Although I have been a hardcore reader all my life, there are probably only 20 to 30 books that have fundamentally advanced my worldview and made a permanent impact on my thinking. This book is one of them.
However, in the service of an honest and useful review, let me start by pointing out some of the things a potential reader might dislike:
Much of the content of this book is essentially Josh Waitzkin ruminating on his many incredible accomplishments. To some people, this could appear boorish, tedious, and even egotistical. In addition, although the book is titled, 'The Art of Learning', the insights it provides into learning have all been drawn almost exclusively from Josh Waitzkin's experiences in playing chess on an international level, as well as his later participation in martial arts. As both a martial artist and chess player, I personally love both these fields and find them endlessly fascinating. But I can also easily see how some people might regard them as unrelatable, or even irrelevant, to the type of learning they desire. Okay, so there are the criticisms. Now, for the good stuff...
Josh Waitzkin is a truly incredible individual, who has an equally incredible life story. He was the subject of the book and film, 'Searching for Bobby Fischer' and has won numerous world-champion titles for his brilliance at chess, and his mastery of Tai Chi Push Hands. (This second accomplishment is almost more noteworthy, I think, as he was already participating in kung fu competitions on an international level after just two years of study.) So, if he sounds a little braggadocious, he has every right because his real-world accomplishments are many and they are epic.
In this book, Josh takes you inside his head, into the personal evolutionary processes that honed his world-class mastery of two very different fields. There is no unqualified 'fluff' here. The book is poignant, straight-forward, honest, and resonant. As a martial artist, for example, I could totally relate to Josh's discussion of how he developed his skills--namely by constantly 'investing in loss' (his term for practicing with those who were better, more knowledgeable, more aggressive, and more skilled than he was). This forced him to become ego-less, to learn how to manage and rebound from loss, and also ensured that his technique would evolve at an unconscious level. I say I can relate because when I first began practicing martial arts at a young age, I intuitively did the same thing: If given any choice at all, I would always choose to spar against the top student in my school, a blindingly-fast fighter who had a room full of tournament trophies at home. So, for nearly two years, I got my rear beaten badly multiple times a week. But, like Josh, I understood that as long as you can get past the bruises to your body and ego, playing/fighting against those who are so much better than you will force you to grow and evolve, while playing against your peers or those who are worse than you, will only cause you to become weaker and dangerously over-confident.
That is is just a small taste of the wisdom Josh share's in this book, but there is so much more. Every person must eventually meet and deal with reversals and setbacks on their path through life. Who we become, and how we respond, in the face of those reversals is what shapes both our character and our destiny. What I think makes this book particularly amazing and useful, is that Josh not only provides uniquely brilliant insights into 'how to win', but more importantly, how to 'rightly lose', and how to turn losing into a springboard for personal growth and the highest levels of development.
In order to truly do justice to this book in a review, I would probably have to write an almost equally long book to match it! So, all I can say to a potential reader is this: If you want truly useful insights into how to acquire excellence in life and practically any chosen field, and you want them from a bona fide master and genius who has probably given several lifetimes of thought to the fundamental principles and acquisition of excellence, then this book is one you absolutely must read.
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 5,167 ratings
Price: 17.5
Last update: 01-02-2025
About this item
Josh Waitzkin knows what it means to be at the top of his game. A public figure since winning his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine, Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a major motion picture. After dominating the scholastic chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning the title of World Champion. How was he able to reach the pinnacle of two disciplines that on the surface seem so different? "I've come to realize that what I am best at is not Tai Chi, and it is not chess," he says. "What I am best at is the art of learning."
The Art of Learning takes listeners through Waitzkin's unique journey to excellence. He explains in clear detail how a well-thought-out, principled approach to learning is what separates success from failure. Waitzkin believes that achievement, even at the championship level, is a function of a lifestyle that fuels a creative, resilient growth process. Rather than focusing on climactic wins, Waitzkin reveals the inner workings of his everyday method, from systematically triggering intuitive breakthroughs, to honing techniques into states of remarkable potency, to mastering the art of performance psychology.
In stories ranging from his early years taking on chess hustlers as a seven year old in New York City's Washington Square Park, to dealing with the pressures of having a film made about his life, to International Chess Championships in India, Hungary, and Brazil, to gripping battles against powerhouse fighters in Taiwan in the Push Hands World Championships, The Art of Learning encapsulates an extraordinary competitor's life lessons in a pause-resisting narrative.
