I just finished Josh Waitzkin’s book, The Art of Learning. I’d probably write him an email if I thought he’d actually see it. But, given his fame, I doubt he’d see it. So, I’ll post my thoughts here in the hopes that someone might get some use out of it.
First, Josh Waitzkin is the subject of the book/movie, Searching for Bobby Fisher. He is a remarkable learner. He is a chess International Master. He is a two-time Tai Chi Chaun Push Hands World Champion. And, he is currently pursuing Brazilian Jui Jitsu. He is both an intellectual and an athletic champion.
One, I do recommend the book. It is a compelling read. It was hard to put down. I read it in two sittings. I would have finished it in one, but I started late at night. And, I will reread it again. But, it is incorrectly titled. It should be titled, The Art of Performance and Competition.
From an outsider’s perspective looking at what others have written about Josh’s book, I think that they think that he has some nearly mystical ability to learn. While from my perspective, Josh has an unstoppable will to succeed. Even Josh tries to summarize his own methods, and I think he misses the forest for the trees.
In the book, Josh talks about “Making smaller circles”, “Investing in Loss”, “Slowing Time”, “Being in the Zone”, “Building Triggers”, and “Illusions of the Mystical”. These are all important concepts that Josh shares. His insight is compelling. But, in both his analysis of learning chess and tai chi chuan, he talks about a concept that he expresses best from a tai chi perspective which is, “have deep, solid roots”. That unfortunately is the drawback of his book. He’d rather talk about the “mystical”, and yet he misses both his and learning roots.
For example, read his stories about his learning, and I don’t recall one note about the hours of practice that lead to his success. Sure, he talks about practice. It is inherent in his stories. But, rather than attribute his prowess to countless hours of practice on a chess board or on the mats for tai chi chuan, he develops his own expression of learning. Josh is a success because he practices hard for what he does. On top of that, at the highest levels of anything, genetics play a part. Josh is gifted with tremendous intellect and physical attributes. He has then honed those attributes to a razor’s edge in chess and tai chi chuan. While he is currently pursuing excellence in jui jitsu, I can confidently state that with the passion he will undoubtedly pursue that, we will soon read of his success in that endeavor.
I has been conjectured that it takes approximately 20,000 hours to become a master in a subject. At 40 hours per week, that is a little less that 10 years. Josh saw chess at age 6. He became an International Master at 16 which is about 10 years. He began studying tai chi chuan in 1998, and become world champion in 2004, about 7 years. Wait! That isn’t close to 10. AHHH! You are right. But, Josh didn’t start from ground zero. In fact, Josh transferred learning in chess to learning in tai chi. And, Josh was already an experienced competitor. So, he didn’t need to relearn the competitive process. I fully expect that his transfer to jui jitsu, assuming no major injuries, will be around 6 years or so. We’ll see.
Josh misses the part about time. He misses the part about transfer of learning. He overlooks learning theory, especially from Knowles. He misses the roots!
But, for all that, he gives tremendous insight into competition and a competitive mindset. He gives us wonderful insight into using failure to gain advantage. He shows what it takes to be a champion.
I’d love to have a deep and long conversation with him. I think he’s a fascinating person. Heck, Josh, if you ever come back to the Orlando area, feel free to look me up. I live in the area, out on the west-side. (Note: The chance of this conversation is about as likely as me beating him at chess, tai chi chuan push hands, or jui jitsu, but I’ll invest a little in my own loss.)
Why? I’d love to see Josh take up learning with the same passion he has undertaken other activities. I’d love to see learning get a poster boy. Could you imagine children looking up to learning? Could you imagine adults going to a movie about learning? If Josh could make chess sexy, imagine the wonderful outcomes if he made learning sexy.
But, to anyone who might read this, here are some “roots” of learning you should consider. Read the following authors:
- Malcolm Knowles
- Howard Garner
- Daniel Goleman
- Walter Dick
- Robert Gagne
- Ruth Clark
- Edward de Bono
- Elaine Biech
- Donald Kirkpatrick
- Jack Phillips
- Rafe Esquith
- Robert Mager
- Bob Pike
- Dave Lowry (outstanding Martial Arts writer)
- Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan
- Mortimer Adler
- Malcolm Gladwell (but, this is the start of growing past the roots)
- Clark Aldritch
Sure, I could list a whole bunch more. These are my main influences. They are the ones I hope influence me as I pursue my PhD. And, even if you don’t agree with the choices, reading them is worth the time and effort.
My two cents!
December 25th, 2007 by 
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