Shu Ha Ri #

I first came across the concept of Shu Ha Ri in, of all places, the book Scrum: Twice the work in half the time.

quote from book

Actually, I had been familiar with the concept for quite a while, I just never knew that it had a name. I had the opportunity to practice Aikido for a while in the 90s, where the concept was embraced, if not explicitly named. The rough translation given on Wikipedia is:

Follow the rules, break the rules, transcend the rules.

(fwiw, I never got out of the "follow the rules" phase; even if I had practiced for the past 30 years I'd probably be just barely in the "break the rules" phase.)

A more detailed description comes from Aikido master Endō Seishirō shihan, as quoted on Wikipedia:

It is known that, when we learn or train in something, we pass through the stages of shu, ha, and ri. These stages are explained as follows.

In shu, we repeat the forms and discipline ourselves so that our bodies absorb the forms that our forebears created. We remain faithful to these forms with no deviation.

Next, in the stage of ha, once we have disciplined ourselves to acquire the forms and movements, we make innovations. In this process the forms may be broken and discarded.

Finally, in ri, we completely depart from the forms, open the door to creative technique, and arrive in a place where we act in accordance with what our heart/mind desires, unhindered while not overstepping laws.

There is no doubt that this concept informed, influenced the development of my own rules about rules. (When you get to the next section, where I list out my own rules about the rules, you'll probably be thinking, "hmm, that looks kind of familiar.")