Inside vs. Outside

When learning an art, whether under an instructor or through other means, people usually follow along with the motions that they observe. This is how we learn as children and it's generally how we learn as adults, too.

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, there's a danger to focusing on the external look of the motions. If a person has the skill to move as the instruction dictates, simple mimicry will only let them assume the facade of the action, not develop an understanding of it.

An artist who can understand their body will have an advantage far beyond simply "learning stuff quicker". It also comes in things like knowing how to utilize the space around them and appearing to move effortlessly. Another huge benefit is in not having to learn every new movement/song/kata as a new "thing" and instead as a variation of something previously taught.

Those who learn from the "outside" are doing what they're told or shown. However, it's imitation without understanding what their body is doing aside from adopting a pose or a motion. When they move on to the next song/action/movement, they can't transfer what's similar from the last thing; they have to get shown exactly what to do in the new situation.

Picture getting in a new car, one you've not driven before. Assuming you know how to drive in the first place, you'll adjust the seat, the wheel, mirrors, etc. You'll not be super-comfortable for a little while until you get the feel for the car, but in a short while you'll be driving it just fine. Imagine though, if every time you got in a new car, someone had to tell you where the gas pedal was, what the steering wheel did, and how to stay inside the lane markers. Every time. That's what learning "from the outside" is like.

Ok, great, so I'm showing why it's better to learn your body from the "inside" than focusing merely on the "outside" look. How do you make it happen?

If you're fortunate enough to have the time and resources, cross-training is the best way to do this. Dance, martial arts, and sports are the easiest to find a way into. You may have heard of boxers learning ballet or football players learning Tae Kwon Do, and there's a reason for that!

Barring that, sometimes it just takes some real self-reflection in doing the movements you're already familiar with. For instance, you can close your eyes and go through the motions of a form or a song or what-have-you. Or, what happens when you slow everything down but never stop moving? How about holding each move for a few seconds and feel where the tension is and isn't?

The example I can give is in doing kata in karate. I know about 25 different kata and have been doing some of them for about 10 years now. So when I do them as a warm up, when I want more than just a sweat, I'll focus on something. Maybe one day I do them all smoothly, with little impact and no pauses, to see how my body makes transitions. Maybe another day I'll try to get as low as possible and see how I can and can't move. There are endless possibilities!

If you're only concerned about the visual "product", then all you have is an inflexible, hollow shell that will shatter with a little bit of stress. Once you have a foundation to build from, then the shell is just one part of your artist's repertoire and something that can adapt as you need it to!