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| Verbal understanding | ||
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New starters
New starters are often confounded by the fact that they cannot
understand the
tai chi immediately.
They sometimes assume that the explanation is poor and the
instructor is inept.
Can the teachings be articulated so readily, so easily? Can there be such a
thing as a verbal understanding?
Naive
There are many naive myths in society when it comes to
learning. One of the most absurd is that the idea that you can understand anything if
it explained to you properly...
This just isn't true.
Beyond words
To illustrate: buy a book by Stephen Hawkins or read something
written by Einstein.
Did you understand it?
What if someone tried to explain it to you?
Could the teachings of Hawkins be simplified enough to make sense to the lay
person without losing their actual meaning and
significance?
If a heart surgeon explained their method, could you then do their job?
If a chef gave you their recipe can you reproduce it to their standard?
Capacity
One factor when it comes to learning is capacity.
We are all different.
We have different strengths and weaknesses.
A verbal description is seldom enough to furnish
understanding.
Often, in order to understand, you must experience, you must
do...
Talking
If we could teach tai chi by simply talking to you, why bother with years
of physical exercise and
study? Words have severe limitations. It is important to realise this fact.
The word for chocolate does not taste like chocolate. Even the
memory of
chocolate does not taste like chocolate.
Life can only be experienced through the doing.
Context
If we said to you: "This one goes over there to the left..."
does this make any sense to you? Of course not.
We have not established a context. We have not introduced the component parts.
We have not demonstrated what is occurring.
An explanation only has meaning relative to something.
If the subject has not been established, the teaching lacks context. It floats
around, untethered and meaningless.
Complexity
If we told you that the human body were just skin and bone, would you accept
this as being true?
Or that the human mind is made up of two halves: conscious and unconscious?
Does the explanation do it? Are you now furnished with understanding? Hardly.
The human body is complex beyond belief. Medical
science
is potentially
millennia away from truly understanding how it works.
Systems are seldom just one thing.
A cursory explanation will not illustrate how the seemingly separate parts
function as an integrated whole.
The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies
within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical… and to him the
meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the
tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze.
(Joseph Conrad)
Verbal understanding
There is no verbal understanding. This is a silly delusion. All understanding
must be actual. A blind person may claim to
understand what 'red' means, but do they?
Of course not.
A chair is not the word 'chair'. It is not a picture. It the experience of the
sitting. The functionality.
The substance. The reality of the thing. The 'this-ness' of the chair.
This is why you cannot learn tai chi from a book or a video. You need human
contact. You need to touch people, to feel.
Tai chi is a physical art - there is no 'verbal understanding'...
Seeing
A beginner lacks the acuity to understand what they are
seeing.
It would be akin to a novice motorist looking at the engine of their car.
Does it mean anything?
Compare their bewilderment with the discerning eye of a trained mechanic...
The
beginner sees what they are capable of seeing. Sometimes this is simply what
they want to see. High level tai chi does not look remarkable. It is not showy or
impressive.
It looks smooth and easy. It also appears to be stunningly ordinary. Casual.
To a beginner there is no indication of
skill.
They simply cannot discern what the advanced practitioner is doing or what the
significance is.
Curriculum
Our tai chi school has a curriculum. The art is not taught in an ad
lib way.
Given the sheer complexity and sophistication of
tai chi, this approach is
imperative.
The material needs to be introduced slowly and deliberately, with the
permutations and connotations thoroughly explored at each step of the journey.
Regular revision is a must.
As the student begins to physically demonstrate their comprehension, more
material can be added and the existing training can be re-considered.
Familiar practice is dismantled and the constituent parts are explored in
greater detail.
The learning process is a spiral, turning both outward and inward.
Talk is a necessary requirement if we are to communicate. However, the best
teachings are silent.
The greatest skill is shown by example.
If you can't
do it, you don't know it.
(Mike Sigman)
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
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