Quality

         "What is quality?"  an excerpt taken from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  Also seems fitting when it comes to our forms and being demo ready.

        First though, I want to address another line from the book which talks about instructions and how it takes away from the art.  Basically whoever wrote the instructions you are required to do it their way to reach the end result.  In reality there could be multiple ways of doing something to reach an end result.  Really made me think about the art of Kung Fu and intent, and how we can all finish a technique in a certain way, but we all arrive there a little differently.

        Anyways, back to quality.  What is quality?  What does it look like?  We all know it when we see it, feel it, experience it.  When I talk of quality, I mean of good quality.  The thing about quality is that it is commonly based off of either individual experiences, or opinion of the public.  Either way, there seems to be a "standard" that we go by.  Arbitrary in nature, we come to accept certain standards, again, usually based off of different experiences of the same or similar things.  We accept certain food standards, clothing standards, vehicle standards, entertainment standards, etcetera, etcetera.  Now some of these standardizations are good, and necessary for our safety.  Funny enough though, just because we have certain "standards" for things, does not necessarily mean that they are of quality, or at least of high quality.

        So what is quality?  To me, quality is something that I come to expect from whatever object or experience that I have based off of good experiences.  Sometimes I can think something is of "good quality" but have very little experience.  Where as other things I have more experiences with and can rate them from low to high.  These are all based off my own personal experiences and tastes though.  Something I may deem as quality may not be quality to someone else.  If I really like the Tiramisu from Cafe Pinot, and I've tried lots of Tiramisu, and say I don't like the Tiramisu from a restaurant like State & Main, that is based off of many experiences and my own personal preferences of taste.  Now someone who only has ever had Tiramisu from State & Main may think that it is of good quality, only ever had it from there.  It gets more complicated when we've had the same thing over and over and get different experiences from time to time.  What I'm getting at is quality can be a very personal and individual thing, even if it is agreed upon by the majority of people.  That is the catch of the situation.  Quality is often based off of popular public opinion.  What the majority deems as quality is usually so, even though others may not agree with it.  That is all standardization is, and thus quality.

        How then do I know if I am producing quality?  Personally, I have to be really honest with myself, and I know when I'm putting out quality, versus when I'm not.  The rest of the time I have to rely on what others say of the experience.  In my profession it is based off of how my patients' feel after.  In my Kung Fu, I rely on the insights of my instructors.  I always strive for quality.  Some days it translates better than others, and overall I try to set my average high, so that even on off days my quality is still acceptable.