How To Tie Your Shoes
Posted on | December 23, 2009 | by Roland Beauregard | 1 Comment
You are looking at the title of this post and thinking “I already know how to tie my shoes.” That may be true but if you found a better way would you try it.
I had a situation a few years ago when I was having trouble keeping my sports shoes tied. The new synthetic fiber laces kept on slipping and my shoes kept on coming untied. I had tried everything and was considering buying some expensive lock laces just to keep my shoes tied. I just happened to stumble upon a site called Ian’s shoelace site. On that site he had a knot he called the Ian’s Secure Shoelace Knot. Darn if that knot didn’t work. I never had trouble with my shoes coming untied again. I do not want to bore you with how old I am but I had been tying my laces with the same knot my mother had taught me as a child.
My point is that thinking that you already know how to do something prevents you from learning how to do it better. Sometimes it is best to approach a situation as if you are facing it for the first time. Many times it is our arrogance that prevents us from moving forward. In the martial arts world we may be thinking “I already know how to punch” or “there is nothing more I can learn about knife defense." These are actually stumbling blocks in our journey to mastery. The first step I take is to admit I do not know everything there is to know about the subject then open my mind and listen.
In the Zen world they talk about “beginners mind". In Christianity Jesus admonished we must be as children to enter the Kingdom of God. This is the “child’s mind” state in which we view things as being entirely new even though we have known them forever. Another Zen story that is a favorite of mine is the story of the monk filling the tea cup (read it here). Sometimes we have to empty our mind of ideas and thoughts before we can let new ones in.
Coach Freedman is the master of turning your mind around just when you thought that you knew exactly to do a technique he comes up with a new angle on how to do it. Look at the post on Arnis vs. Kendo. He makes you take another look on how the two are related.
Spencer Gee who recently taught at Coach Freedman’s studio showed us all how we still had misconceptions on defending in a knife attack (see the post on Spencer Gee’s Visit).
This blog is about practicing martial art rather about a specific martial art. What we hope to accomplish here is to put out tips and pointers to becoming a better martial artist (and a better person). I believe that returning to our “beginners mind” , looking at what other martial artist are doing and re-examining our own practice is the greatest thing that we can do to forward our own study. It is also the most difficult as our self importance sometimes holds us back with the attitude that “I already know that”.
With the new year approaching it is time to look at new ideas and concepts. And don’t forget to keep your shoelaces tied tight.
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January 14th, 2010 @ 11:03 am
You had me at the knot!