A Review of "From Habits of Doing to Habits of Feeling: Skill Acquisition in Taijutsu Practice"2/17/2016 by Mike JonesKatja Pettinen’s case study on skill acquisition follows the training and teaching philosophies of Taijutsu practitioners mostly focusing around the premise that Taijutsu cannot simply be taught through repetition, it must be taught through feeling and what this means for skill acquisition in humans. The first section of the piece goes into great detail about all aspects of Taijutsu including full descriptions of proper technique in the art and personal stories about her time learning and practicing the art. At the end of the section, she mentions one of her main points tying together her argument being the sakki test which emphasizes the usage of feeling and sensing over doing.
The sakki test is the test one must take to be certified as a teacher of Taijutsu taken upon the attaining of fifth dan black belt and is described as “avoiding a single non-metal sword swing, a cut straight down that is performed behind the testee while he or she is kneeling in a seiza posture (sitting with the legs folded underneath the body)”. The ranking system of American Taijutsu and significance of this test are more deeply defined starting in the second section of the chapter. Pettinen proposes two possibilities for the stimuli that people feel in order to avoid the blade replacing the need for sight, but she goes on to say that it is unimportant what it is they are feeling the importance is in the fact that they are feeling it. She then directly states here that “the sakki does not require any action that repetition alone could achieve. Instead, it presents a form of sensory acuity that directly challenges cumulative notions of learning by highlighting feeling over doing”. Pettinen’s argument for this thinking over doing aspect of learning is a bit weak to me. She speaks of how moving away from the “vision-centered paradigm” of reaction suddenly becomes a completely different way of reacting to a situation. It is possible I do not understand some of the intricacies of Taijutsu, but personally I do not believe that perceiving through sound or slight feeling of the test givers movements behind them is any different than seeing them swing the sword at the “testee” in front of them. Vision may be a primary sense for most people on this planet but it is still just one of the many ways we perceive the outside world. I see the information presented more as a way to show the advanced transference of reaction from a visual stimulus to that of a touch or auditory sensation learned through the training of Taijutsu.
5 Comments
Catherine Lindsay Manson
2/17/2016 08:12:21 am
I thought that this study was interesting, mainly in how Pettinen explains Taijutsu and how it is practiced, but also lacking in a clear connection on how it ties into neuroanthropology. Pettinen's explanation of her experience with the Taijutsu Master and how Taijutsu is taught and practiced was very good. What I found most interesting about this study was her comparison between the western and the asian martial arts and movements. I would have never thought about how the difference in landscape and biomechanics would affect the types of movements and arts practiced. I also found it fascinating how Taijutsu relies mainly on sensory perception, other than sight. I also think it is interesting that this practice is extremely culturally based, and does not rely on teaching methods that focus on repetition.
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Catherine Manson
3/1/2016 06:28:34 pm
After the class discussion I feel that my understanding of how landscape and biomechanics could alter the way a person walks or practices certain martial arts. We did not talk about Taijutsu, but instead focused on Capoeira and how it differs from many other traditional martial arts and other dance/ movement techniques. I thought that the use of vision would have been essential to Capoeira; the use of other bodily senses in order to have balance and control was extremely emphasized over vision. I found this interesting because the vast majority of performing arts and martial arts focus heavily on the use of sight/vision and on the use of muscle memory and repetition. Capoeira utilizes neither of these techniques and is more focused on the constant movement and overall ability to keep yourself balanced by appearing off balance.
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Larry Monocello
2/17/2016 10:44:59 am
One of the things about this article that I found to be particularly important was the concept that things as seemingly simple and innate as walking are actually learned processes. In other words, bipedal walking isn't instinctive in humans. Although the body has evolved for bipedal walking, the anatomy required of walking is developmental.
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Larry Monocello
2/23/2016 07:36:36 pm
I think it would be really helpful in the future to go over in more detail what the theoretical basis for these chapters was, namely Bourdieu's concept of <i>habitus</i>. Basically, what it refers to is the idea that we are trained (presumably body and mind) from birth to behave, think, speak, and move in certain culturally appropriate ways. It is a highly important concept in all fields of anthropology, especially when considering embodiment--a concept so important in neuroanthropology in particular.
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4/11/2023 10:17:07 pm
Thank you for sharing this article about Skill Acquisition in Taijutsu Practice. Your article was both engaging and informative, and I am grateful for the time and effort you put into creating it.
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AuthorThis blog is group authored by Dr. DeCaro and the students in his ANT 474/574: Neuroanthropology. Archives
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