Framing Language for Movement
Language both helps us and fails us
Ludwig Wittgenstein famously wrote that philosophical propositions are like a ladder that must be thrown away after one has climbed it. In Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, the ladder is not just a metaphor but pedagogy: language and abstract systems may lead us somewhere useful, but ultimately they must be abandoned to arrive at understanding. In Liberation Martial Arts (LMA), a similar insight applies to motor learning. Language, concepts, and instruction may scaffold us toward embodiment, but they cannot substitute for it. They must eventually be discarded—or at least decentered—for the practitioner to move with autonomy. Just as the cup is not water, language is not movement. Language both helps us and fails us. It can guide you to knowledge, but it is not knowledge. It can describe a vibe but can't define it. Words can point at a thing, but it is not the thing. If you attach yourself to the words, you miss the thing.