Mar
Fix the Solution, Solve the Problem
During the Middle Ages, Japan faced a crisis. They knew the Mongols’ Chinese puppet states were planning an invasion. The wiser Japanese leaders also knew that they key to stemming the Mongol / Chinese attack would be archery. The problem was that archery had declined. Japanese soldiers were so fixed on swordsmanship that they let archery fall to the wayside.
What to do?
The commanders knew that the key to archery was discipline and focus. They asked everyone what to do. The answer came from the Zen masters, who melded archery with meditative techniques. The result was a vast improvement in archery.
When the Chinese finally came, the archers of Japan drove them back into the sea.
The art of Zen archery is practiced in Japan today as a sport and a meditative discipline.
The point of the story is solving a problem by solving a problem. Life does not happen in a vacuum. Complex problems arise all the time. Our example is like the quandary of fixing a broken pipe, but finding that the pipe wrench is in pieces. You have to fix the wrench to fix the pipe. The lesson is clear. Before solving the problem, you must fix the solution. There is no time to hesitate. The sooner you fix the solution, the more likely you are to solve the problem in time.
A second lesson involves laxity. Better to keep a thing well-maintained, rather than let it lapse. Playing “catch up” is hard.
