“The six necessary coordinations are:
feet and hands
upper and lower body
footwork and technique
eyes and mind
experience and knowledge
knowledge and function.”
(Excerpt from Seeds of a Hermit, by Don Baird: All Rights Reserved – Ó Copyright 1986)
Ponder these a bit. Let the meanings come to you on their own. And, keep training no matter what. These will not come to you through some fantasy. They will only come to you through complete dedication and hard work … and of course, patience.
All of these excerpts are great I love them thank you for posting them.
My pleasure. Keep your eye open. I’ll post much of the book here. The book is a collection of short sayings/teachings and they’re written to inspire thought. I’m glad you’re enjoying them.
I am enjoying them too. Thank you so much for sharing. I love the title “Seeds of a Hermit” … each passage that you post is a seed in my garden. Each seed is being nurtured and will blossom.
Hi “Bones”. Thanks so much. I’m glad you’re enjoying them.
Such wonderful seeds! And each time I read these, new ideas and thoughts come to the surface. They constantly have something to teach me: from how to throw a punch, to how to run a school.
Thanks!
When I think of having coordination or being coordinated, I usually only think of the first 4 above…the physical. I had never thought of the last two before, but really they are so obvious. Of course there has to be coordination between experience, knowledge, and function. Our whole lives we gain experience and knowledge, and our choices and actions are always based on past experiences…Another reason to train harder…to gain more experience so we can act and react smarter and wiser. Thanks!
Could “eyes and mind” be translated to mean all of the 5 senses? I remember training in Black Tigers 2 or 3 we focused on the sounds of a martial arts engagement. Also, in forms club way back, we drilled the musicality of our forms (Batsai Dae, in particular) and actually listened to the form. I’m not sure if taste or smell would normally come into play in the modern era, but certainly the tactile senses would. I think that harmonizing mind with all of the senses would be of great benefit of course, starting with the eyes, then expanding beyond.
Lots of good thoughts here. Solid comments.