“To know and not to do is not yet to know.”
I think it was Lao Tzu who said the above quote, and I often reiterate this by asking; “After reading a book on riding a bike, can you actually ride a bike?” The answer is no, as you have only read about it. To learn how to actually ride a bike, you must practice riding on a real bike.
The same goes for anytime – in particular – martial arts. Being shown a technique or principle once doesn’t mean the student now knows the concept – it means that they’ve been shown it once. The student must practice, make mistakes, adapt and understand before they can claim to know – then the next step is having that concept become second nature. Too many people these days are all about instant gratification; there’s often an element of; “Ok, you’ve shown me this, what’s next?” rather than investing the hours, days, months and years and even decades that was previously expected my own teachers.
Same goes for going to the gym – you need someone to actually show you how to do the exercises correctly – then check your form over and over until you get to the stage where you know when you’re doing each exercise correctly or not. You can only go so far watching YouTube clips and reading articles.
Then there’s the Armchair / Keyboard Warriors who comb through social media, looking for the perfect place for them to assert their “book / video knowledge” rather than “practical knowledge”… to them I just have to suggest a smile and nod, and a thank you for sharing.
To know and not to do is not yet to know.
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- Wing Chun Kung Fu NZ
https://linktr.ee/studunnkapiti & https://linktr.ee/sdl.behavioural.science
Stu Dunn Blog 