Shuhari (守破離) is a concept in Japanese arts such as tea ceremony and martial arts, and it shows the process of mastery of skills. It is originally in “Rikyu Doga,” a collection of a tea mastery Sen no Rikyu’s lessons.
The process is expressed in three stages: Shu, Ha, and Ri.
守破離
- 守(Shu): defend; protect; guard; conserve; watch
- 破(Ha): break; cut
- 離(Ri): leave; depart; go away; separate; away from
Shu is the stage of faithfully following the kata (form) taught by the master and making sure to acquire them.
Ha is the stage of considering the techniques of other masters and schools, adopting the good ones, and developing the own techniques. The person who has mastered the kata is able to “break” the existing kata. By learning the kata of other schools and comparing them with his own to find kata that is better suited to him.
Ri is the the stage of leaving existing forms and to create new forms. The person who has familiar with both the kata taught by the master and the kata that he has discovered for himself has a good understanding of himself, and is therefore not bound by the existing kata. In this way, a new kata is born.
Eugene T. Gendlin mentions Martin Heidegger’s concept of dwell-think in his work Phenomenology as non-logical steps.
We do not need to surrender what is already formed. When we precisely understand its formed intricacy, that is just when we exceed its forms. When we don’t understand a book, we can only quote it. To understand it is to dwell-think in its forms, and that is more precise than the forms. I feel it is related to Shuhari.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuhari https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sen_no_Rikyū