Incomplete Manifesto for Growth
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Check out the Incomplete Manifesto for Growth from Bruce Mau Design. Most of these points are equally applicable to Taido as to design. None of it is really anything new, but by seeing it all in one place, it gives a different perspective, much of which relates to what i’m trying to do with this website.
Here are some of my favorites, with comments:
“… If process drives outcome, we may not know where we are going, but we will know we want to be there.”
The river is never wrong. Conscious practice will get us much further than all the theorizing in the world. First, we must begin, and only then can we make adjustments. It’s “ready, fire, aim.” If we aim first, we may never get around to firing because we can never be sure we’ll hit the target. By just firing, we will be certain to hit something. Then we aim again, and get a a little closer to what we want. Steering a parked car gets us no closer to our destination. Let’s get in gear and build our art around the process of quality practices and methods.
“Go deep…”
As long as you dig deep enough, you are bound to find something, sometime - water, oil, or even gold. On the surface, everything looks pretty similar, but when we go deeper into things, we find that there is much we couldn’t see from our initial perspective. At the core, all objects and ideas are made of the same stuff doing different things. Einstein said that matter and space are the same substance. When we look deeply, we can understand broadly.
“… The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question… Ask different questions.”
I’m really good at screwing up, but I keep asking questions, so I usually seem to produce quality in the long run. Hence one of my mottos: better living through inquiry. See also, Ken Wilber: nobody is smart enough to be wrong 100% of the time. I think we should spend more time looking at better ways to integrate our “wrong” answers into frameworks that may may make them right.
“… Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.”
Applications are tuned, tested, and tweaked. That’s a lot of work, and it’s unnecessary to invest that much time in everything we do. But ideas come easily and spontaneously. If we nurture our ideas, we can turn them into applications as needed, but when we bog ourselves in applications, we tend towards over-focus, and this prevents us from seeing new ideas.
“Collaborate…”
As I like to say: if we all help build it, we all get to use it. The habit of only working on projects about which we are passionate has several side benefits beside the obvious. By choosing to build things we wish to use, we have greater motivation to accomplish our goals in the best possible manner. Our passion leads us to others with similar passions. Two passionate people with a common goal constitute a powerful coalition, provided they can get together. What could happen if everyone who loves Taido were to share their ideas with each other in an environment that would support their combined results?
“Make your own tools…”
A good portion of this site is devoted to creating tools for practice. I think tool-buiding is one of the essential skills of a great coach. The really gifted instructors are not the ones who come to class with a collection of great drills and ideas though - they are the ones who can diagnose performance issues on the spot and custom build new drills and solutions for each situation. Begin by tweaking tools you already have in ways that make them more efficient for a specific applications. Eventually, you will find yourself designing all kinds of new methods.
“Make new words…”
See? I’m not the only person who says our nomenclature (Bruce uses the word “lexicon”) is a powerful determinant of our thought process. Nobody can escape their own language and culture, but by taking an active role in creating it, we can assert some degree of conscious influence. Besides all the egg-headed stuff, coming up with creative ways to express ourselves is simply enjoyable.
“… Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.”
Taido is not meant to be boxed into some predetermined notion people may have about the martial arts. If shukumine had wanted his ideas to be limited by the same factors that limit other arts, he would not have created Taido as an independent entity. There is no division between what you do in practice and what you do at your office, in bed, at lunch, or during those times when you’re absolutely sure nobody is watching you. Quality practice happens when you stop thinking of Taido as a hobby and put it to use in everything you do.
I encourage you to really meditate on any points that strike a chord with you and apply them to your practice. The second forty years of Taido’s history has already begun. What contribution will you make to to our mutual growth?
Content of this page created by Andy Fossett exclusively for Taido/Blog.Tags: Experiments / Ideas
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