Page 153 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

This experience was disturbing to me on a num ber of levels. The re is the
competitive angle, but for me there was also a much more impo rtant ide a at

stake. My relationship to the martial arts is rooted in no nv iolence. I do n’t ge t
into fights. I don’t want to hurt any one. I bel ieve that our world is de stroying
itself with a cycle of violence begetting violence, and I do n’t want to ha ve any
part in that cycle. I first got involved with Tai Chi Chuan as a movement away

from ego, away from fighting. I was dr awn to the exper ience of ha rmony and
interconnectedness that felt like a count erpo int to the dog- eat-do g che ss world.
As I got deeper into the martial side of Tai Chi , and later the gr appl ing art
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this inner harmony woul d be tested cont inuo us ly. To some

this might seem like a contradiction—w hy step int o a martial arts ring if you
don’t want to fight? My personal relations hi p to thi s ques tion inv olves
continuous internal cultivation. It is easy to speak of nonv iolence whe n I am in
a flower garden. The real internal challenge is to maintain that funda ment al

perspective when confronted by ho stility, aggr ession, and pai n. The ne xt step
in my growth process would be to stay true to myself under inc reasingl y
difficult conditions.
For the year following this incident at the National s, I devoted myself to

staying principled when sparring with creeps . I sought out dirty pl ayers and
got better and better at keeping cool when they go t out of cont rol. The re were
a couple of guys in particular who were very us eful to me in thi s traini ng. I’m
sure you remember Evan, the big fellow from the Investment in Loss chapter, who

used to throw me against the wall. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he always pus he d
me to my limit with his aggression. Much of our training took pl ace dur ing
this period of time.
There was another fellow I’ll call Frank who was much more of the ge nui ne

article. He had been a big Push Hands compet itor for a num ber of years and he
didn’t like to lose. When he was hav ing troubl e, he go t dirty. He made hi s own
rules. His particular method of cho ice was to attack the neck. In Pus h Hands
the target area is shoulders to waist. Bare-han ded attacks to the ne ck can be

quite dangerous, and it is normal training etiquet te no t to target the ne ck at
all. But whenever Frank felt threatened or uns table, he woul d start jabbi ng
fingers at the Adam’s apple. I had one or two ugl y exper iences with Fr ank
doing this when I was a beginner, well bef ore the National s head- but t scene . I

didn’t like his vibe, felt he was out of cont rol, and for the most pa rt avoide d
training with him.