Top reviews from the United States
Jack81635.0 out of 5 stars One of Those That Changes Your Life
T. Fowler4.0 out of 5 stars Learn the art of excellence from one of the best
Josh Waitzkin is an over achiever. He began competing in chess tournaments around the age of eight and was consistently the highest rated player for his age group until he stopped competing in his late `teens for personal reasons. Starting in 1998, he mastered Tai Chi, winning a pair of world championship titles a few years later. He now runs the JW Foundation, a nonprofit helping students direct their own learning in a way that meshes with who they are as people.
The Art of Learning is as multifaceted as its author: a compelling autobiography, a discussion of the theory and practice of both chess and Tai Chi, an exposition on general and performance psychology, and a primer on philosophy. I have distilled the most pertinent lessons for the UnCollege community:
Everything is Interconnected
The deepest message conveyed in the book is that many seemingly disparate pursuits are actually connected in subtle ways. A perceptive person can learn much about martial arts from chess, such as, and vice versa. In a earlier post, I sought to break down the barrier between "common sense" and "book smarts", and that sentiment is echoed here in a slightly revised form. Josh writes:
"From the outside Tai Chi and chess couldn't be more different, but they began to converge in my mind. I started to translate my chess ideas into Tai Chi language, as if the two arts were linked by an essential connecting ground. Every day I noticed more and more similarities, until I began to feel as if I were studying chess when I was studying Tai Chi" (xvi)."
The first step is to learn to think of our various pursuits not as disconnected islands, but rather as part of a whole, each part informing the others. As you go about your day, actively look for ways to learn x from y.
Master the Fundamentals
Although this is hardly an earth-shattering idea, Josh manages to give it unique expression, illustrating the urgency of practicing the basics with examples from his own life. He credits his successes in the early parts of his martial arts career not to having a broad mastery of many tactics, but with having a deep mastery of just a few. The mechanics behind one a single technique are often the same ones that lie behind the entire system. A big part of this mastery consists in gradually internalizing the fundamental principles until they are unconscious and reflexive. This concept is referred to in the book alternatively as numbers to leave numbers and form to leave form, and it applies to every pursuit.
Josh compares modern people to fish swimming at the surface, so caught up with the ripples and currents there that they miss the beauty of the abyss below. While there is much truth to this, there is still something to be said for generalization, omnivorous consumption of skills, and polymathy. We should combine both approaches: depth and breadth. Sometimes all we want, need, or have time to obtain is a broad perspective on a field or discipline. That's okay, because every bit is going to stretch our minds and enrich our perspectives. However, if all we ever do is skim the surface, then we're missing out on the value of plunging deeply and intimately into an art. Likewise, cultivating long-term tunnel vision on a single domain of knowledge will mean losing opportunities to see connections between disparate activities and the myriad ways in which one practice informs another.
Invest in Failure
One of the more difficult parts of the learning process is bouncing back from the inevitable setbacks and failures. Those of us with a self-image to protect may find shelving our egos and giving ourselves permission to lose particularly trying. By staying focused on the goal - improving as people, not proving how great we already are - we can continue learning. Confidence and pride in our accomplishments have their place, but should never get in the way of personal development.
Learn to Love the Journey
As important as gaining mastery of a skill is, cultivating a love for the process of learning is just as important. If we make the reasonable assumption that even masters still have aspects on which they can improve, it stands to reason that we all spend a lot more time as learners than we probably realize. This principle is so important, Josh places it squarely at the center of success in any field, saying that the path to the top lies "in a well-though-out approach that inspires resilience, the ability to make connections between diverse pursuits, and day-to-day enjoyment of the process." (30)
Learning with Style
An overarching theme of the book, and one of the main tenets espoused by Josh's nonprofit, is to make every aspect of our learning harmonious with and an extension of our personality. Great performers of all stripes know who they are and how to synchronize their activities with their mindsets. In chess, Josh writes, mistakes on the board often expose psychological weaknesses. The reverse is also true; knowing how a person acts under stress or pressure can tell you a lot about how they will play chess. As he began competing at a higher and higher level, Josh kept notes on how he felt during tournaments, specifically when he made moves that turned out later to be watersheds. This practice, continued later with his Tai Chi training, allowed him to grow more and more attuned with himself as a performer. He was able to quickly spot lapses in concentration and repair them, thus strengthening his technique from the inside out. I have kept a journal for years for this reason, and recommend that you all do the same. As you learn more about yourself through writing or introspection, try to find ways to make your pursuits an expression of yourself. The way you play chess, cook a meal, or write a book review should reflect a deepening awareness of your strengths and dispositions.
