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{{quote|''[[Trope Namer|"Don't think! Feeeeeel.]] It is like a finger pointing away to the moon...'' ['''WHACK!'''] ''Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory."'' |'''[[Bruce Lee|Lee]]''', ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' }}
 
This is when a mentor tries to teach the hero not by ''doing'' but by ''feeling''. This makes sense if the art that is taught here is something like [[Supernatural Martial Arts]]. Action-oriented disciplines to have, well, [[Harmony Versus Discipline|discipline]]. Paradoxically, letting your emotions run and feeling your instincts guide you are not one and the same... [[Comically Missing the Point|but we're not going to pretend that's logical]]. Maybe these mentors simply suspect that their students [[It Was Withwith You All Along|are already driven by serenity rather than negative feelings]] but that their role is to guide that along.
 
The problem is it can get nauseating for the audience when the mentor goes on and on and on. They say stuff like: "Please, no more! I don't want to communicate with [[The Lifestream]]; I want to see plot happen!" Taking a real approach to it can easily end up as [[Info Dump]] unless you do something creative with it.
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* On Keitaro and Naru's first date in ''[[Love Hina]]'', they go to see an action movie. The only scene we see is the caption "Don't think - feel."
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Alphonse tries to learn Xingese Purification Arts (the equivalent of Alchemy) from May. Her lessons are frustrantingly vague to him, because it's all about "Feeling the Dragon's Pulse" and "opening your mind" and stuff, and Al has a lot of trouble thinking in those terms. Telling May to "explain it more academically" doesn't help him much. Apparently, you have to be "like woooosh!"
* A hilarious subversion in the ''[[Ghost Sweeper Mikami (Anime)|Ghost Sweeper Mikami]]'' manga, where Mikami and Yokoshima had to defuse an alien bomb. Yokoshima has an epiphany that he must ''feel'' the presence of the bomb... only for Mikami to slap him upside the head.
{{quote| Mikami: Don't use powers you don't have, you idiot!}}
* There's implication that this trope was used in [[MAR]] after Ginta and Jack are trained for the second time, which is during the War Games. Their master is asked what they were taught and in response launches a pebble at each of them. They both dodge despite being shot at from behind. The humor is explored with Jack actually catching the stone.. and then rolling around on the ground because the pebble was moving at such speed that being stupid enough to catch the thing hurt.
* These exact words are left by [[Shinichi Watanabe|Nabeshin]] to Excel at the end of their "[[Training From Hell|intensive training]]" in episode 9 of ''[[Excel Saga (Animeanime)|Excel Saga]]''. Ultimately it's parodied: in the end, she defeats the bowling villain {{spoiler|by exploding the bomb hidden within the bowling ball Nabeshin left her.}} Also, this being [[The Ditz|Excel]], the "don't think" part goes without saying.
* In ''Rosario + Vampire'', this trope may have been used when Moka taught Tsukune how to sense youki energy.
 
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== [[Comics]] ==
* Stick from [[Daredevil]] taught Matt how to utilize his radar sense in a similar manner.
* [[Spider -Man]] does not have a mentor but his [[Spider Sense]] can be tuned to the point in which he reacts based on this sixth sense, letting go of any thoughts. He'll even close his eyes during this time, allowing himself to act on instinct. This usually comes during very emotional or dangerous situations. The most recent example would be when he defeated Wolverine's son, [[Daken]], who has empath powers.
 
