Form

The first masters learned by observing nature. The first martial arts techniques were learned by watching the movement of animals and the flow of water. Kintudo® techniques come from a dog, and that dog learned them from nature. Nature is our first and greatest teacher.

Teachers are superheroes, and superheroes love teachers! Superheroes have mentors who taught them the Way of being a superhero. Kids have parents, teachers, and others who have life lessons to share. Everyone can teach us something, even if that lesson is how not to be.

Even when they're 100 years old, superheroes are still teachable. It's a state of mind. Superheroes don't get old because you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Superheroes are eternally puppies who can always learn new tricks.

Maybe something we learned a while back isn't the most effective way of doing it. Being teachable means being capable of unlearning the old trick and incorporating the new.

Even superheroes need form to learn where the gas and break pedals are in the car. But it's hard to be a superhero driver if you always have to think about where those pedals are. We practice martial arts techniques and then "forget" them. Because it's hard to be a superhero martial artist if you have to think about the technique during a fight. Form is training so much that your mind "forgets" what you've learned but your body remembers.

It may sound strange, but the goal of form is formlessness. Techniques are to be learned, understood deeply, and then forgotten. Forgotten doesn't actually mean you can't remember. And forgotten definitely doesn't mean discarded. It's more like you don't have to consciously think about it anymore. The goal is formlessness, but the way to get to formlessness is through form.