A number of years ago, when Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of
Defense for President Bush, he talked about knowledge and unknowns. He was
ridiculed by the partisan, politicized press, but I decided to write about what
he said and put in terms of learning tai chi.
1. Unconscious lack of knowledge
At this stage of learning tai chi, you don't know anything
and don't know you don't know anything. This is usually because you have never
heard of tai chi or have only passing knowledge. You have never actually
attempted to learn it.
2. Conscious lack of knowledge
At this stage of learning tai chi, you have taken a few
classes or a few months of classes. You are starting to see that there is a lot
you don't know. At this stage, you need to decide that you want to take the
path of mastery and spend some time and effort to learn more.
3. Conscious knowledge
At this stage of learning tai chi, you have spent some time
practicing and reading. You are starting to know what you know and what you
don't know. However, be aware that you probably don't know as much as you think
you do. I have had students tell me that they know all about a certain topic
because of something they read or heard. It's generally not a good idea to tell
that to your teacher.
4. Unconscious knowledge
At this stage of learning tai chi, you have been practicing
and studying (and thinking) for a long time. You are starting to think that
there is always more to learn about this art than you can learn in a lifetime.
However, other people observe you and see that you flow effortlessly through
your forms. You have achieved a high level of mastery, yet you think mostly
about what you don't know. You forget about what you have already learned so well.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
© 2012 Eric Borreson
No comments:
Post a Comment