My old coach likes to say, “First learn to play with anybody, then learn to play like anybody.”
I think that’s a beautiful idea, and deeply motivating. Play like anybody? That would take a lifetime! Which is how long I hope to be an improviser.
In Hunter X Hunter, the characters invest 90% of their energy in mastering their one specialization, and learn a trick or two from a neighboring specialization for tactical reasons. Is is here that, perhaps for the first time in history, anime no longer serves us.
Instead, we’ll turn again to Pirate Robot Ninja:
The ninja speaks.
“You have arrived.”
Cautious Seeker asks, “Are you the pirate or the robot?”
“I am what is needed,” replies the ninja.
The ninja pauses exactly the right amount of time for you to process this, then continues.
“You did not come here to become a pirate.
“You did not come here to become a robot.
“You are on this journey to find your strengths, and strengthen your weaknesses.
“You came here to find balance.
“Each of you has already decided that you either play one way or the other.
“The goal now is to play the way you need to, from scene to scene.”
The logic of Hunter X Hunter still holds. A Manipulator is rarely going to surpass an Enhancer at being at having a huge physical presence, just as an Enhancer will rarely surpass a Manipulator at weaving a cohesive theme into a show. We really do have strengths and weaknesses, and when there’s an audience, we should play to them. But unlike in Hunter X Hunter, we are all the Avatar. We are all availed of and beholden to the task of mastering not just the Hatsu of our specialization, but of all specializations. We don’t want to only be good when we’re on the perfect team. We want to be good every time, no matter what.
So train! Use these techniques and specializations to identify your weaknesses, then find or invent exercises to train them!
Become the strongest improviser.
Tsuyoku naritai!