Author: Carol Mitchell
There have been many articles written regarding martial arts and being a martial artist. There have been discussions regarding what technique works, and what is traditional and what is not. To add to the mix are the disagreements of age, and the color of a belt. What does this all mean in the scheme of things? From the outside, the discussions seem to be petty, and useless. It is like children on the playground trying to "one up" someone else. I feel that some in the martial arts community are missing the point.
I started martial arts in my late 30's. Like everyone who begins, I had my own personal reasons to start. My son was involved and I thought it would be easy enough for me to do the same thing. Karate was my first experience into martial arts. I moved into Aikido for a number of reasons, and I made it to black belt. Great right? It took all that time for me to understand what my instructor said to me about moving through the ranks, “A black belt is mastering the basics.” Being a white belt again. It is what you do after that black belt that refines what you learned and you expand upon it.
I started martial arts in my late 30's. Like everyone who begins, I had my own personal reasons to start. My son was involved and I thought it would be easy enough for me to do the same thing. Karate was my first experience into martial arts. I moved into Aikido for a number of reasons, and I made it to black belt. Great right? It took all that time for me to understand what my instructor said to me about moving through the ranks, “A black belt is mastering the basics.” Being a white belt again. It is what you do after that black belt that refines what you learned and you expand upon it.
Martial arts is more than just a belt around one’s waist, rank, or title. It is a mindset, a passion, a philosophy and it goes beyond the dojo. What do I mean by that? In my world of project management and technology, martial arts concepts are used and incorporated into what we do. Six Sigma is based on belt ranks from martial arts. Six Sigma is an important part of lean business process. Most, if not all, major corporations have used and continue to use Six Sigma as a way to lean out their organizations.
Agile is a term used in software development and has its roots in martial arts. The “Shu”, “Ha” and “Ri”. Those in martial arts should recognize these terms. The goal of any agile team is to become “Ri,” to move beyond just mastering the basics but then to become the practitioner - bending the spoon (a reference to "The Matrix"). In other words, we are looking at what the field of education calls "the Dreyfus model of skill and acquisition." Everyone has heard the terms of novice, advance beginner, competent, proficient and expert, and we can even put a color belt to each one of these terms.
Let’s go back to my opening statements regarding the discussions and sometimes arguments in the martial arts community regarding technique, rank, traditional versus nontraditional styles, etc. As you can see, martial arts is more than just a sound bit or two. It has become part of the evolution of business and technology. People move to “Ri” at different paces and bring different experiences to the table to refine a technique or style. Nothing stands still, it's fluid like water. “Don’t try to bend the spoon. It is impossible just realize truth, there is no spoon. It is only yourself that bends.”
Agile is a term used in software development and has its roots in martial arts. The “Shu”, “Ha” and “Ri”. Those in martial arts should recognize these terms. The goal of any agile team is to become “Ri,” to move beyond just mastering the basics but then to become the practitioner - bending the spoon (a reference to "The Matrix"). In other words, we are looking at what the field of education calls "the Dreyfus model of skill and acquisition." Everyone has heard the terms of novice, advance beginner, competent, proficient and expert, and we can even put a color belt to each one of these terms.
Let’s go back to my opening statements regarding the discussions and sometimes arguments in the martial arts community regarding technique, rank, traditional versus nontraditional styles, etc. As you can see, martial arts is more than just a sound bit or two. It has become part of the evolution of business and technology. People move to “Ri” at different paces and bring different experiences to the table to refine a technique or style. Nothing stands still, it's fluid like water. “Don’t try to bend the spoon. It is impossible just realize truth, there is no spoon. It is only yourself that bends.”
 | Sensei Carol Mitchell is the inheritor of Tenshi-Akuma-Do Aiki Goshin Jujutsu and a long-time martial artist. She currently trains at the Technician Dojo in Columbus, Ohio, under the instruction of Kaiso Steven Hatfield in both Aiki Jujutsu and Ryu-Saiichi-Do Karate. |
