Bruce Lee is famously quoted as saying, "Be like water..."
My friend and teacher, Richard Taracks wrote an interesting article titled, Be Like Water? where he references the ancient Chinese engineer, Li Bing.
I'd like to take this metaphor of water in another direction.
Imagine you had never been to a lake or ocean. You go there the first time. Somebody tells you that you can walk in the water. You walk in ankle deep water. You notice that it is different from walking on, well, now there is a distinction - dry land and wet land. You think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can walk in knee-deep water. You try it and you notice that moving is different from walking in ankle-deep water. Now you think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can walk in waist-deep water. You try it and you notice that moving is different from walking in knee-deep water. Now you think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can walk in chest-deep water. You try it and you notice that moving is different from walking in waist-deep water. You also begin to notice a kind of pressure on your body and a cyclic buoyancy with breathing. Now you think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can float in water where your feet don't touch the ground. You try
it and you notice that your buoyancy is related to breathing. Now you think you know more about water than you ever knew before. But how to move?
Then someone tells you that you can move across the surface of water. You are introduced to swimming. You try it and you discover a completely different way to move in water. Now you think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can swim under water. You are introduced to holding your breath and different swimming techniques to swim under water. Now you think you know how to move in water.
Then someone tells you that you can see clearly and breath under water. You are given a mask and snorkel. You try it and you discover an entirely new way to experience water. Now you think you know how to move in water and enjoy all the benefits and pleasures of moving in water.
Then someone tells you that you can see and breath under water far below the surface. You are given scuba diving equipment. You try it and you discover much more about water than ever before: thermocline, buoyancy compensation, how to equalize pressure on your ears, illusion of size caused by your mask, the reduction of light with depth, how currents affect creatures around you, and much more. Now you think you know how to move in water. Indeed, you have now mastered how to move in water.
So what's the point?
After I had been practicing Tai-chi and other Chinese martial arts forms and push hands and sparring for ten to twenty years, I thought I was pretty advanced. According to this metaphor, I thought I was a scuba diver!
However, when I look back from where I am now, I would say that even after twenty years of practice, I was only walking in ankle or knee deep water! I had never transitioned to even learning how to float in water much less how to swim or dive in water!
So, we have three metaphors referencing water. Bruce Lee's "Be like water" which talks about changeability, Richard Taracks, "Be like Li Bing" which talks about learning how to control water, and my addition where I say that as practitioners, we develop through a range of experiences on the path to mastering the quality of movement found in Chinese martial arts.
The little bit of mind-body integration that developed from my everyday, normal, quality-of-movement, seemed like a huge change! And it was! But it was only the change from walking on dry land to walking in ankle deep water! It was only the first step, an introduction to mind-body integration.
When I knew very little, I thought I knew a lot. Now that I know more, I see how little I actually knew then and how much further I can go.
There is much more to learn as we grow and develop in our chosen art.
Happy practicing everyone!
Beautifully put. Perhaps only the choir listens to such wisdom. Whatever progress I make also reveals weakness. Technique is a luxury of youth. At my age I am happy with table scraps of good form. The less I observe my form the less I interfere with muscle memory. I do have the luxury of retirement which allows me to practice when I wish and to incorporate principles such as relaxation and rooting 24/7. There is no one with lineage nearby so I self train. I explore some of the techniques on YouTube videos but very, very cautiously to preclude injury.
ReplyDeleteMy practice began with Zhan Zhuang and Ba Duan Jin in 2018. In 2020 I added an extremely short version of Wu Tai Chi Round Form, open, grasp bird's tail, single whip, close. No martial arts before that. It is not difficult for me to stand in a single pose for an hour but I no longer go by time. Indeed my gut feeling is less is better for my ankles and lower legs. I do 1-4 reps of the tai chi form a couple of times a day.
As I wrote before relaxation and rooting I do all day, even in bed if sleep fails me. Breathing as well, which comes naturally now. I invent little practices, such as using feet not hands to sit down or get up, or get into and out of a car. The litmus test is how my body feels.
I thought I was good at water. During a typhoon I went down to my favorite swimming hole and jumped off the rock and swam around. Water was flowing from every direction making the river rage. I climbed out and then slid on one of my favorite rocks, down the overflowing craziness and into my swimming hole again. The hydraulic at the end of it was more intense than normal, but was escapable as one could kick off the rock or go below it. I swam in and out of the hydraulic spinner a few times. It was just at the edge of my capability. Perhaps I could not do it now.
ReplyDeleteI felt confident though. So I was very surprised another time, when I tried to cross a little river in a storm. The water was above my ankles but below my knees and I had good hiking sticks and I was in very good shape. The rain and the water roared in my ears. I faced upriver as one should when crossing a hard spot. Even that little depth, with so much speed and flow, was very very challenging. I think it was due to the contraction of the river at that point, it just moved so quickly it seemed it could at any moment trivially yank my feet out from underneath me!
So I was stopped by a 12 foot wide river with a level quite below my knees. I had to turn back. If I were to try it again, I think that little river might have been easier to cross with a bike, as the water would flow through the spokes and wheels with little resistance (so long as one did not fall down).