Reconnecting Back To Your Body: The Two Types Of Learning.

As someone who likes to spend the majority of his free time learning, I’ve always been motivated by being able to consolidate large amounts of data rather quickly, while also picking up new physical skills; like how I’ve always got a book I’m reading and am currently taking up jiujitsu.

The first type of learning (consolidating large amounts of data) is pretty obvious in how to go about doing it and is what is known as Semantic Learning. This is the type of learning that allows you to consume information and filter it through your own field of common sense in order to build up and upon new ideas or ways of problem solving.

In fact, it’s the cornerstone of how we have built up modern society via the various fields found in academia and establish both global and local businesses. It’s also why when you go to school, the first thing they try to get you to do is memorize (aka Rote Learning) large amounts of information and regurgitate that same data-set back to them, resulting in an A+ grade. Without this type of learning (Semantic Learning), we wouldn’t have been able to achieve all of the great wonders that we have today, and it is what fuels innovation in the higher-learning sectors of Business, Philosophy, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), and so on.

As someone who has also spent a lot of time pursuing more esoteric disciplines (Martial Arts, Yoga, Meditation, Shamanism, Zen), these fields are less focused on Semantic Learning (though there is still some degree of that) and are more driven by Motor Learning.

Though you could say that the various paradigms found in these disciplines are Semantic, the actual benefits gained from these paths can only be fully understood through Motor Learning.

I’ll give you my most salient example as it relates to jiujitsu (since I’ve been spending a lot of my free time studying that recently). When I train jiujitsu (unless I’m partnered up with someone who requires more verbal cues because they are either nervous or relatively new), I like to keep a mouth piece in at all times. This isn’t solely for safety reasons (though I did rack up a considerable amount of dentistry bills while studying previous martial arts styles), it’s more so a physical cue for myself to not talk.

Why shouldn’t you talk, you ask? Well, aside from embodying the old principle understanding of my first martial arts teacher, in which he said, “the more time you spend talking, the less time you have to learn,” speaking is actually a Semantic Learning method. In jiujitsu, the principle aim is to rewire your motor functioning such that you’re able to execute maneuvers in real-time without conscious thought. The better you get at building this skill, the higher you get in rank.

You see, the problem with speaking while training in something motor-related is that you’re doubling the workload for your brain. Essentially, what you’re doing is you’re programming your Semantic and Motor understanding at the same time, which often leaves you feeling confused and like you didn’t learn anything at all (truth be told, you probably didn’t if you overloaded your brain like this).

To use a more common and relatable example, let’s look at this idea through the context of learning how to ride a bike or drive a car. When you first began to learn how to ride a bike or drive a car, sure, you might have started by repeating instructions to yourself—”right foot on the gas, move the wheel”—but if you spent the entire time semantically learning how to ride or drive you would have never learned. At some point, and you might not have even consciously realized when, you stopped intellectualizing the process and started simply going through the motions.

Going through the motions is how Motor Learning works. It takes practice, it takes persistence, it takes patience, it takes (in the context of jiujitsu) mat-time, and (most of all) it takes being completely silent and just repping the motions.

Zooming out, it’s interesting to note that we as a society have lost touch with this skill of Motor Learning almost completely; and, in essence, have lost touch with our bodies. It’s probably what’s driving this sudden trend towards being in the great outdoors, practicing physical hobbies like martial arts and yoga, and spending more time observing solely through our awareness via the practice of meditation.

How does meditation relate to Motor Learning, you ask? Being an experienced meditator for over half a decade now, I can distill the practice of meditation down to being more of a body-exercise versus a mind-exercise; though, most people still spend the majority of their time trying to “think” their way through the meditative process. What you’re really trying to do when meditating is step outside of your analytical, problem-solving mind and into your body; observing the world through complete awareness.

Though, that’s another topic for another time. For now, just try to remember that you have a body and a mind—and, though they ultimately are one, they both have completely different learning styles.

-stop thinking, start doing.