The Soroban Experience II
by Yannic Piché
This article is meant to be a supplement to “The Soroban Experience”, an article I wrote about the Japanese abacus a little over a year ago, and six months after having started the practice of the soroban discipline. I here intend to complement the content of that first article by adding thoughts and opinions that came into view during the last year or so.
The first six months following my encounter with soroban were of great intensity. During my first steps as an uninitiated student, I was completely amazed at the process behind calculating complex figures with the only use of a wooden tool. The idea was simple and marvellous. I was taken aback when presented with the idea of an-zan, mental calculations effectuated through the visualisation of the soroban frame. What made me start the practice of this discipline is, in short, very simple. A natural curiosity for something new presented to me but also, the idea that this discipline had to be a great way to develop new mental capacities.
During that period of time, I achieved some level of proficiency getting to the 3rd level of kyu. This involved hard work and practice. With time though, the enthusiasm of the beginning faded away and even gave way to a bit of disappointment. I was expecting highly intensive mental challenge but instead, I was feeling my efforts were only spent developing manual skills. By only repeating the same steps again and again, I was acquiring speed and accuracy, but also a sort of void, a learning experience void. Without being able to see more than repetition to it, I was feeling that the discipline was lacking in flexibility. One other complaint I also had at the time was that the way soroban was taught to me was too rigid and systematic, and not enough experimental. It would have been very easy for me to quit at that point, but I persisted, somehow, hoping that uncovered aspects would eventually be revealed.
The year or so that followed was to be a much more personal experience filled with discoveries. At the same time it also proved to be a little slower in terms of achievement and improvement. I never stopped practising on a regular basis (about once a week) which seemed to be just enough to maintain the level I had gained during the first six months. But that regular (though insufficient) practice allowed me not to lose the precious proficiency I had acquired.
What I found out with time is that the soroban discipline was much more flexible than I had thought at first. In that second discovery phase, I realised that I had to find my own way into the discipline, find my own little tricks, compare different techniques, try out new ideas, etc. Slowly but steadily, new doors seemed to open to me. I was becoming more creative in the way I was using the tool. I was forging my own path. The lack of experimentation that I had found a little too present in the repetition of the same processes somehow gave place to a whole world of new ideas and possibilities. It seems that I became more of a free thinker in my discipline. The more I was getting into it, the more it seemed there was to discover.
I now feel that the strict formation of the beginning is the reason this second phase of discovery happened. It allowed me to be more in possession of my discipline. The strictness of the formation eventually provided for a smoothness of thoughts. It was not strict in the full meaning of the word, but to my standards, it was stricter than I wanted. This is very similar to the case of a jazz musician. Formal years of strict training are needed before reaching a certain level where live and complex musical improvisations become possible.
Having realised that, I am willing to sacrifice still many hours of arduous training to achieve an even greater level of freedom and elasticity of thoughts. I feel I am on the path of discovery again.
This is all very theoretical so here are some practical examples of ideas I have been experimenting. After seeing someone inputting numbers using both left and right hands, I decided to try myself. What I found out is that for certain combinations, the use of the left hand feels somehow more natural. I was also taught, during low (three digits) level yomiagezan (dictation of a list of numbers) to input the numbers twice, once on the left part of the soroban, and then again on the right part to make it more of a challenge. What I started doing on my own was to input the numbers twice at the same location on the soroban, and then divide the result by two at the end. With speed improving, I tried doing the same exercise inputting the numbers three times. These might not be new ideas but I am happy I could discover and experiment again. This proves to me that I am the master of my thoughts and that I decide of the faith of the knowledge and skills I allow myself to acquire.
It is sometimes difficult to balance the reality of daily obligations with the desire to dive more into a discipline. For this reason, the pace I have at this moment is not as fast as I wished it was, but the greed for improvement in results has now faded away and given place to a truer experience. I have decided to make of this discipline a real discovery experience and chosen not to be limited by the rigid frames that sometimes seem to be too present. The practical aspects might not be very obvious, but I am very enthusiastic about the genuine discovery approach I am now embracing.