Page 9 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

Similarly, I would be in a Push Hands compet ition and time woul d seem to
slow down enough to allow me to metho di cally take apart my oppo ne nt ’s

structure and uncover his vulnerability, as in a ches s gam e. My fascina tion with
consciousness, study of chess and Tai Chi , love for literatur e and the ocean, for
meditation and philosophy, all coalesced around the them e of tappi ng int o the
mind’s potential via complete immersion int o one and all activities. My gr owth

became defined by barrierlessness. Pure concentration didn’t allow tho ught s or
false constructions to impede my awareness, and I obs erved clear conne ctions
between different life experiences thr ough the common mode of cons cious ne ss
by which they were perceived.

As I cultivated openness to these connect ions , my life became fl ode d with
intense learning experiences. I remember sitting on a Bermuda cliff one stormy
afternoon, watching waves pound int o the rocks. I was focused on the water
trickling back out to sea and sudden ly knew the ans wer to a che ss pr obl em I

had been wrestling with for weeks . Ano ther time, after compl etely immersing
myself in the analysis of a chess po sition for eight ho ur s, I had a breakt hr ough
in my Tai Chi and successfully tested it in class that ni ght . Great literatur e
inspired chess growth, shooting jump sho ts on a New York City blackt op ga ve

me insight about fluidity that appl ied to Tai Chi , beco ming at pe ace ho ldi ng
my breath seventy feet underwater as a free-di ver helped me in the time
pressure of world championship ches s or martial arts compet itions . Traini ng in
the ability to quickly lower my heart rate after intense phy sical strain he lpe d

me recover between periods of exhau sting concent ration in ches s tour na ment s.
After several years of cloudiness, I was flying free, devour ing inf ormation,
completely in love with learning.

*

Before I began to conceive of this bo ok, I was cont ent to under stand my gr owth
in the martial arts in a very abstract manner. I related to my experience with

language like parallel learning and translation of level. I felt as though I had
transferred the essence of my ches s under standi ng into my Tai Chi pr actice.
But this didn’t make much sense, especi ally out side of my own he ad. Wha t
does essence really mean anyway? And how do es one transfer it from a mental to

a physical discipline?