, trial and error – but as time goes by we should become clearer and clearer on what we want and how we are going to go about making that happen with the least amount of mistakes and the least amount of pain. Good coaching is about setting people up for success … and at the end of the day; we are each our own coach …. JBW