Instinct

Publié le 16 août 2015 par Jonathan

An underpinning element of most martial arts is self-development: becoming a better, more aware, functional human being.

Working through forms and katas the self struggles in replicating what has been shown, and the challenge provides focus and achievement. Over time, the self becomes proficient; repetition is key. Once proficiency is found, the form feels safe and teaching encourages us to find more in it.

Nine years in Aikido taught me how to use repetition to peel back some layers of my physical and mental development. There came a point where it was necessary to observe nature to embrace the formless.

When looking at a tree in the wind it bends and sways. The branches that repeat the swaying pattern over time become worn and eventually break. The tree itself remains free. as it understands that when one branch is lost, new fresh growth can take place.

The self can find joy and accomplishment in repetitive practice. The process of striving to find more is experienced as noble, enduring and even worthy. Outside of the specific platform or learning culture, how useful is this traditional pedagogy?

Without kata, there exists the opportunity to discover more naturally, providing the ability to learn the self, not the form . Nature is not repetitive or straight; before entering into formal education the mind and body of a child embodies this.

The fun curiosity of childhood allows truthful self-exploration. Formal educations systems remove this wonder and replace it with good old-fashioned knowledge; cram enough in and the self becomes blurred . Curiosity is transformed into analytical skill; learning through experience is not the first port of call for most. In modern culture knowing and analysing have replaced feeling and experiencing, bypassing the most intrinsic learning receptor of the human condition, instinct.

Instinct without input stagnates, becoming an adverse catalyst in modern culture. Without active instinct, fear permeates, here external input can blind a person to the true self giving rise to confusion, depression and anger on an individual and societal level.

Living the experience develops instinct. Sailors learn the skill of sailing applied in active environments, creating an instinct of nature and the oceans. Even driving a car provides tools to develop instinct: no one ever voluntarily returns to the test centre to confirm they still have the standards set out by the external authority.

Reliance on authority has taken a primary place in modern culture, too much individual responsibility has been relinquished - including instinct. How much permission does the heart need?

Laws, policy and dogma like martial arts forms govern and control, but adherence is only down to interpretation. How many martial styles, governments and religions splinter through misinterpretation, creating conflict and uncertainty?