Knowledge + Experience = Understanding

Caveat: Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.

This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.) 

To understand you have to have knowledge. Knowledge cannot be achieve without experience. Experience tempers knowledge that leads to understanding. Then we ask, “What level of experience must be acquired to temper knowledge properly so that its blade and edge will endure, build and foster understanding?” When will the knowledge we seek and acquire achieve its proper level toward understanding? 

It is felt that to understand something you have to acquire knowledge about that something but to reach to the highest levels of understanding you must experience that something first hand. To gain experience then means you have to spend enough time in that something so that you experience as many facets, levels and true depth of something to effect and change the knowledge to relevancy and validity building understanding. 

Knowledge is the easiest part of understanding something, one can accumulate many things in an academic way but that alone does not lead to understanding. What level of experience then is necessary to morph knowledge into understanding and does both experience and understanding require what level of knowledge. 

Does this even make sense and if it does how does it contribute to knowledge and experience so that I understand? 

Take Self-defense martial disciplines that claim to teach reality self-defense, is that model one of proper knowledge? Proper experience? and do those who participate in such programs truly understand self-defense. In SD-MA the focus is on the knowledge of physical application of techniques, is this enough knowledge and experience of practice to achieve understanding? 

What would be a minimal level of knowledge?

What would be a minimal level of experience? What kind of experience would reach a minimal level? 

What would be a minimal level of understanding so that application would be appropriate from knowledge and experience?

Ain’t life a hoot, ain’t knowledge, experience and understanding a hoot too? One thing I am absolutely sure of, if you wish to understand something you have to be open to a vast amount of knowledge, be willing to experience a great deal and then you must work diligently to understand it all so it will apply to life (especially if life is about all levels of conflict, violence and violent conflict.