The Universe of Kanji. "Book" 15-10 Nothing is as difficult as the basics

Return to the basics

"Let's go back to the basics."

When told that,
I sometimes feel a little disappointed.

I want to know something newer.
I want to move further ahead.
I want to touch upon more advanced things.

When I am thinking that way,
being told "start with the basics"
makes me feel like I am being made to take a detour.

The basics are things I already know.
The basics are boring.
The basics are for beginners.

Sometimes I feel that way.

Nothing is as difficult as the basics

However, in the world of training in skills, it is often said like this:

"Nothing is as difficult as the basics."

Certainly, the basics are simple at first glance.

Standing. Sitting. Walking. Taking a stance.
Regulating your breath. Repeating the same movement.

However, within that simplicity,
the deepest things are actually hidden.

When you were a child,
do you not remember writing the same kanji over and over?

Drawing a vertical line, drawing a horizontal line,
being conscious of the brush stroke, the stop, and the hook.

At first, you were just tracing the model.

Your hand was awkward,
the characters were crooked, and the shape on the paper was not stable.

Even so, as you repeated it several times,
your hand and your body gradually began to remember.

Before understanding with your head, your hand begins to know.
Your eyes begin to notice the collapse of the shape.
The movement of your arm remembers the momentum of the line.
The characters on the paper gradually become your own.

Perhaps this is what the basics are.

Learning from the basics

It is not just something simple you learn at the beginning.
It is that experience where a teacher 'guides you through the ropes' during practice.

By following the teacher
and repeating it intently,
something different from the movements and
the way you have used your body until now, something new,
sinks deep into your body.

Therefore, the basics are not something you learn once and finish.

Rather,
when you stumble on something,
when you are lost,
or when things stop going well,
it is something you return to once again.

People who play instruments return to scales.
People who practice martial arts return to forms.
People who cook return to how to hold a knife or control the heat.
People who write return to the rhythm of a single sentence.

The basics are both the beginning and something that stays with you until the end.

The foundation of the basics

The character 'ki' (基) in 'kihon' (basics),
as in 'dodai' (foundation), means 'the basis'.

When 'hon' (本) is added to it, 'kihon' (basics) refers to
a foundation like roots that support things.

Although it is hard to see from the outside,
if it is weak,
no matter how magnificent the things you stack on top are,
they will eventually collapse somewhere.

Therefore, returning to the basics
is not simply moving backward.

Rather, it is checking
where you have started to collapse.

What were you rushing too much?
What did you pass by thinking you understood?
Where had your footing become a little unsteady?

What you realize when you return to the basics

When you return to the basics,
you become a little more humble.

You realize that what you thought you 'already knew'
has not actually been mastered yet.

You learn that the things you thought were 'simple'
are the hardest to do with care.

In the things you 'did a long time ago',
you feel a depth for the first time now.

You cannot return to the same place

The basics are not about returning to the same place.
Even if you try to return,
it is impossible for a human to do so.

Even if you think you are performing the same action,
every time you try to return, it is different.

The basics you learned when you were young,
and the basics you encounter after gaining experience, are not the same.

Within the repetition that once seemed merely boring,
at some point, you may see a quiet richness.
Deep within that mechanical repetition,
you may also notice the various elements that supported that movement.

It is often said that nothing is as difficult as the basics.

This is not because the basics are complex.
It is because they are too simple.

The simpler something is, the less it can be faked.

Standing, sitting,
listening, looking,
reading, writing.

Although they all seem like common things,
when asked if you are truly doing them well,
you suddenly feel insecure.

The basics are not something that ends
once you have mastered them.

They are a place you return to again and again,
in order to go deeper and deeper.