Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on April 30, 2005
There is one talent that I think students who advance quickly seem to have, which is not really strength or agility but rather is the ability to “see" the movement and duplicate it in their own bodies. Observation and noticing the minute details of the movement is a great part of the learning experience in traditional Japanese arts. The word for learning in this case is mi-narau (見習う) or "learning by seeing."
Seeing, in this sense, is not simply “looking." I am speaking here of “true" seeing where we see without judgement, bias or interpretation but simply seeing things, the movement in this case, as it is and then imitating such movements.
Most students, I notice, cannot see the techniques “clearly." In my opinion, they see with too much judgement and interpretation. Their bodies move with the feel of "oh, I know that technique!” or "i've seen that before," or "that looks easy or hard."
Students see a movement in class, but can they duplicate it exactly as they saw it? In some cases, they see someone step forward, and then they step back. In other ways, they see the hand is high, but then move their hand low, or they see the hips twist and then don’t move their hips at all and on and on.
In class, students should try to observe the instruction without any mental comment, conversation or judgement. Just see it as it is and imitate it as it is, not as they think it should be - this is already an interpretation and judgement.
Students will find that the more clearly they see the movement and the more skillful they become in imitating the movement, then they will see how much more quickly they will begin to advance in their technique.
Please understand that I am not advocating blind imitation, what I am recommending here is “closer and more serious attention" to what is being taught. There is a big difference here which we must clearly understand in our heads each time we practice.