Another Way Forward
For several years, whenever I visited Toronto, I had the opportunity to train with Emmanuel “Manny” Manolakakis, a senior instructor of the Russian martial art Systema.
One of the things I appreciated about training with Manny was how he could turn a simple exercise into a lesson that went well beyond the training floor.
During one session, he called a student into the center of the room to demonstrate an idea.
There was no long explanation.
He simply motioned the student forward.
Come at me.
Strike me.
Engage.
The student stepped forward. Before he could establish his attack, Manny moved first.
A strike.
A takedown.
The student got up and tried again.
Same approach. Same result.
Down he went.
Again and again, the student got up, approached the same way, and ended up on the ground.
After a while, Manny moved toward him once more, ready to put him down again.
This time, the student stayed where he was.
He didn't get up.
Manny looked down at him and smiled.
“You get it now?”
The room laughed.
Manny helped him up and explained the exercise.
Getting up the same way kept producing the same result.
Then we ran the drill again.
This time, we paid attention to the small changes.
Different angles.
Different openings.
Different ways to move.
Nobody wants to learn by getting punched in the gut.
Yet for many of us, myself included, that's exactly how the lesson finally sinks in.
After getting hit a few times, literally or figuratively, we begin to pay attention.
Learn to adapt. Find another way forward.
I've seen that same lesson play out beyond training.
A conversation that keeps going nowhere.
A problem that refuses to move.
A situation that keeps producing the same outcome.
We can become so focused on getting through something that we fail to notice we're approaching it the same way every time.
And there we are, back on the ground.
There comes a point when forcing your way through the same opening stops making sense.
Look around.
Pay attention to what's happening.
Change your angle.
Try something different.
The ability to adapt is what allows us to keep moving.
Another way forward may have been there all along.
We just needed to see it.