Page 119 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

Consider one of the more interesting and psychologi cally subt le card tricks
performed by highly evolved illus ioni sts. A magician is ons tage and asks an

audience member to join him. When the volunt eer (a genui nel y unpl ant ed
middle-aged man who seems to be enj oying the sho w) appr oache s, the
performer holds his attention for a few moments whi le he handl es the cards .
Then the illusionist lays the fifty-two cards (a real deck) on a table and asks the

man to think about a card. Visualize it. The magician then shuf fl s the cards ,
lays the deck on the table, and asks the volunt eer to flip the top card. It is the
envisioned card. What happened here? Did the magician really read the man’s
mind and then miraculously separate that card from the other fifty-one ? Of

course not.
This particular illusion is very much in line with the cont rolling of
intention that a martial artist might empl oy. The key is the subt le
manipulation of the volunteer’s cons cious and unco ns cious minds . It all

happens before the “magic” begins. As the two men stand before one ano the r,
in conversation, the illusionist engag es the volunt eer. Thi s interaction is
dictated by the magician. The volunt eer is answering ques tions , following,
trying to look good onstage. In the mids t of all thi s, and in a blur tha t no one

in the audience notices, the illusioni st fl hes a card. Thi s is the sleight of ha nd.
The critical point is that the volunt eer mus t unco ns cious ly notice the card
without the observation registering in his cons cious mind. He is enga ge d in
the banter of the illusionist, and then sudden ly has a seed planted in hi s mind.

When asked to envision a card, that choice has already been made for hi m.
Manipulating the card throughout the shuffle so it remains at the top of the
deck is child’s play for a halfway-decen t sleight of hand artist. The subt lety of
this deception is that if the performer fails to fully engag e the man’s cons cious

mind, then the clever volunteer will realize he’s being progr ammed and de cide
to choose another card—the trick won’t work.

*

If a pattern of interaction is recogni zabl e to the adv ersary, the n ment al
conditioning will not be terribly effective. In the Push Hands scene I de scribe d
above, had my opponent recognized that his ego was being manipul ated, he

could have thwarted my plan. My feigned unhap pi nes s and backi ng up made
him feel powerful, confident, so he was not on the looko ut for being set up.