There’s Action in The Waiting and Waiting in The Action

Ancient knowledge that we receive passed down through the ages is special and valuable, especially in these times of uncertainty and fast-paced stress.

A man who taught me much about life and combat from a martial arts perspective used to use phrases such as.

“There is action in the waiting and waiting in the action.”

This man, our teacher in that class, had a more holistic perspective of the martial art we all loved and trained hard to perfect.

The essence of this saying only dawned on me months after I had heard him say it in our lessons. Practicing our techniques, implementing them while waiting to counter a response from your opponent, you can take specific actions to speed up the response.

In this sense, while waiting for the response, you are being active. That means you are ‘actively waiting,’ and even though you are taking action, you are still waiting. You are laying the foundation for the culmination of the technique.

As you wait for the culmination of the technique, you are not idle but active, moving into position for when the genuine opportunity presents itself to you. This would be ‘active waiting’ for want of a better term.

How can we apply this to everyday life?

Think of it this way. You have an ambition to reach a certain level or get a certain job, but an opportunity does not exist currently. While waiting for the opportunity, you upskill yourself for that position so that when the opportunity arises; you are ready to take it.

In your current position, you learn all you can about the position you want, while not neglecting the wisdom and insights you are gaining from your current position. Or better yet, you take action to create your own opportunity, and while taking that action, an opportunity presents itself to you. You now have a choice.

How many opportunities to learn and improve ourselves present themselves to us each day? I am sure many, but we get stuck in a rut instead of looking for the insights and understanding we are being exposed to.

As writers, I think we are more acutely aware of the details and nuances of life and learning and wisdom as we search for content about which to write.

It was only when I thought deeply about the funny statement that my martial arts instructor used to say that I realised the power within that statement. I had to first,

‘know wisdom and instruction and understand words of insight’ — Proverbs 1 verse 2.

Many times philosophical statements that are passed onto us, such as.

‘action in the waiting and waiting in the action,’ we don’t think about those words deeply enough, but deeper thought and understanding reveals the treasures of wisdom they contain.

That is why my martial arts instructor used to say the words many times, so that those words become part of your learning. They take up real estate in your mind. That is when you gain insight and understanding and your experience is so much richer, and you enhance your learning.

The proverbs statement, too, is a lot deeper than face value. Knowing wisdom means that you are applying the knowledge you have gained, because wisdom is knowledge applied, and you have received instruction that you have also applied, because if you know it, it means you have understood and applied it. Exams at school and university are there to test our application of the knowledge we have gained, so we need to ‘know’ our subject in order to pass, and we would have received instruction that we also need to know to gain insight into the subject.

We gain understanding and insight when we know wisdom and instruction.

I received wisdom and insight through the instruction of my martial arts instructor, and garnered deeper insights into the martial art and life itself.

I found insight and wisdom through actively waiting. Improving and honing my skills while learning, all while waiting for the right opportunity.

It’s better to enter any position or any part of life with deeper and broader knowledge and wisdom. This means that whatever we are passionate about we should receive instruction and knowledge and understanding, and insight leading to wisdom and ‘actively wait’ by learning and taking action, before our full purpose becomes apparent, or better opportunities arise.

We make the greatest impact in martial arts when timing and power, wisdom and strength in combat combine in the technique. If we can perform any technique lightning fast, it is because of insight and wisdom gained. The speedy execution of the technique comes about because of years of patient perfection and ‘active waiting’ for the right moment to present itself.

The instruction and insight gained, and the understanding of wisdom, lead us to a flawless and powerful execution. This applies to all of life. If we immerse ourselves deep enough into anything, to marinade in the wisdom, rather than only gaining a surface knowledge, like the ‘twitterati’ we gain deeper insight, understanding and wisdom. Whatever it is we pursue, let’s fully immerse ourselves in instruction and teaching and gain the insights necessary for our success.

Even if what you are doing now in life is not what you want to do, why not learn all you can from every situation and every moment. You will draw on those lessons and insights when the time is right.

Let me know what you think ? Thank you for reading.