Were the Indians Masters of Their Own Brand of Zen?
part two
What a GREAT day!
Of course,
if you don’t work out,
you probably don’t really know what I mean.
Grin.
This is the second of a five parts series.
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Last newsletter I made the point
that the American Indian
was probably the finest warrior in the world.
To back this up,
simply consider their attitude towards that great zen concept…
silence.
In zen you create a silence so absolute
that your spirit can manifest,
that the truth of you becomes apparent.
Indians had this zen attitude towards silence.
The mere fact of walking,
as described in the first part of this series,
can be used to create silence.
But that is only the first stage.
Perhaps some of you remember an old adage
that only fools whistle?
A bit harsh,
a happy person should whistle,
but when you are hunting game,
or sneaking up to a battle,
you can’t whistle.
Instead,
you have to master the sounds of nature,
the tweet of a bird,
the call of a wolf,
the actual sound of shifting sand,
or wind in the rushes.
To master such sounds requires an appreciation of silence itself.
Consider this bit of zen:
it is not the sound you must hear,
but the silence.
Or,
as I am fond of telling students,
a candle in a coal mine
is brighter than the sun at noon.
Consider this when you are doing Tai Chi,
and don’t make a sound.
Consider this in Aikido,
and don’t let your circles make a sound.
Consider this in Karate,
or Tai Chi,
or other arts,
and quell the sound of your motion,
of your technique,
it is not just wasted energy,
but it distracts the mind
from the silence necessary
to manifest the spirit.
Here’s a link to Tai Chi,
which is a great art for pursuing silence.
The following is a guest editorial from Alaric Dailey
Being a student of traditional Karate-Do, when I make mention to a school owner or martial artist or parent of a child taking classes somewhere that “martial arts is more than punching and kicking, there is more to being a martial artist than simply being a fighter” I get a blank stare. At this point, I have to explain the following.
The Wudan Assassin, on kindle or paperback…click on the cover!
These days, tradition is often poo-pooed with some comment like “if it doesn’t make me a better fighter than I don’t care”. But being a fighter doesn’t make you a good person, in fact, simply knowing how to fight can make you arrogant, or worse, a bully.
This is often evidenced in “fighter” gyms, people walking around with bad attitudes, all about testosterone and ego, injuries abound because people are always trying to prove they are the king of the mountain.
The way of the warrior, Bushido, is about being a gentle soul, learning not only to punch and kick, but to help others, to be calm and humble.
In other words, learning all those “useless” things, like the language, the manners, the meditation, the discipline, reciting Dojo-kun are not useless, they are about expanding your mind, and making you more than a fighter.
In my original dojo, my sensei not only give us the meditation and such, but would also tell us stories of the Samurai, and give us pieces of Bushido that most westerners never hear. “Ikebana (flower arranging) is a great way to clear your mind”, and “self-defense is not just about punching and kicking, it is about avoiding and defusing danger in the first place” were words of wisdom that we often heard from sensei.
When the Japanese would teach an art, they would distinguish whether or not it included only fighting techniques, or would give you “the way”. If you have “the way” it is a Do, Karate-Do, Ju-Do, Aiki-Do, etc. If it is purely fighting techniques it was Jitsu, Karate-jitsu, Ju-jitsu, Aiki-jitsu, and Nin-jitsu.
As a side note here, you will notice there is no such thing as a “Do” for Ninja fighting techniques. This is because the ninja weren’t fighters, they were assassins, their skills included, poisons, escape, evasion, not being seen, killing techniques etc. Being a hired killer, and being a better person have nothing to do with each other.
and 3 more associated virtues
Filial piety (孝 kō)
Wisdom (智 chi)
Care for the aged (悌 tei)
I see it as a great loss that so many have thrown away history and tradition, the Do, in favor of the more testosterone fueled (and MMA fanned) jitsu. It is a sad state of affairs that our children grow up idolizing real and fictional people who push the ideas “might makes right” and “the ends justifies the means”, never once mentioning justice and mercy.
In 45 years of Martial Arts self defense training I have only heard of one fellow killing somebody with the martial arts. He was jumped, killed the guy with an actual technique, and turned himself in. He was quickly released.
These days things are different. Whether you watch the videos on youtube of the police dragging people out of their house, or saw the clip on the beating death of Kelly Thomas by the police, or just believe that homeland Security really is stocking up on ammo to backbone a coup by Barack Obama…things are different.
