Improving Movement Efficiency through Qualitative Slowness: A Discussion between Bergson’s Philosophy and Asian Martial Arts’ Pedagogy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bergson’s philosophy marked a turning point in Western understanding of time by differentiating quantitative time—apprehended by intelligence—from qualitative time—duration, embedded in consciousness and provided by intuition. Even if by unveiling those two modalities, he could beneficially reconsider the very nature of, altogether, movement, perception, liberty, and the present, and through this outline a conception of slowness, Bergson did not further the analysis towards the concrete unfolding of movement or slowness, mostly because these only interested him insofar as they could enlighten the functioning of consciousness—i.e. as case studies. For their part, Asian traditional martial arts came to elaborate a highly demanding expertise in movement efficiency based on kinesthetic sensitivity that made the variable of time a key lever of skill acquisition and transmission, with slowness being conferred a crucial importance. What does slowness specifically perform? Is there just a difference of degree between slow practices and the ones executed at fast speed? By crossing Bergson’s indirect insight into the notion with its pragmatic use in Asian martial arts, this paper will distinguish two kinds of slowness: first, a quantitative and relative slowedness, that, as an artificial reduction of the pace of action, enables new modalities of consciousness to emerge for the benefit of understanding movement. Second, a qualitative and absolute slowness, which manifests a present imbued with and driven by duration, when action is immediately guided by the intuitive feeling of effort—this absolute slowness reflecting the natural state of movement sought by martial arts.