Any modern sports science expert would cringe at the instructional methodology of classical traditions. The traditional method is often referred to as waza o nusumu (‘steal the technique’). It could also be termed, ‘learning by osmosis.’ An extreme example of this can be found in my recollection of account of a traditional Ainu midwife. She said that she attended births from the time she was a little girl. Her mother had her sit directly behind her throughout the entire birth. All she could see was her mother’s back. One day, when she was a teenager, without warning, her mother said, “You birth this one.” To repeat, she had never seen the birthing process itself, merely observed the movements of her mother’s back, shoulder and arms many hundreds of times. She stated that she simply reenacted those movements, which she had been doing in sympathy for most of her life as she observed her mother – the birth went smoothly and it was the beginning of the rest of her life.
This essay is one of many that has been revised to make the writing itself more graceful, but more importantly, to incorporate my own developing perspective on this subject. It is now part of my new book, Roots Still Cracking Rock: Refections On My First Fifty Years Within Classical Japanese Martial Traditions, which in addition to revised essays from this site, contains new work as well. Below you will find a picture of the cover as well as a QR code to order a Special Edition of the book. In this group order of ten books or more, Ran Network will make a special print-run with a dedication on the title page to your dojo or other institution.
The general release of the book on Amazon (equal in quality of the binding) will be on approximately April 20th. I will place that link here as well when it is ready.
George Chronopoulos
And may I take it a step further. I believe that a lot of information travels through DNA, without verbal or otherwise instruction. I have noticed in my 6 year old son, that he repeatedly using certain facial expressions and specific sounds that my late father used, without the 2 of them never met. Could I used them unconsciously? Could be. But he is using it at a very young age, and I think that I don’t use these expressions myself.
Maybe a lot more travels with DNA, fears, special talents, apart from how tall you will be, or the colour of your hair.
Amos
I recall the traditional way that an apprentice barber is taught is that for the first 1-2 years they do nothing but watch (and sweep the floor, clean etc.) before they ever cut a single hair. When I was a teenager, the Italian barber I went to (who had interesting musculature in his hands from decades of cutting hair) had an apprentice, and I recall him going through that.