Getting the Feeling of the Technique

By Shidoshi Andrew Wilson

One often hears teachers in the Bujinkan encouraging their students to try and get the feeling of a technique. For people who are new to the art or who come from other disciplines this idea of trying to get the “feeling” may seem a little confusing. What exactly is one supposed to “feel” the student may ask? Of course sometimes techniques may involve receiving a little pain, so we may think “Ah-ha! I really got the 'feeling' for that technique”, but that is not exactly what we are talking about.

My own interpretation of getting the feeling of the technique is about seeing what a technique is all about and not getting hung up in the details. It’s kind of like the old story of the three blind men and the elephant. You remember, the one who held the trunk was sure that the elephant was just like a snake; the one who touched the leg was certain that an elephant was more akin to a tree; and the one who clung to the tail just knew that an elephant was a like a long thin rope.

 Just like the three blind men, we may find ourselves groping around in the dark and then happily clinging on to some aspect of the technique certain that we have found a treasure when in fact we have failed to get the big picture. I think this is probably human nature and is related to the way our mind likes to categorize new experiences by comparing them to previous ones. For example, if you’re an engineer, you may think about applying the concepts of physics when you are trying to learn a technique; a medically trained person may consider a technique in terms of the body’s anatomy and physiology; and a metaphysically minded student may consider how the energy is being channeled in a certain way when a technique is executed.

 Depending on your background and experience, you think you understand the technique when you may really only be seeing some aspect of it. That is not to say that what you interpret in this way is not correct. An elephant’s tail does indeed look and feel like a rope, but as they say the sum of all parts is far greater than the whole (Especially in the case of elephants!)

So instead of analyzing what you are doing and labeling it as just like some previous technique you learned or that other style you trained in, try to just practice the technique as a whole new experience; like a brand new day filled with abounding opportunity. In this way, you may find that you are less likely to get stuck trying to force the technique and you may discover that a deeper and more subtle comprehension will take form. When you get the “feeling” in this way it’s like changing your focus from a grain of sand to taking in the whole beach.

I should mention that being able to get the “feeling” for a technique is not a magical ability that will take you years to master. In fact, most three year olds could probably do it better than I can! I believe that it is simply about the frame of mind that you use when you train. You may find that it’s hard to describe what you’ve learned in this way, but that’s okay…you’ve got the feeling.