Push hands

My Tai Chi teacher Jarl has alerted me to a new post on her own blog about Push Hands. It's worth reading as a complement from the Tai Chi view to the types of things in my "three mantras" post. I plan my next post to discuss the relationship of these two views.

Training vs. Learning

In training, beware the overvaluing of "learning" and the undervaluing of "training." Deep knowledge benefits more than broad knowledge in terms of application, sustainability, and retainability. Deep knowledge can only be attained through intense repetition of things one already knows.

Cognitive sciences now put the benchmark for mastery of any skill at 10,000 hours.

A good quote about this is echoed by Ginchin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan. As he wrote in 'Ryukyu Kempo Karate' (1922): "The old masters used to keep a narrow field but plough a deep furrow. Present day students have a broad field but only plough a shallow furrow."