Page 101 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

This new perspective opened up a who le new vision of martial intercour se. I
realized that whenever I could cont rol two of his limbs with one of mine , I

could easily use my unoccupied arm for free-pi ckings . Today, techni que s
around this idea are a staple in my compet itive martial style. If even for a bl ink
of an eye you can control two of the other guy ’s limbs with one of your s, eithe r
with angle or timing or some sort of clinch, then the oppo nen t is in gr ave

danger. The free hand can take him apar t. Thi s princi ple appl ies to ne arly all
contact sports: basketball, football, soccer, wrestling, hockey, boxing, you na me
it. On the chessboard it is also relevant. Any moment that one pi ece can
control, inhibit, or tie down two or more pieces, a potentially critical

imbalance is created on the rest of the bo ard. On a deeper level, this principle
can be applied psychologically when ever oppo sing forces clash. Whe the r
speaking of a corporate negotiation, a legal battle, or even war itself, if the
opponent is temporarily tied down qual itatively or energetically more tha n you

are expending to tie it down, you have a large advantage. The key is to master
the technical skills appropriate for appl ying t hi s idea t o your area of focus .
I was familiar with this competitive pr inci ple from my ches s days, but it
wasn’t until I was forced to train one- han ded that I began to unde rstand ho w

potently it could be applied to the martial arts. I woul d nev er ha ve gue ssed
that I could control two hands with one in a freestyle exchange , but to be
honest, after three or four weeks I becam e so comfortable fendi ng off bo th my
opponent’s hands with my left, that the idea of ultimately getting my right

hand back felt like an unfair luxur y. Thi s injur y was becoming a tremendo us
source of inspiration.
There was also an intriguing physical compo nen t of my recovery. I want ed
to compete in the Nationals, so bi zarre tho ugh it may sound I resolved no t to

atrophy. At this point in my life I was very involved in the subt le int erna l
dynamics of the body through Tai Chi meditation. I had an idea tha t I might
be able to keep my right side strong by intense visual ization practice. My
method was as follows: I did a daily resistance worko ut rout ine on my left side ,

and after every set I visualized the worko ut pas sing to the mus cles on the right .
My arm was in a cast, so there was no actual motion po ssibl e—but I coul d feel
the energy flowing into the unused mus cles. I adm it it was a sho t in the da rk,
but it worked. My whole body felt strong, and when the do ctor fina lly took off

my cast he was stunned. Four days bef ore the National s an X-ray sho wed tha t
my bone was fully healed, and I had hardly atrophi ed at all. The doctor cleared