“…instincts are not vague and indefinite by nature, but are specifically formed motive forces which, long before there is any consciousness, and in spite of any degree of consciousness later on, pursue their inherent goals. Consequently they form very close analogies to the archetypes, so close, in fact, that there is good reason for supposing that the archetypes are the unconscious images of the instincts themselves, in other words, that they are patterns of instinctual behaviour.”
Carl Jung
The purpose of this little piece is to discuss what drives, behaviors, and archetypes are and how they interact to produce powerful results. I start by discussing instincts, and then talk about how they drive behaviour and form purposeful actions. From there I discuss how “archetypal” images, in the psyche, represent these various actions in the minds eye. With unity of these processes, you can understand how to get better results in practice. Because these processes underpin everything else. The basic idea is to build whatever you want on top of these fundamentals forms, which are according to some basic laws of nature.
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The instincts, or “motive forces” are what drive us towards goals. These goals, or outcomes, are achieved by various instinctual movement patterns which form behaviour. Of course, such behaviours come in many forms, and can serve purposes many purposes, often seemingly unrelated to the driving force. But the underlying foundations are universal. For example, babies are born wanting to grab things. From this innate tendency comes grabbing a hammer, and then from a combination of other patterns the adult learns to become a carpenter. The baby was not born with knowledge of carpentry, he acquired and created it with his own internal apparatus. It was just a question of combining what was already there and expressing it creatively. However, for carpentry to have developed it must have corresponded to some ancient wisdom within us.
Learning to do things does not always run smoothly, particularly if the foundation upon which the structure is built is at fault. Steve Morris says:
“Standing, running, climbing, pushing, pulling, swinging, catching, throwing…you know. All those things kids do! Those are the fundamentals. And beneath these, in order to facilitate a dynamic equilibrium of change, are the reflex patterns which allow you to work at an instinctive level. We’ve inherited them from our animal ancestors. You don’t have to think about how to maintain this equilibrium of change; the body is reflexively designed to do that for you. Indeed, any attempt to interfere with this process by motor oriented response, negates it. That’s why you end up with robotic movement patterns.”1
It is clear from this that any movement pattern, such as in martial arts, should build upon fundamentally sound basis. You can’t have a fantasy move and expect it to work optimally. By all means be creative, but make sure it corresponds to natural laws, or don’t – and then run the risk of never connecting the dots.
How do we know when what we are seeing is a good model to practice? One way to answer this question is: If on some instinctive level what we are seeing is worthwhile, then its impression resonates within us intuitively, grabbing our attention. At the same time, if when we ourselves actually then perform those same actions we observed, and this has the same meaningful impression within us, then this strongly indicates we are on the right tracks. It’s about intuitive sense, rather than appearances. This does not suppose we are viewing such examples of practice as “perfect” form. Whatever we are doing must remain flexible, which is why our instincts are so vague. We are supposed to create and change, according to certain principles, or laws if you like. It’s all a process of evolution and constant adaption.
On his Facebook page, Steve Morris has talked about how “mirror neurons” can allow you to learn from others (by mimicking them), spot a fraudulant claim, or tell what an attacker might want to do. This is done by reading the individual and empathising with such people. Of course this is a developed capability, but it is built on innate sytems. We seem to have within us a sense for deception as well as truth, and a corresponding mental model representative of these and many other things.
Jung says that an archetype is “a hypothetical and irrepresentable model, something like the pattern of behaviour in biology”.2 This implies that there is a potential within the subconscious, or the instinctual side of the individual, to create a mental representation of a physical action. That is, based on a set of fundamental laws. This potential stems from an intuitive internal understanding of various actions, or an “archetypal” model – which is inborn. This archetype is perhaps what mirror neurons refer towards for validation. Importantly, there are so many of these models it is hardly worth trying to make a system out of them. You’d just get lost in the details. we’re better off looking at them as concepts. In any case, archetypal forms are so varied and adapted to different designs within individuals, each with different experiences and environments, that the only real question is: what are their universal basic forms?
A physic archetype corresponds to the physical action upon which it is based. These two elements are part of a whole. A richer understanding of the dynamic interaction between physical actions, archetypes, and instincts can give a clearer and more effective vision of the physical action itself being played out in the minds eye. Or practice of an action can enrich the mental archetype, which can then influence the physical. There is a circular relationship between knowledge and action. They both inform each other. Importantly, mental representations can be developed and built upon in the same way as their physical counterparts. And, whilst the developments of such mental actions do not take the place of instincts (which are better expressed as fixed laws), these actions instead become second nature. This is important because whilst the instincts remain fixed and stable like roots, the possibility for expression of them can reach great heights from such a solid dependable base. You can’t have one without the other.
An action being performed is pretty meaningless without a archetypal performer. We need a person doing these in the psychic realm as well as the physical. We need to personify the thoughts about our instincts, behaviours, and motives. And we have the basic foundations, and it is up to us to create and fashion optimal products according to our motive drives. Our raw materials. But there are rules. Jung also says:
“The spontaneous manifestation of the unconscious and its archetypes intrudes everywhere into his conscious mind, and the mythical world of his ancestors—for instance, the aljira or bugari of the Australian aborigines—is a reality equal if not superior to the material world.
It is not the world as we know it that speaks out of his unconscious, but the unknown world of the psyche, of which we know that it mirrors out empirical world only in part, and that, for the other part, it moulds this empirical world in accordance with its own psychic assumptions.”
From this it could be concluded that mirror neurons see through the unconscious mind, and look for a corresponding physical equivalent. They seek to define what they see rather than being defined by outside influence. For example, if we see a fighter who is using fundamental movement patterns well, this will resonate within our unconscious. That is, the instinctive side of us. It will therefore to some extent at least be a true form. Furthermore, if the action is performed vigorously with aggressive intent then all the better, because the interaction of instinctive behaviour, and driving forces, will make a greater, or truer impression on us. This develops a mental model which influences and builds upon our archetypal form. This archetype then manifests itself physically by giving form to our our physical actions This process can evolve as our understanding and experience dictates. This obviously does not happen overnight but with practice over time. It is about combing many different materials and forms in endless ways, like an architect.
Importantly, our archetypal image should have outstanding personal qualities as well as physical ones. Otherwise how can we identify with it? It needs character like ourselves. And who wants to be an individual with no good qualities?
There is within us an ideal man or woman, which can be developed consciously using the instinctive drives and behaviours to achieve some ideal. In other words, our instinctive tendencies can be instructed by our conscious influence to be expressed through thoughts and behaviour on the physical. This is done all the time with our every thought. It is a question of directing our thoughts towards some high, and necessarily unachievable ideal with will power. This too is an instinctive tendency, however it often goes unrealised.
If left to themselves our thoughts tend towards chaos or mediocrity. This is the purpose of conscious will, to enslave the raw materials of ourselves, as other laws of nature do with their own materials. Take the example of gravity, it imposes it’s will on matter. This is it’s purpose, according to nature. As for us, the more meaningful and respectable the ideal, according to fundamental laws, and principles, the more powerful the results. Make it your mission, as nature intended, to use the conscious mind you’ve been equipped with to control the raw materials you have uncovered. Why else are we conscious?
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References
1 See Steve Morris Letters: About Fundamentals.
2 See C.G Jung The Archetypes and the collective unconscious.