Permutation

5:12 AM in Feldenkrais, Learning, Martial Arts, Practicing

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) 

per·mu·ta·tion [pur-myoo-tey-shuhn] 
1. the act of permuting or permutating; alteration; transformation.
2. Mathematics.
a. the act of changing the order of elements arranged in a particular order, as abc into acb, bac, etc., or of arranging a number of elements in groups made up of equal numbers of the elements in different orders, as a and b in ab and ba; a one-to-one transformation of a set with a finite number of elements.
b. any of the resulting arrangements or groups. Compare combination (def. 8b).

I was first exposed to the concept of permutation when I was studying jazz guitar as a child. My teacher had me practice a series of notes in all the various combinations I could put them in like in the definition above.

ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, CBA

Practicing in this way I was able to get comfortable playing this sequence of notes in any order. There was a side-effect of getting extremely familiar with the series of notes that I was exploring. 

Over the years I found that there are many wonderful side effects to practicing just about anything using this concept. One of these side effects is that this helps me review material endlessly without getting bored. Every new permutation brings a fresh perspective to whatever I'm studying.

I've found that this is a great way for people to teach and absorb information. In studying Aikido, I've noticed that the way the classes are taught is by demonstrating endless permutations of a core set of moves.