Self Defense taken too far?
So here’s the martial arts self defense scenario.
Times are tough, and you have a job whereby you drive down alleys and pick up recyclables. You have been doing this for a short while, people understand what you are doing and it is legal and okay and actually a benefit to the community.
You stop to throw some newspapers in your truck. As you do so, a bum comes out from behind a garage and attacks you. He is obviously not of this neighborhood, you have no idea, but the guy is beating on you. No weapons, but he is bigger than you, and the ferocity of his attack makes you fear for your life.
You hit him and kick him, using your martial arts self defense moves, but he stays on the attack. He is wearing you down!
You finally slip a punch and get him in a rear naked choke.
He struggles, you squeeze, and it’s naptime.
You struggle to your feet, look down at him, and…he isn’t breathing! In the excitement of the moment you crushed his throat, and he is dead. Your martial arts self defense worked a little too good!
Now, the police in this town have a reputation for brutality. You are afraid that you won’t be able to pick up recyclables. You are afraid you will be thrown in jail. You don’t have the money for an expensive lawyer.
The law is probably on your side, you were defending yourself, it was an accident, but the fact that you know martial arts will probably be used against you.
There are no witnesses.
Okay, so do you turn yourself in, or not?
I know what the law says, but take my scenario at face value, and tell me what you would do.
We all recognize that this scenario and question that I have posed is for discussion, and not a recommendation to break any law.
I recently came across the most interesting discussion concerning Martial Arts testing for belts. It was interesting because it was well thought out, concerned, and because I disagreed with most of what was said.
Sometimes I will make a comment, but in this case I am prompted to tell the truth about Martial Arts testing. What makes this particularly juicy is that the people involved in this discussion were nibbling at the edges of what I did a lo-o-ong time ago, and which is more in keeping with the true spirit of the martial arts.
Is Karate the answer to this type of attack?
Originally there were no belts, which doesn’t mean there were no ranks.
Gichin Funakoshi introduced belts which, I believe, came from the a method used by swimming teams.
The first two belt ranks were white and black. This expanded to white, green, brown and black.
Some fifty years ago ranks and belts exploded. Ed Parker and Kenpo Karate led the way with a rainbow of colors. Taekwondo expanded the colors even further.
Now, this is the way it happened, but, there is an incredibly valuable piece of data missing.
I began studies with Kenpo, and was introduced to the belt system, and found it valuable in encouraging people to study.
Isn’t it interesting that people have to be encouraged to study?
But, when I went to the Kang Duk Won, I wasn’t encouraged to study. We had four basic belts, white, green, brown and black, further delineated by stripes, and nobody much cared.
Simply, people who cared about flashy belts left the school, and only the faithful, the ones who didn’t need to be encouraged to study, were left.
Nowadays people treat the martial arts like a business, structure everything around sales and promotion, and the belt is held up as the goal.
Fact: the belt means nothing.
Fact: knowledge means everything.
But these two facts seem to have become twisted, and the belt means everything, and knowledge means nothing.
I didn’t understand my Kang Duk Won instructors thoughts concerning belts, and I didn’t care. I was one of the faithful. I worked out till I bled, and there was no middle ground. There was no entertainment, and freestyle while recognized as a game, was treated like life or death.
Not to beat somebody else up, but to hone your own skills.
Interestingly, this type of freestyle brought one to mushin no shin (mind of no mind), which is an intuitive method, and it was a science, and it was TOTALLY combat effective. When people say their art is not combative effective, or not useful on the street, I know they didn’t study the real art, but rather an art that entertains children.
When I became an instructor I awarded rank according to forms and techniques learned.
As I progressed I realized the inadequacy of that, and I stopped giving out belts. For years I gave no martial arts tests, simply gave a person a black belt when he had the knowledge.
This thing of knowledge is quite interesting.
The number of forms learned, of techniques done, has no relationship to martial arts knowledge.
And I could ascertain the depth of knowledge a person had by simply looking at him.
Just to mention a couple of the actual criteria:
how deeply does a person ‘screw’ himself into the ground when doing his forms and techniques.
Or, what level of intuition has the student progressed to.
And there are other criteria, all coming from the removal of the student from his body.
I know, sounds crazy, but the awareness that is a human being becomes removed from his body through the method of doing the martial arts forms and techniques correctly.
