Question 144: Isn't that advice meant for people who have already improved?

Answer

▶The brain and body are not built that way

I, too, once thought that if you practiced repeatedly while being conscious of your form, eventually you would be able to perform that form unconsciously without thinking about it.

I also acknowledge the fact that I have widely disseminated such information throughout Japan through the media.

In terms of the sheer number of practical tennis books, instructional manuals, and lesson books I have written, I believe I am still number one in Japan (*Note 1).

But I admit that was my biggest mistake. my biggest mistake
I admit it was.

The brain and body do not seem to be built that way.

▶The origin of growth where athletic ability is acquired

You can understand this by looking back at the process of a baby's growth and development.
In the process of us going from crawling to pulling ourselves up and learning to walk when we were babies, did we learn to walk unconsciously now because we consciously practiced how to step and how to shift our weight?

That's not it, is it?

Even if we started by imitating others, there was no consciousness of "trying to balance" or "trying to step like this."


It is strictly a "sensory world". I believe this is the origin of human growth in acquiring athletic ability.

▶When you are conscious of "form," you lose the sense of "timing"

I acknowledge that grueling training is done in Kendo to learn the "form."

But if I may say so, even if it takes time to get used to the movements, I imagine that the "form" itself can be mastered in a year at most.
To put it extremely, the way to swing for a face strike is just to swing up and swing down.

The "form" is simple.

Of course, you will need to master the speed of movement and fine operations, but even then,
if you are conscious of them, they will conversely become slower and sloppier. (Related article: "Being 'conscious' makes you awkward")
The problem is that beyond that, when you are conscious of things like "tighten your armpits" or "put your weight on your toes,"
you lose the sense of "Ma (timing)." The opponent's sword tip

will disappear from view, and you will be struck.

▶Tennis is an open-skill sport

Especially in such competitive (open-skill) sports, isn't it important to maintain an outward-facing concentration that focuses on the outside, rather than the inside of the body, such as how to tighten your armpits or how to shift your weight?
If there is someone who is struggling and not improving in Kendo, I would have them focus their consciousness thoroughly on the "outside" rather than the "form."

The "form" naturally changes as you get used to the movements of the sport.

In other words, form is not something you create, but
as former Major Leaguer Ichiro says, it appears naturally in the process of growth and development. Even if you teach an ideal form to a beginner when that growth and development process has not caught up, they simply cannot do it.

▶Knowledge and information are the causes of incorrect movements

If a form becomes unreasonable for the human body, wouldn't you suspect that there was an imposition of guidance or common sense that says "this is how it should be"?
In tennis, if a player makes a wrong movement, it is because they are swayed by knowledge and information that came later, such as "the contact point should be in front" or "for topspin, swing the racket from bottom to top,"
which leads to an unnatural form. Or, by watching the play of skilled people,

there was a personal assumption that "if I do this, it will go well." Knowledge and information to correct that may be necessary for improvement.

Nevertheless, if you move as you feel, since humans are also animals in the natural world, you won't end up with a strange form. If you are injured, that's a different story, but you don't see cheetahs running with strange forms or fish swimming with unreasonable movements.

▶The body moves instinctively

There are many instructors who scold by saying "Why can't you do it!", but in many cases, this is due to a lack of teaching ability, causing them to become frustrated themselves, and they are not scolding out of concern for the child, but are scolding emotionally.

Tennis is the same.

It is just a sport where you hit back a ball flying towards you with a racket with a large mesh.

Just because you scold them doesn't mean they will be able to do it; they will be able to hit it because they focus on the ball.
Even when it comes to how to swing a forehand, (even if individuality and rationality can be found in how to pull back and swing) it is truly just "swinging."

No, in reality, you don't even need the consciousness of swinging.

At the very least,
if you have an image of hitting and are focused on the ball, the body will instinctively hit the ball back.

▶If you are conscious, you cannot move reflexively

Even in Kendo, if you are focused on the opponent's sword tip and can see it, and you are about to be struck, even if you don't try to move your body consciously, "you will dodge reflexively."
But the problem is that if you are conscious of the "form," that instinctive and reflexive function becomes dull.

If it originates from Bushido,
would you be conscious of how to move your body in a life-or-death sword fight with real swords or wooden swords?

▶Teaching methods should also continue to evolve

However, if there is instruction that works by focusing on form and helps everyone improve, then I think that is wonderful in its own right.

Instructional methods should also continue to evolve.

If we view Kendo not as a 'sport' but as a 'way'—that is, not as a competition against an opponent, but as self-cultivation—then I do not deny the possibility of a way of life that pursues 'form' to train oneself.

That said, those who visit Tennis Zero are competition-oriented, so the conventional common-sense approach of emphasizing 'form' has not worked well for them.

These are people who have invested time and money, and have put in blood, sweat, and tears of effort and training.

▶ People become exactly who they imagine themselves to be

When I explored and proposed a different approach (such as 'Zen teachings' or 'Inner Tennis') to those players, most of them improved without needing such effort.

Conversely, if you feel a sense of effort, it may reinforce the self-image of 'a clumsy person who cannot improve without effort'.

As long as the negative image of 'a clumsy self' is the foundation, no matter how many positives you multiply it by, the result will be negative (related article: Multiplying a negative by a positive still results in a negative).

It becomes a self-image of 'Even after all this effort, I'm still no good.'

And people can only become the person they imagine themselves to be.

▶ People who improve quickly with a cool face

I acknowledge that players who become professionals and succeed have earned their skill, strength, and status through blood, sweat, and tears.

However, if we look at general players, those who improve quickly are the ones who don't put in any particular effort, and if I may say so without fear of being misunderstood, they only half-listen to their coach.

It is a fact that there are people who improve quickly using their own intuition with a cool face.

Conversely, the more desperately people try, the more they seem to suffer.

▶ Regarding the 'Table of Contents'

Thank you for your feedback regarding the table of contents.

Even if I cannot do it right away, and I am not sure if it is possible, I would like to consider it in the future (after moving to note, it has become possible to include a table of contents).

▶ Note 1: The basis for me being number one in Japan

This is because when the publishers that released tennis-related books (such as the five major tennis magazines) were in their prime, I wrote for the top two, and since then, the demand for practical tennis books (so-called technical books) has likely declined and they are disappearing from bookstores.

Since there are few publishers left that handle practical tennis books, the books themselves are no longer in circulation.

Nowadays, I think there are more practical tennis books, instructional manuals, and lesson books in the second-hand market like Book-Off than in local bookstores.

It is nothing to boast about, but I think I was also desperately trying to survive back then.

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