Read the original review here:
[...]
The Art of Learning is as multifaceted as its author: a compelling autobiography, a discussion of the theory and practice of both chess and Tai Chi, an exposition on general and performance psychology, and a primer on philosophy. I have distilled the most pertinent lessons for the UnCollege community:
Everything is Interconnected
The deepest message conveyed in the book is that many seemingly disparate pursuits are actually connected in subtle ways. A perceptive person can learn much about martial arts from chess, such as, and vice versa. In a earlier post, I sought to break down the barrier between "common sense" and "book smarts", and that sentiment is echoed here in a slightly revised form. Josh writes:
"From the outside Tai Chi and chess couldn't be more different, but they began to converge in my mind. I started to translate my chess ideas into Tai Chi language, as if the two arts were linked by an essential connecting ground. Every day I noticed more and more similarities, until I began to feel as if I were studying chess when I was studying Tai Chi" (xvi)."
The first step is to learn to think of our various pursuits not as disconnected islands, but rather as part of a whole, each part informing the others. As you go about your day, actively look for ways to learn x from y.
Master the Fundamentals
Although this is hardly an earth-shattering idea, Josh manages to give it unique expression, illustrating the urgency of practicing the basics with examples from his own life. He credits his successes in the early parts of his martial arts career not to having a broad mastery of many tactics, but with having a deep mastery of just a few. The mechanics behind one a single technique are often the same ones that lie behind the entire system. A big part of this mastery consists in gradually internalizing the fundamental principles until they are unconscious and reflexive. This concept is referred to in the book alternatively as numbers to leave numbers and form to leave form, and it applies to every pursuit.
Josh compares modern people to fish swimming at the surface, so caught up with the ripples and currents there that they miss the beauty of the abyss below. While there is much truth to this, there is still something to be said for generalization, omnivorous consumption of skills, and polymathy. We should combine both approaches: depth and breadth. Sometimes all we want, need, or have time to obtain is a broad perspective on a field or discipline. That's okay, because every bit is going to stretch our minds and enrich our perspectives. However, if all we ever do is skim the surface, then we're missing out on the value of plunging deeply and intimately into an art. Likewise, cultivating long-term tunnel vision on a single domain of knowledge will mean losing opportunities to see connections between disparate activities and the myriad ways in which one practice informs another.
Invest in Failure
One of the more difficult parts of the learning process is bouncing back from the inevitable setbacks and failures. Those of us with a self-image to protect may find shelving our egos and giving ourselves permission to lose particularly trying. By staying focused on the goal - improving as people, not proving how great we already are - we can continue learning. Confidence and pride in our accomplishments have their place, but should never get in the way of personal development.
Learn to Love the Journey
As important as gaining mastery of a skill is, cultivating a love for the process of learning is just as important. If we make the reasonable assumption that even masters still have aspects on which they can improve, it stands to reason that we all spend a lot more time as learners than we probably realize. This principle is so important, Josh places it squarely at the center of success in any field, saying that the path to the top lies "in a well-though-out approach that inspires resilience, the ability to make connections between diverse pursuits, and day-to-day enjoyment of the process." (30)
Learning with Style
An overarching theme of the book, and one of the main tenets espoused by Josh's nonprofit, is to make every aspect of our learning harmonious with and an extension of our personality. Great performers of all stripes know who they are and how to synchronize their activities with their mindsets. In chess, Josh writes, mistakes on the board often expose psychological weaknesses. The reverse is also true; knowing how a person acts under stress or pressure can tell you a lot about how they will play chess. As he began competing at a higher and higher level, Josh kept notes on how he felt during tournaments, specifically when he made moves that turned out later to be watersheds. This practice, continued later with his Tai Chi training, allowed him to grow more and more attuned with himself as a performer. He was able to quickly spot lapses in concentration and repair them, thus strengthening his technique from the inside out. I have kept a journal for years for this reason, and recommend that you all do the same. As you learn more about yourself through writing or introspection, try to find ways to make your pursuits an expression of yourself. The way you play chess, cook a meal, or write a book review should reflect a deepening awareness of your strengths and dispositions.
Read the original review here:
[...]