 
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* In ''[[Batman Begins]]'', Ducard lectures Bruce about overcoming his fear and not blaming himself for his parents' death.
** This comes across as more of an inversion, given that he's telling him to approach the situation rationally instead of dwelling on his emotions. Bruce's whole training montage seems to be about taking control of his anger, guilt and fear instead of being driven by them.
* Inverted in ''[[Scaramouche (Filmfilm)|Scaramouche]]'':
{{quote| '''Perigore:''' "The ''head''! Fight with the head. Forget the heart"}}
* The training dojo scene from ''[[The Matrix]]'':
{{quote| '''Morpheus:''' What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, KNOW you are.}}
* Different variants in [[Disney Animated Canon]] film ''[[Pocahontas]]'' and Disney Animated Non-canon film ''Pocahontas 2.'' The point of Grandmother Tree's teachings in [[Pocahontas]] (put quite succintly in "Colors of the Wind") was for Pocahontas to get and stay in touch with nature; this is done to [[Anvilicious]] extent. Its direct-to-video sequel has, shortly before Pocahontas goes to Europe, Grandmother Tree asking her to get into and stay in touch with her heart--that is, her human nature--and then disappears.
** "Listening to her heart" somehow manages to cross the difficult language barrier for everyone, something which [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Chick]] is incredibly confused by.
* Something similar is used by Ramirez to train Connor MacLeod in the film ''[[Highlander (Film)|Highlander]]'', although he's trying to teach him how to feel immortal. As well as a little [[Wax On, Wax Off]] too.
* ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'': "Put aside logic. Do what feels right." Notable since it's actually ''[[The Spock|Spock]]'' saying this.
* Both played straight and subverted in the ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (Filmanimation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' movie with Hiccup.
* Professor Harold Hill's "Think System" in ''[[The Music Man]]''.
** More of a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]]; the boys play horribly.
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[The X -Files]]''. Mulder says this while giving Scully a [[Hands-On Approach]] to baseball. Of course, as he was delivering an Aesop about how you play baseball to forget about all your troubles it was a [[Justified Trope]].
* A contestant who made it into the top 24 on the tenth season of ''[[American Idol]]'' was given the advice that her performances were not emotional enough and was told not to think so much. '''''Feel'''''. Certain other contestants in past seasons have been told a similar spin on this.
* ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' When the crew invades a skyplex to rescue [[The Captain]], secondary defence of the ship relies on [[Preacher Man|a shepherd]], [[The Medic|a doctor]], [[Wrench Wench|a mechanic]] and a [[Mind Rape|mentally traumatised]] [[Waif Fu|young girl]]. At the time, Book is the only with ''known'' combat training. Although Simon does try hard to help, Book ends up having to advise him that he's [[Don't Think, Feel|thinking too much]] and should just go with the shot. In the end, it doesn't help. Simon still can't hit the broad side of a barn. {{spoiler|His sister, on the other hand... [[Psychic Powers|does feel it]].}}
* "Don't think it, feel it." is the motto of Gekijyuken founder Brusa Li in ''[[Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger]]''.
* ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' uses this as its central theme, lampooning the way some conservative pundits and politicians take positions based on what they ''feel'' is true rather than what the facts say. This is the meaning of the neologism "truthiness." Colbert frequently says that he thinks with his gut because there are more nerve endings in the gut than in the brain. He doesn't know if that's true, but it ''feels'' true.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Played in ''The Subtle Knife'' (part 2 of Phillip Pullman's ''[[His Dark Materials]]''). How to open a door between worlds with the Subtle Knife: transfer your mind to the blade's tip, move the blade around feeling the air around you, and as soon as you perceive a notch, cut.
* Subverted in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Wee Free Men|The Wee Free Men]]'' with some advice given to the main character
{{quote| '''Miss Tick:''' "Now...if you trust in yourself...and believe in your dreams...and follow your star...you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy"}}
* Deconstructed in ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''. It's the philosophy espoused by the looters, who claim to be motivated by love and compassion for others. They hold this to be more important than rational thought, and as a result of their ideals being adopted by much of society, the world's falling apart.
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* Subverted in [[Lord of the Rings]]: After he hears that Frodo is still alive, Sam gives this admonition to himself:
{{quote| ''You fool, he isn't dead, and your heart knew it. Don't trust your head, Samwise, it is not the best part of you. The trouble with you is that you never really had any hope.''}}
* The novel ''[[Youth in Sexual Ecstasy (Literature)|Youth in Sexual Ecstasy]]'' gives this advice regarding sex (the actual act, not if you must have it or not).
 
