The End of an Era

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I received my new degree in London. One chapter has come to an end — six years of studying, thinking, reading, exams, assignments, discoveries, doubts, challenges, and experiences.

My degree is in Humanities, with a focus on philosophy and psychology, and I also took several art modules. For me, these fitted very naturally with interests I have carried with me for decades, and which are also connected to the development of Percomboo. 

For me, university was primarily an encounter with new ideas, questions, and perspectives in a new language. Some things were completely new to me, while others were already familiar from my previous experience. For this reason, these six years were not simply about gaining new knowledge, but also about looking at what I already knew from different perspectives.

I was introduced to Eastern philosophy more than thirty years ago, and martial arts practice and teaching have been part of my life for several decades. During this time, I did not simply learn and teach techniques. I was constantly observing people: how they react, how they make decisions, and how a situation, a thought, an emotion, or even a single moment can change them.

A lot started with martial arts, but over time it became less and less about fighting itself. I became increasingly interested in how human beings work. The reasons behind things.

At this university, I gained another perspective on all of this. Alongside Eastern philosophical thinking, I immersed myself in many new approaches to Western philosophy and psychology. I was not necessarily looking for ready-made answers, but for new questions and arguments that I could compare with everything I had previously learned and experienced.

Philosophy helped me to ask better questions. Psychology gave me new perspectives from which to examine human behaviour. Art offered another way of understanding human expression, individuality, and form.

Over the past few years, I have focused primarily on my studies, so this blog had to take a back seat. Now that this chapter has come to an end, perhaps it can receive more attention again.

I definitely have more answers now, but perhaps even more questions than before. They are simply different questions. And perhaps that is one of the most important things that happened during these years: my thinking has moved to another level.

Several decades of interest in Eastern philosophy, martial arts practice and teaching, the study of philosophy and psychology, art, and the development of Percomboo have now come together at another important point. It's done. And we move on.

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