I came across a social media post where someone defined dialectical materialism. More than any post I've seen on martial arts, somatics, movement, game-based learning, play-based learning, self-directed learning, ecological dynamics, constraint-led approach, non-linear pedagogy, or any other pedagogical or andragogical rant—this elegant explanation of political theory encapsulates the heart of LMA's framework for teaching and understanding movement.
Their post:
What is dialectical materialism? Dialectical materialism, in simple terms, is a way of understanding the world that combines two ideas: that the material world is the basis of reality (materialism) and that things change through conflict and interconnectedness (dialectics). It suggests that the material conditions of society are the primary drivers of historical change and social development.
You have dialectics—this refers to a way of thinking that emphasizes the interconnectedness of things and how they change through conflict and resolution. It sees things not as static and isolated, but as constantly in motion and transformation, with opposing forces constantly interacting.
Then you have materialism—this means that the physical world and material reality are primary. It's not that ideas or thoughts don't exist, but that they are ultimately a product of, or a reflection of, the material world.
Dialectical materialism provides a framework for understanding how the material world, with its inherent contradictions and conflicts, shapes our ideas, our society, and our history.
What this explanation offers is a way of seeing movement not as isolated actions or internal capacities, but as the ongoing, interconnected unfolding of material life. Movement is dialectical. It emerges through contact, interaction, and change. It's shaped by conditions and co-created through interaction.
This is not metaphor. It's method.
If LMA is a pedagogy, it is dialectical materialism in motion. We don't begin with internal ideas and impose them onto the body. We start with material conditions (e.g., fatigue, friction, breath, pace, position, pain, land, people, play). These are the drivers of movement change and learning.
We move through contradiction, not around it. We explore instability, opposition, and transformation—because that's where development (synthesis) actually happens. LMA doesn't seek harmony through solitude. It seeks co-regulation through struggle, mutual adjustment, and shared rhythms.
When we say that skill is cultivated through the education of attention, this is what we mean. We attend to real-world interactions. We don't internalize "forms" but engage with forms in flux. We don't perfect technique; we perceive conditions.
Dialectical materialism is not an abstract philosophy tacked onto a training system. It is a description of how change happens. And that is the essence of LMA: a pedagogy for navigating change, conflict, and material life.
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