Fighting to learn peace

[wadoka]

I saw this piece and was interested to hear his words on how previously children would fight as part of growing up and through that process would understand what pain was and where the limits are. And through that we can understand the potential outcomes of our physical actions and leads to a more peaceful approach to life. Those that haven't had that rough and tumble beginnings then to go over the limit.

He also says we don't train enough today.

I thought his words were interesting as they also relate to the postings on this forum about what outcomes we desire from training.

[Tim49]

Interesting,
What he’s probably talking about is empathy, but also reference points in human experience, which I suppose is part and parcel of empathy.

I used to teach karate to teenage girls and what I noticed was that some of the girls were more suited to the knock-about elements of training. After talking to some of them about their experiences and feelings regarding these elements of their training I found out that some of the more robust and resilient students were from families where horseplay between siblings was commonplace, the toughest ones tended to be the ones who had a whole string of older brothers.

But the other types seemed to like the ‘idea’ of physical violence until the reality swung the other way and they found themselves on the receiving end; then they had no reference points and were actually quite shocked by the experience.

In a way this also explains the toughness of the American boxers from the great depression era, Jack Dempsey springs to mind. But that type of toughness was added to by the necessity of hunger and a genuine need to get themselves out of a bad situation and carve for themselves some kind of future, so mindset was an absolutely vital ingredient.

But what about the qualities of empathy and mercy?

The philosophers that the Japanese Budo Masters respected and revered had distinct ideas on this. A clear group of ethical merits were identified; these were the four ‘sprouts’, the kernels/seeds which were the origins of the higher human aspirations.

“Concern for others” was the beginning of Humaneness,
“Sense of shame” was the beginning/origin of Righteousness,
“Sense of Humility” was the beginning/origin of Propriety.
“Sense of right and wrong” was the beginning/origin of wisdom.

But theses ‘sprouts’ need to be purposefully cultivated.

All of these areas can be promoted in the Dojo, which can act as a kind of hothouse to bring forth these elevated human qualities. But obviously this should not start and end at the Dojo threshold.

Tim

[blackcat]

With regard to whether people train hard enough these days, isn't that something every generation seems to think?
[Edit. Removed my reference to the Lowry article - it was about a slightly different topic to how I had recalled it].

If you have Nishiyama and Brown's karate book, you'll find that they suggest different schedules for weekly training. It offers a minimum schedule for going to the dojo 3 x a week and the inference there is you are really only scratching the surface by doing so. That book came out 40 years ago.

Of course, there is another side to the discussion, which is how and what you train. This must have a strong bearing on how effectively you use your training time.

Ben

[kyudo]

Below is another episode in the same series. Yoshinori Kono plays around with a rugby team. I love the look on the faces of these rugby types when they find themselves unable to tackle an old guy in his sixties.

[wadoka]

I do like what he does but sometime the context or scenario may not be entirely appropriate.

If you are running forward to be met on by someone running at pace then taisabaki is your friend. The way he receives whilst standing and then diverting is all and well but doesn't take into account gameplay and the fact that you have to hold onto a oval shaped ball in one hand, which may not give you the right arm free to nagashi the incoming tackle.

He definitely is thought provoking and I like that.

[oneya]

Wouldn't context be a given if we understand this as an example of a principle G.

oneya

[wadoka]

I think it is a great example of a principle, but maybe I am a bit older than those young uns with the wow treatment. Maybe kihon kumite number 1 is always there.

[oneya]

Yes and a good vintage it is wadoka, which is why you can always be relied upon to translate and redirect these comments to where they are most needed.

oneya

[oneya]

Familiar words and sentiments as Katsuse Yoshimitsu sensei leads us into the complexities of martial art philosophy with the ‘empathy brings about change’ specifically in kobudo and Tim takes us further with the necessary seeds to ‘construct’ this empathetic humanitarian notion if we are going to find it in the wado dojo. Sound logical, if not easy peasy, and I can agree but as I said on the previous ‘form and function’ thread “The difficulty that comes with wado ryu is it requires changes to come from within. It is not something we do but more something we attempt to return to and this often means we have to give up external trappings or learned toxic beliefs and behaviour and travel lighter.”

Which presupposes these qualities can be found in everyman/woman/child and have survived in the 9000 plus year old gene pool since the Cheddar man [1] met his violent death and then managed to have navigated successfully around a couple of Elephants standing in the modern dojo which have separated from the ever growing herd [2] that litters post samurai military history like Unit 731 [3] to let some light into the average dojo.

Having done that and still finding myself chained at the heart, I usually take refuge in Ohtsuka meijin’s words: “There are no secrets, there is only practice.” and keep on walking until a little more evolution kicks in.


1. http://bit.ly/x9WrAo
2. http://bit.ly/wmrbJk
3. http://bit.ly/KZ


oneya