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In the ''[[Planescape]]'' campaign, the entire faction of the Transcendent Order, also know as the Ciphers, follow this principle in everything. They're consequently called the 'Ciphers' because it's impossible to figure out their rationale -- they don't have one since they act on impulse. In-game, this means the player of a Cipher character doesn't get to go "no, wait..." after they've announced what they're going to do, no matter how stupid, silly and/or suicidal the declared action is. As with all things, [[Rule of Funny|it's up to the DM if they want to enforce it.]]
* In ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'', Red and Green magic is this trope, gameplay wise. Red's is known for being passionate and emotional so it's primary strategy is to finish the game as quickly as possible, but have trouble surviving midgame. Green is about being one with nature so uses cards that revere nature and/or are gargantuan beasts of nature. A sharp contrast is Blue and White magic, who "thinks" (takes its time) about how to dominate the game. Black magic users can go either way since that branch of magic encourages people to be selfish, and do whatever they want to.
** For an individual example the [http://magiccards.info/arb/en/104.html Vedalken Heretic] is from a world that's disdainful of instinct and pretty much anything associated with organic life, yet she has this epiphany when encountering a world that's filled with natural life.
*** The ironic thing being that playing Red in top level tournaments requires an almost obscene attention to probability and efficiency, even while using cards that represent thoughtless destruction, frequently in concert with mass quantities of collateral damage.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', Gig uses a speech of this type to get Revya to tap into his power -- of course, he's not trying to train the protagonist but to goad Revya to accept his [[Deal Withwith the Devil]], in which case it's doubly important for him that you don't think too much over it.
* One of Chie's victory quotes in ''[[Persona 4 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]''. Given her interest in kung-fu flicks, she's likely quoting ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''.
* Since he's essentially [[Bruce Lee]] with the serial numbers filed off, Fei Long has a take on this in ''[[Street Fighter]] IV'' -- "Don't contemplate...perceive."
* Jann Lee from ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' literally says it during a win pose. He also tells this to Hitomi during a pre-fight cutscene in the third installment.
* In [[Dissidia Final Fantasy|Dissidia: Final Fantasy,]] this is one of [[Final Fantasy VII|Cloud's]] lines when fighting [[Final Fantasy IV|Cecil.]]
{{quote| '''Cloud:''' Don't think, just fight.}}
* In ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', night hag Ravel Puzzlewell bites back on this sentiment when she chastises the [[Fiery Redhead]] Annah with, "The ''tiefling''. The ''fiery'' one. No choice. At. All. When you ''feel'' instead of ''think'', there is little room for choice." Ravel's whole worldview revolves around riddles and magic, two disciplines you can't "feel" your way through in the ''Planescape'' universe. The best ending could be argued for or against the trope, though, since it involves the Nameless One both reasoning and intuiting his way through [[Talking the Monster Toto Death]].
 
 
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== Web Original ==
* Parodied in the ''[[Lonely Girl 15Lonelygirl15]]'' video "Mission Alpha":
{{quote| '''Spencer:''' All right, this one is about centering your qi. Now, we're gonna do it like this! Ready? [stands balanced on one leg]<br />
'''Jonas:''' I got it. I got it. It's like ''The Karate Kid.'' [adopts a one-legged karate pose]<br />
'''Spencer:''' No, no! No, no, no, no, no! Not ''The Karate Kid''! }}
* [[Memetic Mutation|Don't think. Feel and you'll be tanasinn.]]
* Parodied in the ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' episode of ''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'', most prominently in this section, which even invokes this trope by name:
{{quote| '''AVGN:''' (fails) Ergh!<br />
'''Ninja:''' Before you leap, you must look.<br />
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has many, many of these lessons for whenever someone learns a new bending technique.
** The thing is, for Aang, learning each bending discipline requires a certain amount of letting go of what the previous one taught. Airbending? Go with the flow, let loose. Waterbending? Go with the flow, but never let it control you. Earthbending? Stay in control. Keep aware of everything around you. Firebending? Stay aware of the life and danger of fire - and know when to let loose. They're all more intuitive than not, but each one intuiting a different instinct and acting on that.
*** Coarse as much as he must let go a bit of each previously learned lesson, he still needs each lesson to learn the next, Fire bending still requires a control for example that air bending lacks, hence the undisciplined response Aang facilitated when he tried to learn fire bending early.
* ''[[FostersFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' parodied it in "The Big Leblooski", when Mac acquired a mentor in bowling who talks like this about feeling the ball instead of knowing it. Turns out "Bowling Paul" only ''thinks'' he knows how to bowl, and was feeding Mac a line the whole time.
** Doesn't stop him from scoring a strike though.
* Played surprisingly straight on [[The Simpsons]] when Lisa is teaching Bart how to play miniature golf using Zen Archery-like methods.
** Though subverted when Springfeild Elementary offered seperate maths classes for the two genders. Lisa got fed up with doing no math problems and being asked how she "feeels" about math.
* In ''[[Beast Machines (Animation)|Beast Machines]],'' Optimus Primal does (and teaches the others) to do this. It helps if [[The Lifestream]] is ''tangible.''.
 
 
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