How do animals learn the skills they need to survive? How does a jaguar learn to hunt? How does a monkey learn to escape that same jaguar?
Play.
Mammals play as young to develop the motions, abilities, and reactions they’ll need when they are on their own. They wrestle, chase each other, steal food from each other, throw things; and each one of these has some connection to behaviours they’ll need in the harsh world they inhabit.
Below is a video from Aperture Fight Focus that explores the value of give-and-take, ebb-and-flow free-form practice found in many arts (here, specifically, Pekiti Tirsia Kali), called “Playing with Knives”.
(All media reproduced under Fair Use, and with credit.)