What is a Skill?

From a Martial Arts perspective, skills range hugely depending on whom you ask, but in short, a skill is an ability - then further granulated/categorized using some predefined scale/system.

For simplification purposes, in this short article I'll refer to our ability to stand - as a skill.

In order to be able to "simply" stand, our brains must coordinate muscles, alignments, adjust for gravity, surface variations, often various external forces, etc. While standing seems like a very basic action, it took millions of years of evolution, and, in our own lifetime it took nearly a year or more to achieve at some clumsy level - which, we then continued to perfect until it became "second nature" and eventually faded away from our conscious awareness of one of the many things we must do.

In other words, we began taking standing for granted, as a given.

At this point, I will make a differentiation between skill and automation. From my personal perspective, a skill is an ability that we are continuously keeping in our conscious awareness - either with the purpose to maintain, improve, or expand upon.

Therefore, a complete definition of skills could be that skills are abilities we are consciously, purposely, and continuously adjusting and adapting.

As I write this, I am considering whether we ever improve our standing skill or not - once our brains have achieved the "automation" of it. I think the answer is no. Unless we are professionals in fields like sports, performing arts, etc..we no longer think about improving our standing skill - and in many cases, not even then (if not necessary).

This particular train of thought was brought to my attention by an event I found amusing, stressing, challenging, and outright unexpected: I suffered an "attack" of BPPV Vertigo and completely lost my bearings, rendering STANDING nearly impossible.

As I spent my entire life in a continuous feedback loop (dialogue) with my own brain, in the moment this event was taking place I was evidently in full analysis mode - calculating responses, adjusting, searching for mechanisms and processes that would help me regain control over my own body.

While this was happening, I realized that I had to somehow tap into minute actions that probably were "stored" in my brain from the times of my clumsy baby moments. I determined that each touch became an instant coordinate providing data needed to counter-balance. Of course, counterbalancing in the middle of a BPPV creates more chaos and therefore additional processes to once again counterbalance. Cue nausea.

What was happening is scientifically simple to explain. What my brain needed to do is a highly complex set of actions, reactions, and processes triggered as a response to the event itself.

Within minutes, I had to re-learn to stand. This only happen in my life in two other unrelated circumstances - one was being drunk, and the other was a result of a certain Pranayama practice which is not the subject of conversation here. Needless to say, I remember the experience of being drunk but at that point I wasn't thinking to re-learn to stand... The Pranayama level that triggered a similar loss of body proprioception was different in nature, but triggered a re-learning process just the same.

In this case, this event occurred on its own - without alcohol and without Pranayama. A pure case of BPPV Vertigo that until fully addressed will linger on, but what interested me was that the event itself provided an opportunity to operate my brain in order to stabilize the situation.

Returning to the skill of standing, are there ways to go back to an active, conscious process of recovering, maintaining, and improving it - without suffering some sort of physiological event in order to get there? The answer is yes.

Very superficially stated, standing is balancing on a vertical line. Should we desire to access the skill of standing in order to recover, maintain, or improve it, all we need to do is consciously lose our balance under controlled and safe parameters.

While we can discuss here (or in our classes) the how, when, and where of purposely losing balance, I also invite you to engage your curiosity and explore what losing balance triggers in your own brain. It is a fascinating journey of self-knowledge, worth every moment of your quiet attention.

Each Skill is a "Portal" back into your brain.

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