Emphasis on ‘correctly,’ as it requires an experience of physics beyond the normal ‘fist in the face’ ‘apple falls on the head’ physics. This is an entirely different set of physics which I have seen only a few dozen people demonstrate, and none of whom actually understood.
Now, fees. I charge little, if at all. The rationale here is: how can I charge somebody for what he already knows? What he already paid for, and not just in money, but in sweat and blood?
Yet I had one fellow come to me and said he was required to pay $800, plus plane fare to Japan, plus lodgings and meals and all, to take a martial arts test.
For what?
Three old guys would sit behind a table and watch him demonstrate for an hour, then pass or fail with NO comment on why he was passing or failing!
Obviously, these guys loved themselves…and wanted his money. And they called themselves masters.
Anyway, as time went on I got back into giving not belts, but checklists, and then I would just work people to the bone, making sure they screwed themselves into the ground during form and technique, that they reached intuitive levels of freestyle, and other things.
And, eventually, I made these checklists public, selling them as courses, and here an interesting thing happened. Knowledge became able to be transcribed on paper.
Yes, the student still has to work, and those students in it for the entertainment or the belt and so on will have problems.
But a student who actually reads the courses, does the courses, gets the knowledge.
And they usually stop needing to be entertained and become the faithful.
This became an immense and tremendous boon to ANYBODY who possesses these courses.
It eliminated guesswork. It gave workable knowledge.
It enabled the true art to be passed on even if the instructor didn’t have all the knowledge, as it passed on the knowledge to all involved.
Then I come across discussions on how to test.
Man, there are hundreds of theories out there, but all passed on being able to monkey see monkey do a form, and none having to do with the perception of knowledge, of how to actually increase the students awareness.
So I say this: stop entertaining. Get brutal. Search for knowledge and not belts. Award rank for knowledge and not memorized skits.
This is the only way to the true art, and it is the way martial arts testing should be.
Here is a page that will tell you how to find out your true rank without Martial Arts testing.
Actually Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate hating each other is old news. The two rivals have been at each others throats, literally, ever since women’s fighting at the UFC went big time.
Ronda Rousey, as everybody body a chicken farmer in the antarctic knows, is the gal who wins every match with an armbar. Got a mother who Judo-ed, and she judo-ed, and then she went into the fight game because it was a way to flaunt her charming personality.
Ronda packs more than a punch!
Word has it that she pins by armbar because she is afraid of what is going to happen if she actually ever hits anybody. A humanitarian thing, you see.
Miesha Tate, a rough and tumble gal from the old school, is the girl Ronda armbarred back in 2012. Oops.
So it’s no wonder that these two titans of hair curling matches share no love.
The latest forum for their spit and claws is the training camp for UFC 18. That’s right, the Ultimate Fighting Championships…The House!
UFC President Dana White thought it would be fun to have girls coach the thing, so he enlisted Rabid ronda Rousey and Cruel Cat Zingano to be the coaches. Well, actually, Ronda was a shoe in, but Cruel Cat had to beat Malicious Miesha for the honor of coaching against the world ladies champ of twist and pound, Ronda (she ain’t no mousey) Rousey.
So, the stage is set, and the two gals are hiss and fizz POed at each other. Each and every week they trade barbs and insults, and dream about the day they will get to straighten each others curls in the Octagon.
And that day is coming right durned soon!
Dana White has compared the fun and frolics to the now famous season of Tito Ortiz and Chuck Lidell. And he has said of the girls “It’s pure F***ing mayhem every day!”
Well, mayhem is this writer’s meat and potatoes, and he will be following the season avidly and waiting fervently for the season ending match!
Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, a match made in cat heaven.
Here’s a great article for gals who want to takedown the biggest guys! It’s from the website Puncher Harder Now!
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My students have started coming up to me after class telling me how much more they are enjoying it, and that the classes have stopped being so ridged and now flow in a kind of give and take between me and them. I have stopped being a task master and started having fun and letting them teach me as well.
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I conducted a Matrix Aikido training class for a Security Team at a local manufacturing plant. I tailored the training according to their Use Of Force policy. As you know they need control and takedown skills. I knew Matrix Aikido would be the answer. The training plan you shared was boss. The class went so smoothly. The participants learned very quickly. By the end of the class you could see techniques of Monkey Boxing coming through. They were also able to create their own techniques. There was one female officer in the class who asked to become my private student. She was throwing, locking and taking down guys twice her size. The Security Supervisor wants me to come back and with more participants! I'll keep you posted. ~ L M
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