I begin with these two pictures not because they feature great men (Jigoro Kano in black in the first and Morihei Ueshiba, not falling down, in the second) but because they’re decent representations of the two perspectives that I want to talk about.

Kano is bent slightly at the waist and the knees as well, he’s got the appearance of a man about to explode into action, which he no doubt is. He also has some clear intention as to what that action will be.

Ueshiba on the other hand appears to have unintentionally sent a man crashing to the ground.

This isn’t meant to be a commentary on these two men it would be asinine to do so based on two pictures one of them a moment in time prior to a technique and the other a moment in time after a technique so please don’t get caught up in any of that. Just consider the pictures, feel them if you can.

In the last few weeks I’ve been working with two teachers (who I’ll call teacher A and teacher B) and I’ve begun to notice a subtle difference. These are both men who’ve trained in the martial arts their whole lives and made them their profession one as a teacher and one as a presidential bodyguard. They share a common teacher and have similar attitudes about martial arts in many ways, both emphasizing a relaxed, connected, fluid body and use of leverage and whole body power instead of localized strikes and localized force (using only one part of the body’s strength). At the heart of what they do is understanding and using the center of gravity; teacher A moves from his own center of gravity while teacher B controls the center of gravity of those he spars with.

This may seem a small difference and in terms of trying to defend yourself if they chose to attack you it would be, but it is a difference that matters because the way we think and the way we hold our bodies go together and their combined effect reaches out into every aspect of our lives. I want to talk to you about one situation in which I observed the difference in my life and work.

Back in December, about the time I met teacher A, I was really struggling with my youngest class (8-10 year olds) as I talked to teacher A I recognized that my posture and attitude during the class were totally about reaching out with a strong intention to control them and therefore the class. Since I was frequently giving myself headaches and getting no positive results with the class I immediately changed my behavior.

I began by changing the physical part since that’s easier to work with. I put an eraser on my head as I taught class this prevented me leaning over from the waist and neck and kept me standing upright, balanced. The kids laughed their asses off about this and I did too then I noticed other changes.

As I stopped trying to control everything and started keeping myself centered I didn’t have headaches as often, I was more able to adapt my lesson plans to the ever changing situation of the class, I had more fun. Even if this was all that happened because of the eraser it would have been enough but it didn’t stop there.

The students began coming to me with questions when they didn’t understand, they began to look at me for their next signal and they began to quiet each other down when they could see that I wasn’t happy with their behavior. They began to play with me, to show up early, oddly enough they even began to improve.

All of this was connected to only two elements that I can see 1 my change in posture and 2 the passage of time. There are always other factors which we accidentally miss or cannot see, this is why no science is an exact science, we have to take into account the unknown and yet to the best of my understanding by simply standing up, balancing my posture and energy I improved the environment of my class and it’s pedagogical value.

More thoughts on my continued exploration to come, give it a try.