Brush and Sword

The newsletter by Sameer Sharma

Issue #5

Fundamentals=Mastery

Slow, simple and obvious is actually fast, fun and elusive

A 30 Year Lesson

“Aikido is just entering, turning, hands come up, hands come down and drop your weight,” said my sensei during one of the first Aikido classes I took almost 30 years ago. Being a complete newbie with less than a few months of training, I had no idea what he was talking about. Little did I know that I would spend the next 30 years learning this lesson.

My sensei made it sound so simple that I didn’t believe him. The truth of his statement was veiled in its simplicity. “There must be some secret technique he’s not telling me,” I thought. After almost thirty years of training, I can now see what was once blind to my naivety. There are only a few, simple and fundamental movements from which all the apparent fancy techniques arise.

Now, as an Aikido instructor, I find myself quoting my sensei when I see students struggling with techniques, “Aikido is just entering, turning, hands come up, hands come down and drop your weight,” I say. I can’t help but smile when they stare at me with the same perplexed look I had when I began.

The Infinite Game

In his book, “Finite and Infinite Games,” author James Carse makes the distinction between finite games that are played to win and infinite games that are played for the sake of play itself. For example, you practice martial arts to compete in tournaments, gain points and beat your opponent. You win a title like, “champion” and take home a trophy. That is a finite game. In contrast, you practice martial arts for the sake of practice. You love the practice for its own sake. There is no sense of winning or losing. Practice is its own reward.

Having done both competitive and non-competitive martial arts, I can tell you that the non-competitive is far more rewarding and fun than the competitive. I train because I love to; regardless of any external validation. Ironically, those external validations come much easier when you play the infinite game and are unattached to a goal.

When I began painting, I wanted to make beautiful art to gain recognition, win awards and be “successful”. This is the finite game. Fortunately, my creative imperative couldn’t be satisfied by just awards and monetary gain. I paint because I love to paint. I practice martial arts because I love to train. I choose to play the infinite game of these arts.

There is nothing wrong with playing the finite game; as long as you realize that it's finite. In fact, the rewards of the finite game are usually what attracts someone to play in the first place. Achieving the rank of black belt, winning a competition, selling a work of art, are all enticing rewards of the finite game.

When you reach your goal, one of two things happen. You will either say, “That’s it! I did it! I’m done.” Or you will ask, “That’s it? Is there nothing more?” For me, it was trying to answer the latter questions that have kept me practicing all these years. I’ve met countless people whom, after getting their first black belt, never trained again. Many fellow graduates of my MFA program never picked up a paint brush after graduation. They were playing the finite game whose defined goal was reached.

When you play the infinite game, your playing with the fundamentals. Fundamentals are themselves infinite. Fundamentals are essentially principles from which applications and techniques arise. They are the bottomless well from which you can endlessly draw. That’s why you can practice and art for a lifetime and never feel like you’ve arrived. Therein lies the beauty of it. You actually never want to arrive. You want to keep playing/practicing for its own sake.
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The Skeleton Key

As a both a martial artist and painter, I have found that mastery of any art is mastery of its fundamentals. If there is a secret, trick, hack or shortcut to mastery, then that’s it- fundamentals.

Fundamentals are the skeleton key that unlocks many doors. Fundamentals are principles; not techniques. Principles are infinite and general. Techniques are finite and specific. Principles are the source of techniques. In both Aikido and Tai Chi, there is the principle of moving from one’s center. This one principle can be expressed in many different techniques. But if you violate the principle, then no technique works.

In painting and drawing, there are four fundamental elements- line, shape, value and color. Any representational painting is composed of these four elements. But how an artist combines and manipulates these four elements is infinite. Painters spend a lifetime trying to master these four elements. Because they are infinite, they can never be mastered; only expressed at continuously deeper levels of understanding.

In my drawing class, I always tell my students, “Don’t chase likeness, chase accurate lines, shapes, and values. Likeness emerges as a result of being faithful to these fundamental building blocks.”

