In Bruce Lee’s writings about his style of Jeet Kune Do, He always tells the tale of having an empty cup. In this tale, the master takes his tea pot and tries to pour his tea into his student’s cup that is already half full. The master even makes a point of making sure that the cup overflows making a mess to make a point! As Martial Artists we cannot truly learn without having an empty cup. Many times, we think of this empty cup philosophy as keeping our ego in check, but in reality it is more technical!
Bruce Lee points out that the key to having an empty cup is to eliminate any assumptions from previous experiences when trying to learn something new. The idea of relating one art or technique you know to another technique or art you are trying to learn is problematic in the learning process. As a student you are limiting the knowledge you are absorbing when you do this because you are biasing yourself and restricting the ways in which you approach a new technique. I can attest as a student and an instructor that eliminating assumptions is key to picking up a skill or art at face value. Instead of learning simply what is, we are focussing on comparing to what we know. So while I am not Bruce Lee, I will tell you all a story about making assumptions and comparing and how I have seen it negatively impact some students of mine.
As you probably know by this point, I train and teach the art of Tang Soo Do. At the university where I teach, there are a plethora of students on campus that have previous martial arts experience. There were two particular students that have trained under me that come to mind. Both of them have previous experience in Tae Kwon Do. If you have Tae Kwon Do experience, training in Tang Soo Do is very similar. After all, Tang Soo Do is the father art of Tae Kwon Do.
The first student came by and while he was a fine technician, he had a difficult time picking up the curriculum, and his technique in my class still looked like Taekwondo and not Tang Soo Do despite multiple years training with me. This first student ended up being a white belt under me for a number of years (C’mon this isn’t Brazillian Jiu Jitsu we’re talking about here. This is Tang Soo Do. You should not be a white belt for three years! Well, he was also injured though so there’s that.)
The second student was quite the opposite. He was able to test into the Tang Soo Do system very quickly. This student’s story is not that interesting. Think back to a test that you took that went by very quickly with no adversity…. It’s kind of hard to think back isn’t it. Adversity is what makes good stories!
These students who had pretty similar situations had pretty different outcomes.
Why?
The first student spent all of class time comparing what I was teaching to Tae Kwon Do. I would explain a technique, and he would always point out and say, “Oh, that’s cool. In Tae Kwon Do we do it this way.”
Did the first student have bad intentions? No. He was eager to learn, but he let his prior experiences bias how and what he was learning! He was a good human being, but a bad student. I am still friends with this student and I have learned a lot from him with incorporating some taekwondo ideology into my sparring, but there are times I see a lot of untapped potential in him to grow in his Tang Soo Do Skills. Really he just needs to empty his cup more and not let his preconceived notions get in the way of his training. This is why cross training is so difficult to do when you are cross training in arts that are so close and so similar.
Now, the second student was very different in his approach. I like to be agnostic with students that have previous experience. I let them get acquainted with my class before changing anything in their technique at first. This student surprised me. It took him only a couple of classes to say, “Sir, just tell me how to do the techniques your way.”
Does his Tang Soo Do technique still have some Tae Kwon Do flavors to it? Of course it does, nobody makes a full transition overnight. That is why he tested in as an intermediate/advanced colored belt. He still has time to train and further overcome his biases!
So at the end of the day, my friends, Do you approach your cross training endeavors and even your professional endeavors with an empty mind and an empty cup? If you are too busy comparing your present situation to what you already know you will severely limit your ability to learn and to be acquainted.
If you are working for a new job, don’t compare it to your old job.
If you are learning a new technique, don’t compare it to other techniques
And if you are learning a new martial arts style, a new way of life, a new philosophy, don’t compare it to your base.
Have a completely open mind, and be fair to your new experiences.
