Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
Who remembers their sensei talking about creativity in martial arts, especially in the self-defense martial disciplines? Creativity in a lot of martial arts is pretty much suppressed because in most cases that martial system relies heavily on conformity and the specifics of questions and answers. In self-defense martial arts one must conform inadvertently to the self-defense technique drill model that is very limited then there are those questions asked in answering what is necessary to TEST and Qualify for rank, i.e., promotions. It models many of our school systems that are also formulated toward conformity and the question/answer model of testing. Creativity is about non-conformity so that questions and answers become more diversified, i.e., allowing for open-minded answers that involve variety, etc.
Creativity is about divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is about development in varied and different directions. It is a thought process whereby the student generates within themselves creative ideas through the exploration of as many solutions as can be generated. When you are stuck in a more conformity model of drills and so on without being allowed to “diverge” toward other possibilities you lose out on developing a more creative way of applying self-defense.
In reality one needs to develop yin-yang, a principle of philosophy, by training, developing, applying both divergent and convergent thinking. You have to have correct answers to standard questions so you can build up your knowledge base. Knowledge is a factor critical to creative thinking but there are, like the balance point of yin-yang, limits where one or the other suffer if exceeded to far.
One factor that alludes toward the “Adrenal stress condition reality-based training scenario” model is creativity flows from action. Actions tend to stimulate our brain cells and get the creative juices flowing. If you are taught with creativity in mind your brain is always working to find unique and possible answers where in a more conformity question and singular answer model you just memorize an answer and that is all you need. Here is the rub tho, you need to develop creativity outside the pressures of adrenal stress conditioned reality-based training but you need to TEST that creativity and using the “Adrenal stress condition reality-based training scenario” model is the best way.
Now, as to the process of teaching, learning and applying our creativity in the martial discipline of self-defense, that is a whole complete article that should lead toward many books and articles on creativity. Fair warning because although knowledge is critical to development of creativity it also can hinder that same creativity if one packs in too much knowledge and information especially if one leans heavily toward specific detailed “trivia” type knowledge. A good example is a teacher and practitioner who has encoded, cataloged and trained thousands of “Bunkai” to just one technique. It comes down to when action and adrenal stress hit in an attack the practitioner has way too many choices that come from analytical thinking processes and encoding while the more creative process was suppressed and lost. It is our creativity trained and practiced along with adrenal stress conditioned reality-based training that will give us what we need to, “Stop the threat, end the damage and remain in the self-defense square.”
Quotes of Inspiration from Robert Ringer’s article, “Creativity.”
“To be creative, you have to think divergently, which entails considering many solutions. And that, in turn, requires you to disregard conventional wisdom and consider far-ranging possibilities.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Studies have demonstrated that the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for convergent thinking, while the right hemisphere is the home of divergent thinking.“ - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Creativity becomes suppressed by a system that values conformity and specific answers to specific questions.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Knowledge is another factor that is critical to creative thinking, in at least two ways. First, because the left brain is the cerebral filing cabinet for specific knowledge, it keeps the creative right brain from running wild. We’ve all known people who come up with an idea a minute, but most of their ideas either fail or never get off the ground. Usually, it’s a result of their lacking enough specific knowledge in their brain to silence their creative right brain and tell it to move on to the next idea.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
AND
“Second, and even more important, if your left brain is overflowing with knowledge, your right brain has access to the material it needs to be creative. Good ideas and concepts are only as good as the knowledge upon which they are based.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“But it gets even trickier. There is convincing evidence that too much specialized knowledge can actually inhibit creativity.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“It's much easier to be creative when you’re not under pressure. That’s why it’s a good idea to get away from your office periodically and relax. Some of my best ideas have come to me while cruising at thirty-five thousand feet — no telephone, no e-mails, no projects piling up around me. Vacations, the theater, attending conferences, and just going for long walks all serve the same purpose.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Develop the habit of grabbing hold of random, creative thoughts and quickly getting them down on paper. Nothing frustrates me more than realizing that a great idea I came up with yesterday is gone because I was so certain I’d remember it that I didn’t take the time to write it down.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Creativity flows from action. Action stimulates your brain cells and gets your creative juices flowing. What happens when you take action is that the atoms in your brain increase the speed of their vibrations, which causes your “mental paradigm” to expand. And when that occurs, you begin to see new ideas, new concepts, and new possibilities that you may not have previously considered.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
“Employ your free will and force yourself to take action. And when you do, motivation is almost sure to follow.” - Robert Ringer, Creativity
Read the entire article by Mr. Ringer HERE
Bibliography (Click the link)
No comments:
Post a Comment