Thoughts on the Ha, of Shu Ha Ri, as it applies to Taiji Practice
In January, Jonathan Rosen gave us a very interesting and informative “Tea Chat” on the Japanese concept of Shuhari, which describes the three stages through which a student passes as they grapple with the process of learning. Jonathan spent an hour outlining the meaning of Shuhari, its significance in the practice of Taiji, and how his own teaching style and understanding have undergone a very similar transformation over time.
In its most simplified form, Shuhari, learning consists of three stages:
1. Shu - The beginner learns by imitating the teacher as precisely as they can, and doing their utmost to follow the teacher’s instructions.
Ha – The student begins to refine their understanding and technique, developing a new and deeper relationship with the practice.
Ri – The student has reached the point where their understanding of the form and underlying principles are entirely integrated, and they can begin to make the form their own.
During Jonathan’s talk, it was Ha that resonated most deeply with me, so I did some research to see if I could reconcile my own experiences as a Taiji student with the help of the concept of Ha. I found that the prevailing western view seems to emphasize a departure or liberation from the confines of the rules and procedure of the beginner’s Shu phase. Whether in martial arts or in other fields, the prevailing view seems to be that it is a liberation from the strict rules that guide a student during the Shu phase, and an opportunity to depart from those strictures.
However, another definition I encountered was "detachment from illusions of self,” which has an entirely different connotation from “freedom from strict rules.” Hiromi-sensei has often discussed how pride and ego tend to appear in students once they have first learned the whole form. Depending on the student, this can appear quite early in the process. After learning the first 14 steps we can rightfully take pride in the accomplishment, which may have seemed unreachable when we started. But every student, to a greater or lesser degree seems to reach a point at which they feel they have “figured it out.” That might be after being able to successfully complete the entire form without forgetting anything. Or after going through the entire form a second time, step by step, and polishing the finer aspects of every single movement under Sensei’s patient guidance.
The form is taught much like a skeleton of the form the first time through. If we end up thinking that’s the goal, we are sadly mistaken, because the second time through we learn a great deal that had been simplified for the beginner. That’s why I feel the Ha stage is not so much a liberation from the stiffness and conventions of the Shu stage as it is a breaking down and re-building in a different way of what we have learned during the Shu stage.
At any rate, I know I encountered a false confidence and sense of accomplishment several times during my practice of Taiji. It was only when Hiromi-sensei started me on the mirror form that I realized how little I actually knew. Most of what I knew was based on muscle memory and perhaps some sort of chart or guide in my mind. To do the mirror form I not only had to start all over from the very first step of the form, I had to understand every step of the movement and transitions in an entirely different way. I had to re-construct the way I understood the form from scratch. All the way from the beginning. Only then did I realize how little I really knew and understood, and the humility that came with that was a kind of "detachment from illusions of self.”
One of the most common definitions of Ha is "to detach." I guess my point is that this is not so much a detachment from the strict rules of the Shu stage as it is a detachment from our illusions and assumptions about the form and our understanding of it. In other words, that we must never forget the lessons of the Shu phase - but that we must re-configure them and re-arrange them into a new and deeper understanding of the art. This can’t happen until we are willing to let go of our illusions about our own accomplishments and understanding, and are willing to start all over again. There will be many “aha” moments along the way along with a rewarding sense of achievement - but with the understanding that we have to be willing let go of our assumptions at any time.
One final observation. I think some of my understanding of the second stage of letting go, breaking down, and building back up our understanding of Taiji is based on what Hiromi-sensei told me about her experience of starting to study Cheng Ming Taiji under Grandmaster Wang. Sensei had been practicing the form for 20 years in Tokyo under one of Great Grandmaster Wang Shu Jin’s students, and later under the guidance of one of Master Wang's Taiji Brothers. One of the first things Grandmaster Wang told Sensei was that if she wanted to be his student, she had to forget everything she knew about the form and start over. The form as it is practiced in Japan, and that which Grandmaster Wang teaches, is quite different in many ways. It has the same steps, and many of them are quite similar, but there are major differences all the way through. So Hiromi sensei’s “Ha" was a very difficult one. But I believe we all must go through that process to advance in the art.