... It is very natural for us to file new information into our previously established categories rather than revising our way of looking at things and what we think they mean. Although occasionally we are asked to abandon what we previously held to be true, the principle of nyuanshin does not ask the student of martial arts to relinquish judgment, deductive reasoning, or even intuitive insight. Quite the contrary, it demands that the martial artist bring all these faculties to bear on the problem of learning about a complex physical system, while operating within the context of a mental and spiritual awakening. It can be challenging for the teacher to answer the questions of beginners fully when they have yet to develop a working "vocabulary" of principles. Sometimes students just have to accept, for the moment at least, that things are just the way the teacher says. By embracing and "just doing," understanding will often occur. The Zen underpinnings of martial arts poses these learning situations as philosophical dilemmas, which have been expressed historically in storytelling and myth.

... Students of martial arts cannot, however, subsume themselves completely to the Way of even the best teachers, for ultimately they still must "own" the experience, do the learning, and walk the path (albeit one well trodden by those who have gone before). Hopefully, they will encounter something unique along their own way. One of the ways in which the traditional learning system benefits the martial arts, is the development of the student as a teacher. A successful school, or ryu, is one in which the fundamental principles and practices can be passed on by the senior students. In the process of teaching, advanced practitioners have the opportunity to examine their understanding of the basics at their own level. Working with partners and helping with beginners is an important part of the training, and is the reason for the formal respect and titles accorded more senior... The preparation of the body must also be undertaken with patience, remembering that the body has a beginner's mind too. Its tissues and systems must learn and become accustomed to changes in conditioning. "Muscle memory" is acquired after some practice, and the rate of learning is different from one individual to another. Coordination is often difficult at the early stages, but comes eventually, and even advanced students will sometimes confuse individual elements of combinations. After a period of inactivity or injury, caution must be exercised to retrain or refresh the body and assist its re-integration with the mind.

... The martial artist needs to be keenly aware of his physical and mental mechanisms and how they are responding. He should be willing to change and improve, even when he thinks a skill has been acquired. It can be much more difficult to correct even a subtle error later, when it has become ingrained. This is another reason for the strong emphasis on continuous, repetitive practice of basics. The student hopes to achieve a dynamic where constant conscious correction is not required, but where there still exists an automatic unconscious feedback. A martial artist wants an autopilot that is alert to change. Achieving this requires that part of nyuanshin that is rooted in patience, diligence, and forgiveness for being a beginner. It is always hard to embrace one's own errors, but this is the only way to learn. By extension, martial artists who receive good instruction will also learn to forgive the errors of their fellow students (and even their teachers) and help them along the Way.