rugwithlegs

One more thought on how we learn - one of my favorite stories about Kano Jigoro is that he was having problems throwing a much taller man he trained with. Kano did research, and found a book on western wrestling showing a fireman's carry. With inspiration from a book in a foreign art with what was probably a poor quality picture by today's standards, he developed kata guruma and threw his nemesis.

My wife is someone who always believes in kinesthetic learning, to the point that she says books and videos are a waste of time. I think developing the right questions, forming them in a quantifiable, researchable, useful manner that leads to improved skills is a whole art form in itself. Learning from other sources, taking a variety of inspirations from disparate experiences I think depends first on asking the question. If the student never has the question, a teacher cannot appear.