Three More Musashi Quotes to Internalize
Lessons on learning from this Japanese Samurai Warrior turned a Philosopher.
Read the previous part here:
Quote 4:
“It will seem difficult at first, but everything is difficult at first. Bows are difficult to draw, halberds* are difficult to wield; as you become accustomed to the bow, so your pull will become stronger.”
My interpretation:
I remember the first time I wanted to learn playing the guitar. I could not play the right notes, nor play in rhythm. Someone said, “Don’t focus on the chords on your left hand, just try to strum with your right without missing the beat.” Yeah right ! And the finger tips of my left were burning like hell.
But, with daily practice I became more accustomed to the guitar, the strings, and its techniques. And I was able to hit the right note, and play the chords. Gradually I could change the chords too. The initial difficulty I faced diminished as my strumming skills developed.
Musashi’s quote reminds us that the beginning stages of learning will be challenging and potentially overwhelming most of the times. New learners can not see the big picture, the broad strategies, and the underlying reasoning.
This also reflects the idea that learning is a gradual process, and through imitation, repetition and feedback, one can enhance their skills and overcome the initial difficulties. Any new skill or endeavor will initially feel awkward or difficult to execute.
Implications for teaching/learning:
Teachers, know this about the learning process. Your students will face the initial challenge and their working memory will be overwhelmed with new information and experiences.
And, beware of the expertise reversal effect, also known as the ‘curse of knowledge’.
In the initial moment, structuring your teaching/instruction is super important. Teaching a beginner level learner is significantly different/challenging than teaching an intermediate or even a near-expert learner.
I’ve written about these ideas here and here.
Quote 5:
“Fixation is the way to death, fluidity is the way to life.”
My interpretation:
What a great quote !
This one implies that being closed-minded and resistant to change can lead to the metaphorical "death" of personal and intellectual growth.
It reminds us about being adaptable and flexible in the learning process. Because getting fixated or stuck in rigid patterns or ideas can hinder growth and learning.
In other words, stay open minded to learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Implications for teaching/learning:
I implore teachers to challenge the idea of ‘learning styles’, whether they themselves or the students believe in this cute idea.
Similarly, I want teachers to reflect on their own practices. The methods or tools or ideas they find easy to use and thus they don’t want to try anything else.
For instance, a lot of teachers have told me that “they can’t find enough time to design activities and conduct them because they are always in a mad rush to cover the content.”
When I share them the core ideas of how to find time to ‘automatize’ the activities and save enough time for content delivery, some give it a shot. Some don’t. But those who do, they always tell me how liberating is the idea of routines and rituals in the instructional process.
Personal anecdote:
Interestingly, I have seen students in my class having a panic attack (sort of) when their laptop didn’t work (may be it was the projector). And they couldn’t give their project presentation. I told them to do it without their slides. But one of the students was painfully fixated on doing the powerpoint presentation saying, "we have spent hours on designing the slides, we don’t want to throw those beautiful slides away.”
While other group of students had a Plan B just in case the technology fails them.
Quote 6:
“Read a word then ponder on it. If you interpret the meaning loosely, you will mistake the Way.”
My interpretation:
In my initial days as a teacher, I had this belief that “Teaching is such an easy job. All I have to do is go into the classroom, take the attendance, flip through the book, finish the chapters, and assign home works to the students.”
I had mistaken the Way. I didn’t have time nor experience nor guidance to read what teaching meant. Neither had I time to ponder over it. I simply looked at teaching from the superficial level and thought it was a simple task. Plus, I realize I was wrapped up in the “participant’s bias”, because I had seen teachers teaching through out my student life, I assumed it was an easy task.
This quote is a reminder to go beyond the surface-level understanding and to take the time to ponder: contemplate, analyze, and dive deeper into the meaning of the information or experience. To be fully alert and to think harder.
The quote also reminds me of another maxim, “the devil lies in the details.”
It implies that the devil or the potential for misunderstanding or error can be found within the specific details or elements that make up the subject matter being learned.
Funnily, I used to believe for many many years, that we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon-dioxide. Seems like I didn’t pay much attention to the details, and carried along a wrong belief.
Implications for teaching/learning:
While reading the book, The Invisible Gorilla (2010), I remember an interesting concept the authors talk about.
Illusion of understanding: We all tend to think we have a grasp of what’s going on in the world when, in fact, the world is far more complex than we know.
Similarly, when we hear experts explain concepts to us, it sounds so simple at that time but later when we try to share the same concept to others or try to write it down on the notebook, we struggle.
This usually happens with most of the abstract concepts. It’s easy to carelessly or inaccurately interpret an idea that leads to a misunderstanding of fundamental concepts or principles.
Like, for a lot of MBA students, the word “marketing” means promotion, branding, advertising, etc. Which is an incomplete and inaccurate understanding.
So what does this mean for teachers?
It means, check for understanding, track misunderstandings, and resolve the misinterpretations. In between the class. In between the sessions. Otherwise the students might be walking down the wrong Way.
To recap:
Quote 4: Learning is difficult/challenging at first, but eventually gets easier if you persist.
Quote 5: Stay open-minded, stay fluid. Don’t get fixated on any idea/tool.
Quote 6: Go beyond superficial understanding. Focus on the details. Go deeper.
*Halberds:
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It can have a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants.
Hey, if you found this post meaningful or interesting, leave a comment.
Share it in your network. Or ask other teachers to subscribe.