A merry-go-round with painted ponies going up and down conjure up a vision of children squealing with excitement or perhaps a Joni Mitchell song.
Chasing ones tail like an energetic puppy makes you feel unproductive and silly.
Getting the run around is frustrating and upsetting.
Spinning ones wheels gets you nowhere fast and only kicks up mud.
Getting around to it, means "it" will never get done.
Spinning the bottle can get you slapped, but that was a long time ago!
Going around someone is a way of getting what you want ....... evasion at it's finest.
Round the clock is just plain tiring.
I think you get the point ......... in a round about way! Sorry.
But there are times when going round in circles is a good thing and even a masterful way toward personal and professional development.
There is a concept in Martial Arts called the "Path of Interlocking Circles" that may shed some light. I was fortunate to come across it in a book by Mark Moeller. This concept put my years of martial arts training quickly in perspective. I used to ask why am I throwing the same punch or using the same block over and over again .... hundreds of times. Why do katas always go in sequence from the most elementary to the most complex? Why are black belts doing the same kata and drills as the white belts? Sure, sure ..... practice makes perfect, but really now!
Well .... you only had to watch a black belt perform Heian shodan, the white belt kata, or a series of simple punching and blocking combinations. Their moves "snap" and the power is felt with every move. The sleeves of their gi would crack like a whip. It is easy to see, hear and feel the way even the most basic move was supposed to be performed.
Well ... The answer is the path of interlocking circles.
Everyone starts at the bottom and learns basic skills. Visualizing a circle, we would continue that learning, rounding the circle. As it comes completely around, you are at the bottom again, but this time with slightly refined skills. It might not be noticeable at first, but you have improved incrementally. At which point you pick up additional techniques and refinements on those you have learned before. You continue to progress along a slightly higher circle indicating a little bit higher skill level then your previous circle. So round and round you go, on and on ..... refining your previous skills and adding upon your foundation of abilities. Over months and years of training, there you are .... cracking your own whip and intimating the lower belts with the shear mastery and beauty of your technique.
But there is more, much more. It is a complex equation. The answer does not lie in simple repetition but in the intensity of the practice (i.e., passion) plus its purpose (i.e., why am I doing this). Repetition without purpose and intensity is simply motion. It might feel good and you might look good but are you truly learning and are you really growing?
Here's another variable to include. This one is from the ground level. In the style I trained, we were bare-footed. We were trained to grasp the floor with our toes. Seems odd but it worked. Gripping with your toes create the base. We were grounded and had the needed stability and traction for the next move. That was the foundation upon which we built our skills. Techniques became easier and the wobbling stopped.
How does all this apply to our every day? How many times do we just go through the motions just to get by or get through the day? Are we spinning our wheels, chasing our tails, getting around to "it" and going around the obvious? Hhmmm .....By returning to the "base", we may rekindle the passion and regain the sense of purpose we once had. Possibly?
Now ... from the ground. What about our basic beliefs, core values and principles? Have our toes lost their grasp on the floor? How many times do we wander from who we are or who we want to be ....... loosing our footing and wobble? If that is true, how can we take the risk to venture out on that skinny little limb with confidence to be who we ought to be?
Maybe it's not so frivolous to go round and round after all ..... "The path of interlocking circles, young grasshopper." A reminder for me ..... for sure.
Source: Karate-do Foundations by Mark R. Moeller, 1995
