Page 92 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

I practiced the Tai Chi meditative form di ligen tly, many ho ur s a da y. At
times I repeated segments of the form over and over, ho ni ng certain techni que s

while refining my body mechanics and deepen ing my sense of relaxation. I
focused on small movements, sometimes spendi ng hour s moving my hand out
a few inches, then releasing it back, ener gizing out wards , connect ing my feet to
my fingertips with less and less obs truct ion. Practicing in thi s manne r, I was

able to sharpen my feeling for Tai Chi. When through painstaking refinem ent of
a small movement I had the impr oved feeling, I could translate it onto other
parts of the form, and suddenly everythi ng woul d start flowing at a hi ghe r
level. The key was to recognize that the pr inci ples making one simpl e

technique tick were the same fundam entals that fueled the who le expa ns ive
system of Tai Chi Chuan.
This method is similar to my early study of ches s, wher e I expl ored
endgame positions of reduced compl exity—f or exampl e ki ng and pawn aga ins t

king, only three pieces on the board—i n order to touch hi gh- level pr inc ipl es
such as the power of empty space, zugzwang (where any move of the opponent
will destroy his position), tempo, or struct ur al pl anni ng. Once I expe rienc ed
these principles, I could apply them to compl ex positions because the y were in

my mental framework. However, if you study compl icated chess ope ni ngs and
middlegames right off the bat, it is di ffi lt to thi nk in an abstract axiomatic
language because all your energi es are preoccupi ed with no t bl unde ring. It
would be absurd to try to teach a new fi e skat er the princi ple of relaxation

on the ice by launching straight into tripl e axels. She sho ul d begin with the
fundamentals of gliding along the ice, tur ni ng, and skat ing backw ards with
deepening relaxation. Then, step by step, more and more compl icated
maneuvers can be absorbed, while she maintains the sense of ease tha t was

initially experienced within the simpl est ski ll set.
So, in my Tai Chi work I savored the nuan ce of small morsels. The lone form
I studied was William Chen’s, and I took it on piece by piece, gradual ly
soaking its principles into my skin. Every day I did thi s subt le work at ho me

and then tested it in class at night . It was easy to see whet he r somethi ng
worked or not, because training with advanced pl ayers like Evan us ua lly
involved one of us getting smashed into the wall. In thes e int ens e spa rring
sessions, showy moves didn’t work. Ther e was no margin for ide alized

fanciness. Things happened too qui ckly. It soon becam e clear that the ne xt step