Old Martial Arts Entries

My first blog was focused on my Martial Arts experiences and meditation insights (2013 - 2015). Below are a few old entries which, while not relevant to story telling, illustrate my stream of consciousness writing and might offer some insight to you! Feel free to jump around, skim, and comment! Each entry is separated by a photo header.

Its interesting to experience how the “self” folds to gain definition as life goes on. When I was thirteen, I was driven by impulsive exploration. Based on a deeply felt connection to magic others could not see (like most thirteen year olds). This drive, however, no matter how misinformed led to experiences, memories, training, and an entire formative process. 

Once education set in though. Real education. The kind that brings dreadful perspective. It came to be shown that much of these experiences were tied to fads, patterns, politics, interpretation. Uniqueness was lost and all that remained was the multitude, and the mediocrity that infinite scale brings. 

Where I stand now, poised at the heart of that infinity, it seems that this detachment only serves to clarify the self. Old experiences and purpose gain new meaning when it seems you have lost them. We miss our loved ones most when they are gone, after all. Parts of the self have to truly die (or be killed) so that you can look at their body and see if you mourn. If you do, what you do to brig it back will define your next life. The beauty is that this is one case where grief can actually bring something back to life. 

Uranami

In my times spent watching, living, and telling martial arts narratives, a certain strange character has coalesced.

The character is a great martial artist. Often beyond great. Yet, they seem consumed in desire for some other art. Furthermore, they act as if subtly burdened by their martial skill, sometimes to the extent of seeing it as separating them from the possibility of a life in the other art. If I am on to something, examples of your own should already come to mind. I am thinking myself of Iroh and his love of Tea (ATLAB), Broken Sword an brush work (Hero), and my own Soke’s comments on wanting to only paint now.

The existence of this character in the narrative scope, especially when normally regarded with such esteem, seems to suggest a certain self-destructive trap hidden in martial art ambition. That the “end enlightenment” of reaching that level of skill somehow brings with it a malaise. A knowing of how long it took to get where they are, and how long it might take to get there again with something new (and if they have time left). Usually coupled with an ache for the end of fighting.

However, now I am inclined to see it a bit differently. It seems that there is a certain singularity involved. A point to which all arts (and other pursuits of higher awareness) converge upon. Once there, one can see all the paths leading to that point. This brings with it deep appreciation of skill anyone took to get there and a certain “blue print” for how to go about maybe walking off one of those new paths, this time knowing where you are going. After you learn Spanish, Italian comes faster even though both are equally complex, so why not try out one more language?

There is no such thing as “human nature”. Only Nature and its expression within us. To regard the thoughts and behaviors of humans as anything but nature is to chase an illusion that will lead us further away from balance.

You can throw as many words at the world as you want, but in the end, change depends on each individual person as well as the flow of all things. This does not mean you should give up on what ever cause you have, nor does it mean your should redouble your efforts. Instead, simply remember that if you succeed or fail in your cause it is due to things far greater than your own efforts or existence.

Ninpo

Remember that all things in this life are tools. Thoughts, actions, dogmas, relationships, possessions, jobs. All of these are concepts we have taken up to help us understand life and adapt. A job keeps us fed like a bow and arrow used to. A religion can help someone feel at home, safe, and loved like a tribe used too. But remember, all tools can wear, break, and become no longer useful.

Then, just as easily as they are picked up, they can be let go. While the physiological tools we make can be very challenging to see as a tool one can simply drop, they are just the same as a broken hammer. When this is understood, freedom is achieved. New hammers can be made, new tents to keep your loved ones dry. So, if something in your life is no longer helping you, you may be trying to hammer a nail with an ice pick. Sure it helped you in the winter of your life. But now it is time to build a house and trade that pick for something new.    

When time is removed, the flowing of all things is the same. Sand, water, smoke, clouds, tectonic plates, people, all swirl with the same grace.

Ki Ken Tai Ichi - Energy Sword Body One

Ki Ken Tai [no] ichi refers specifically to the idea that when energy, the sword, and the body are seen as one, all of the universe then revolves around that point. This can be as simple as using all of your body, skill, and know-how to deliver a powerful blow, or as “outlandish” as bending a seemingly impossible situation into possibility. This is a very famous concept in modern Kendo, and I would like to springboard from it into a concept I call anchors.

Just like this idea, an anchor is something that brings all of you and the universe together. It can also be called a “yuge” in Sanskrit meaning yolk, or “to join”; where we get the word yoga. If you think about it, many of you may know what I am talking about already. For instance, Jacky Chan is often quoted saying “everything is Kung Fu”, physicists will say “everything is physics”, and a good deal of the world says “money makes the world go round”. All of these are examples of anchors or yuges and I am sure you can name a few people you know who have said something similar.  

Now, why are these important? This brings us back to ki ken tai no ichi. Once one finds an anchor, they are capable of great things. The universe even seems to bend to fit to that anchor. You can make sense of ideas you have never encountered before through the logic of your anchor. I see martial arts in speaking to people, in working with computers, in pretty much everything, and I feel much more a part of the world.

No anchor is the right one. Just like anything in this life they are nothing but a tool. However, to find one is a very valuable experience and to understand them also helps you understand people and how they see their world. So, in closing, what is your anchor?

Martial Arts and Visualization 

While reading/studying spirituality, the concept of visualization is a common motif. Meditation books talk about visualizing internal scenery, the law of attraction talks about visualizing what you would like to bring into your life, and on and on. Something few know, and a decreasing number of martial artists know, is that the martial arts can aid you a great deal in visualization. 

Most anything in life can be symbolized by circular, angular, and linear concepts, and the martial arts are no different. A simple punch can be adapted to all three of these categories; however, to perform them effectively you must visualize the actual geometric concept you want it to follow. While this becomes second nature eventually and the body does it on its own, this first concrete way of measuring your degree of visualization is quite wonderful. The punch will hit exact pressure points when all you were trying to do is trace a line.

So whats the big picture here? In short, if you are having trouble with visualization, or simply want to start experimenting with it. Don’t start with big goals in life like visualizing a yacht. Pick a concept first and visualize it while doing everyday, physical things. Whether it is hammering a nail perfectly, driving, or putting an arrow in a target, visualize the concept behind the goal first. Then act. This unity between the mind and body will give you a foot hold into the experience of visualization so it can be a tool for the rest of your life. The circular concept will drive the nail, and bring your spirit, body, and reality together.