Shu, Ha, Ri

The concept of Shu-Ha-Ri was introduced in a software testing discussion group today. An engineer at work had questions about becoming a black belt and the promotion process.
The Aikido FAQ: Shu Ha Ri

Further Research


Cem Kaner recommends How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School, a book from National Academy of Sciences, 1999.

In this, I think we see an enormous difference between how people best learn skills that are primarily physical versus skills that are primarily cognitive. I think there is a good argument to be made that highly skilled martial arts are intensely cognitive, but there is also a very significant physical-skill aspect that is not present in software testing, mathematics, etc. Thus, training juniors in a way that works well for developing physical skills might be productive for martial arts and unproductive for mathematics (or software testing), even though the mental skills needed for MASTERY of either field might be equally sophisticated and complex.
-- Cem Kaner