In the lyrics of his song by the same name, legendary rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix wrote, “Are you experienced? Or have you ever been experienced?”…
One of the foundational tenets of Jeet Kune Do is:
Research your own experience
Absorb what is useful
Reject what is useless
Add what is specifically your own.
In this blog I’d like to discuss the first step, “Research your own experience” (I’ll discuss “absorbing”, “rejecting”, and “adding” in future blogs).
Your personal growth as a martial artist comes through experiences. But experience by itself is not enough. A person can experience a lot yet learn little. A martial artist, for example, can put in countless hours of sparring, but if they don’t take the time to research their sparring experiences, they may end up learning very little from them, and as a result may end up making the same mistakes over and over again. You’ve got to research your experience. Researching your experience can inform you and enlighten you. It can help you determine what is useful to you and what isn’t.
In order for you to research your own experience, you’ve got to have experiences. A martial artist who has never actually experienced full contact sparring against an ‘alive’ and non-cooperating opponent will be at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to knowing what will and will not work in a real combative situation. A “striker” who has never experienced working against a skilled “grappler” can find himself in a difficult situation if such a situation occurs, and vice versa.
How do you research your own experience? You evaluate and interpret an experience by asking questions concerning it such as, “What meaning, purpose, or value does this experience have for me at this time? -- “What about in the future?” -- “What bearing does it have on my training?” -- “What did I get out of this experience?” etc.
As a teacher, all I can do is to give my students experiences that allow, or in some cases force them to grow. They then have to research their experience, and what each individual chooses to absorb or reject will be up to them.
So as you strive to actualize your potentials as a martial artist, actively seek experiences in all facets of your training. Research and explore various combative motions and skills and then put them to the litmus test through training and sparring. Work out with different types of martial artists. Do something new. Learn something new. Experience, and then research your own experience.
On a final note, make sure the experiences you research are your own, and not someone else’s.
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