Learning something new, regardless if it is a martial art or scholastic study, can be a challenging process. In my own study the number of times in which I have had to rethink my understanding of what was taught has been countless. Even when I think I have a good understanding there are times I must go back to rethink and understand a core concept years after my misperception of it. While some of this is due to assumptions I have made, other times it is due to learning itself. Or rather, how we learn. While I’m sure all of us have heard the Chan (Zen) saying “Empty your cup” or westernized “You cannot fill a cup that is already full”, there is deeper understanding that we can explore about ourselves.
The most common thing we can do that hampers our learning is to make assumptions. While we all do our best to prevent this while learning, it is actually very difficult. The reason for this is that we tend to build on previous knowledge and experience. The first assumption is that our foundation understanding is correct. Most times it is, but the point is that we’ve assumed right from the get go. For example, something as simple as “The cat jumped over the fence”. All of us know exactly what is meant by this and the foundation pieces. However, say your experience and knowledge left you with the understanding that all fences are around waist high. If the next sentence describes the immense height of the fence (taller than the tallest man), this would leave you perplexed about what you understood of the cat’s experience. Sometimes, take a step back, and question your knowledge, see if it really is what you believe it to be.
So why does this happen in the first place? How could we possibly make such an obvious mistake about the height of fences? My grand master explained it as thus:
Most times when we are presented with a new concept, instead of moving our knowledge up to the higher understanding, we pull the concept down to our level.
When we do this, we tend to lose some of the essence of that new concept. In this case, think of it like objects that fit into a box. The concepts given to us are large and complex, and our teachers box can fit them all easily. However, our box is only a quarter of the size, so when we attempt to put them in, we remove some of the parts, simplifying the concept until it can fit. Finally, we believe we “Got it!”, and we did. At least, part of it. Many times, that part will function just fine, until we build upon that concept. I have seen this many times over the years when myself or others are trying an advanced technique and are unable to get it to work, only to find something as simple as my foundation footwork being incorrect. In an instance like this, it is because I pulled that understanding down to my level when I initially learned the footwork instead of moving up to the new concept. I never even thought twice that I did not understand the initial concept. It looked the same as what my teacher was instructing me to do while working in forms and practice, but it was missing pieces and substance that prevented functionality in application.
Truth is, it is in our nature to pull concepts down to our understanding rather than move our understanding up to the new concept. To understand, we must have the framework and experience to build off. Unfortunately, there are times we are given concepts which are beyond anything we’ve experienced. This is when we work the concept from multiple angles in attempt to understand, removing the parts that do not make sense until we have something we can work with. Our teacher also will paraphrase and use analogies to help us get the concept. However, parts of the initial concept can be lost when we do this. Even in this article I’ve done this, and even the box or car analogy does not do justice to what my grand master said. We must remember to always go back to what was initially taught and return the pieces we stripped to simplify the concept, learning how those pieces also fit. If they still do not make sense, then it is up to us to find the structural framework required so the original concept can be whole. It is my experience that many forget this part, as we are continually working with new information and concepts. We tend to move on to quickly to the next thing to figure out, not realizing just how much we missed of the previous concept.
Whether you are just beginning to learn something new, or you have mastered parts or all of it. I hope this article can remind you about the importance of emptying your cup. There is always room for improvement, or deeper understanding that can be gleamed by stepping back and starting from the beginning again with an empty cup. My Sifu taught us “The day you believe you know it, is the day you stop learning”. The day we stop learning is the day our improvement stagnates. So maybe, just maybe, instead of thinking we learned all we can from someone or about something, we should stop and ask ourselves, “Is my cup actually empty?”
Jason Hurford is a senior student of Jordan Misner and a instructor senior instructor with Wind River Tai Chi Chuan (internal Martial Arts for Health and Enlightenment).
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