Page 120 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

This allowed a series of subtle condi tioni ng exchanges , whi ch fi lly erupt ed
into a throw. If I had really shoved the guy, he sur ely woul d have recogni zed

what I was doing. I had to operate ben eath hi s radar.
This is where Making Smaller Circles and Slowing Down Time come into play.
When working with highly skilled and mentally tough oppo ne nt s, the
psychological game gets increasingl y subt le. The bat tle beco mes abo ut readi ng

breath patterns and blinks of the eye, playing in frames the oppo ne nt is
unaware of, invisible technical manipul ation that slowly creates respo ns e
patterns. If I understand a series of movements more deepl y, in more frames,
with more detail, then I can mani pul ate my oppo nen t’s intention witho ut hi m

realizing what happened.
Here is an example of how this might be done. Stand up with your feet
shoulder-width apart. Put your weight in your left leg. Now, imagi ne
somebody is standing on your left side and pus hes into your body and up

through your left arm with a lot of force. How are you go ing to keep your
balance? Well, you have to lift up your right leg, go with the moment um , and
then replant your right foot a coupl e feet away and land—as if you jum pe d
sideways—no problem. Now put all your weight in your right leg, aga in, feet

shoulder-width apart. If someone were to pus h you from your left sho ul de r, you
would have a much bigger problem because your right leg is stuc k to the
ground. A fundamental principle of maintaining bal ance whi le moving fast (for
example while neutralizing a martial artist’s thr ow or expl osive pus h) is tha t

your feet should never cross. Now when you go airbo rne, your left foot ha s to
make the long journey past your right if you are going to hav e any cha nc e of
staying up. You’ll be all crossed up and probab ly crash into the gr ound. Thi s is
a simple idea with huge implications .

Much of the Push Hands game takes pl ace with the two pl ayers conne cted
up top. Hands and arms are subt ly pr obi ng for tension. If I pus h int o an
opponent, he will either resist my force or empt y out the attacke d pa rt of hi s
body, dodge the blow, and let the aggr ession pas s by. In either case, the re will

be a subtle shift in weight. This is a critical moment. In that bl ur dur ing
which someone switches weight from one foot to ano ther, the receiving leg is
momentarily stuck. It cannot move. At a high level, athl etes hav e de velope d
very powerful throws. If someone is slight ly off balance or una bl e to move

freely with incoming force, he will no t be abl e to catch up bef ore he is hur tling
toward the ground. If I trigger a thr ow toward someone’s right foot at the