Two legs good, four legs better and three legs is enough
Published: Tue, 01/02/18
I have just built a kind of table. Venetia asked me to construct it so that she can use it as a treatment bench for doing Functional Integration sessions. A process something like a Shiatsu massage which V is learning as part of her Feldenkrais training. Apparently a conventional massage table is too high and not wide enough as the person being treated needs to be able to roll from side to side. So, this treatment table is just over six feet long, three feet wide and over two feet from the floor. (185cm long, 91cm wide and 67cm high for those who live in metric lands). Oh, and it needed to dismantle and fit in the back of the car. So, the legs are attached with coach bolts and wing nuts and the two halves bolt together too. I think V wants to try it out with me as the Guinea pig later today. Here are the pieces, https://www.screencast.com/t/lh38Yi9oWOL Assembled but upside down https://www.screencast.com/t/WHM6gr4Nf2nG and
ready for use, just needs some padding and a cover https://www.screencast.com/t/WHM6gr4Nf2nG
So, why mention it? One section of the FI bench has four legs and would make quite a nice coffee table in a trendy cafe. The other section has two legs and can’t stand up at all until it is fixed to its companion. Four legs good, two legs, not quite sufficient. Of course the minimum number of legs for stability is three which is pretty obvious when it comes to a piece of furniture. Even then the item needs to be designed for three legs, leave the fourth leg off a normal square table and it may not fall over immediately but it is never going to be exactly stable.
The rule of three is fundamental to Stav, the Hagl is the symbol of the Stav approach to seeing the world and it consists of three intersecting lines. Keep extending the lines and intersecting with other lines and you create the web but each point on the web will essentially be a Hagl. This suggests that although the web ultimately extends through time and space life itself is actually very simple. Every essential principle breaks down to three simple aspects. Take an aspect away and the principle becomes meaningless, add more and you are making life unnecessarily complicated.
We are going through the darkest time of the year (here in the Northern Hemisphere at any rate). So, this is a time for reflection and getting ready for another year. We have the arbitrary date of New Year’s Day but it is the astronomy that really matters. What are you looking forward to next year? What do you hope to achieve? Is there a very simple principle which will help you get the most out of the returning cycle of spring, summer and autumn?
I would suggest that you need a strategic goal for each aspect of your life. You will need to find the tactical resources with which to work towards your goals. That is two, you will also need operational method which means that you focus your tactical resources where they will make the greatest contribution towards achieving your strategic goal. Okay, I am using military terms here. You could just say that to make the most of the next year then you need goals, resources and focus. On the other hand, to really achieve a challenging and worthy goal you are going to have to fight a lot of battles and win a fair few of them. I hope I don’t mean spilling blood and running up a literal body count. But just ask yourself, what is going to make the next year any different from previous years? The answer is; you are going to have to be different in the strategic goals you aim for, you will have to be skilled in using your tactical
resources and you will have to be very selective and focused in how you use your resources of time, effort, knowledge and experience. Changing yourself in order to achieve more than you have ever done before is the hardest battle you will ever engage in, that is my experience at any rate.
Please don’t be discouraged before the new cycle of the year has even got started. Now is the time to be dreaming dreams and discovering the goals that really matter to you. Sort out your metaphorical, and real toolbox, and sharpen your tools. Then focus on the actions that will make the best use of your resources for reaching your goals. Over the next few days I will share some of my strategic goals for this year.
For the moment I will just let you know that the programme for the next three months is pretty much sorted out. We have training in Beverley each month starting on the 13th of January with a Self-defence and CQC course. On the 7th of April we are holding a seminar in Somerset. I am covering both sides of the country so no excuses that all the seminars are too far away! New programme is here with all the links you need. http://www.iceandfire.org.uk
regards
Graham
PS I like teaching martial arts because martial training challenges the whole person. In martial training we can explore important ideas and test results on one another. Basic self-defence is actually pretty simple and a lot of people never seem to need it anyway. However, through advanced martial training we can explore concepts such as chaos points. If you understand chaos points you will intuitively see the best opportunities to bring about change. The ability to bring about intentional change with the minimum resistance is essential to anyone who wants to get anywhere in life. Check out the programme here http://www.iceandfire.org.uk