Roots Versus Fruits

Fundamentals are the roots of the tree of creativity, which bear the fruits of techniques and results. For the novice, the goal is to harvest the fruits. For the master, the goal is to tend to the roots and let the fruits bear in their own time. Masters understand that their time and attention to the fundamental principles are the nourishment that the roots require in order to bear fruit. If we just focus on picking the fruit, eventually the tree becomes bare. This is when stagnation and then quitting occurs.

My Tai Chi teacher once told me that he can judge a person’s skill by how well he or she performs the simplest movements; rather than the fancy, more athletic ones. Likewise, fundamentals and principles are simple, but not easy. Their simplicity is what makes them so difficult and a lifelong challenge to master. You might be wondering, “Is there a way to hasten progress?” Yes, there is a shortcut. But most people don’t take it.

The Shortcut

Here’s the shortcut- never abandon the fundamentals, the essentials, the principles. Even when you think you’ve got it, go back and revisit the old lessons. Repeat them over and over again and you’ll discover greater insights and depths that you couldn’t have imagined existed. Now, I catch myself saying, “How come I never saw that before?!” after I practice a Tai Chi form that I’ve practiced for over ten years. When I say this in front of my teacher, he smiles and says, “Study the old lesson, gain new knowledge.” I think you can distill the path of mastery to just that.

When we begin studying a new skill, we can be consumed by shiny object syndrome- getting lost in minutia and trivial details. The danger is getting stuck there. I’ve seen people waste years focusing on detail and trivialities. Chasing tips, tricks and hacks is the long, arduous path. They have the luster of fine jewels. But they are the cubic zerconia that deceive you into thinking that they will transform you into a master. Actually, they’ll turn you into a statistic-another “wanna be” who quit because he or she was unwilling to do the real, simple, boring work.

Freedom In Limits

One of the inherent qualities when focusing on fundaments and committing to mastery is that your options are limited. Any art form has only a handful of fundamental principles. This may seem limiting, but it’s actual liberating. When you can focus on the essential few rather than the trivial many, you can invest all your time and energy into what will give you the greatest return. The discipline you impose on yourself today is the freedom you gift yourself tomorrow.
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When I paint, I use what’s often called a “limited palette”. It’s also known as the Zorn palette, named after the 19th century Swedish realist painter, Anders Zorn. The Zorn palette only consists of four colors- red, yellow ochre, black and white. Yet from these four colors you can mix a staggering array of colors. In order to discover this palette’s potential, I had to focus on the fundamentals of color theory. Dedicated study allowed me to expand my understanding and application of the limited palette. I was amazed at how limitless a limited palette could be!

When pursuing mastery, constraints don’t limit, they focus. Without them, you waste time in shallow trivialities rather than the depths of your craft.

A Change In Perception

Mastering fundamentals is so hard because they aren’t sexy. In fact, they’re plain, simple and downright boring. They’re simplicity makes them transparent and easily overlooked by the novice. That’s why they’re hidden in plain sight. If you’re willing to fail more than the average person has even tried, then your perception changes.

In time, plain becomes beautiful, simple becomes profound and boring becomes a blast. Now, as a more seasoned artist, all I focus on is the fundamentals. Fancy techniques don’t dazzle me the way they use to when I was a beginner. I love practicing the most basic techniques and studying the simplest lessons. Ironically, the fancy stuff just happens with no conscious effort of my own. I often catch myself wondering, “How did I do that?” Then I remember, “Oh yeah, it’s just fundamentals. Nothing special.”

You Never Arrive

Fortunately, I’ve practiced my arts long enough to see past the shallow surface and catch a glimpse of their depth. This is overwhelming, humbling and liberating. It’s overwhelming because I realize that I’ll never reach the bottom of this ocean I call my art. It’s humbling because no matter how much I learn, there will always be more to know. And it's liberating because this realization allowed me to let go of trying to reach a finite end point that doesn’t exist. For me, this is mastery- and endless path with no end point where the practice is the product.

I’m not writing this as a master, but as someone who has committed to walking the path. I have chosen to play the infinite game for its own sake. I’m fortunate to learn from others whom I consider masters. Their example is a beacon. For this, I am truly grateful. The one common lesson my teachers in both arts have told me is that all the magic is in the fundamentals. I hope I never forget this, and keep emptying my cup to keep drinking from their bottomless well.

Best,

Sameer