“Martial Art techniques are generally taught through the physical realm as the primary, or in most cases, the only significant process used. When a student first enters the dojo (a place to train in the Martial Way), the main goal is to teach that student physical movements as they’re associated with the art being learned. Although attention to this detail is very important, it often becomes the central and only focus of training. This has been traditionally true in the West.
Viewing the training methods of Western Martial Artist I have seen many that fall into this category. The intentions of these Budoka are clear, but their teaching infrastructure has been built on loose ground.
A fundamental tenet in Martial Arts centers on the ability to transcend the gross motor-skills of the actual technique and be able to generalize the concept to day-to-day life. For example: Being able to redirect the energy or stop the attack of someone that is taking a punch at you is certainly a skill set that is important to have. Being able to redirect a verbal ‘attack’ is, however, a higher skill function. The sensitivity and balance needed for the first task is rudimentary and something that can be learned without any integration of the spirit and ego. The second skill set requires the ability to develop insight into your own behavior and the capacity to adjust and evolve over time. Insight and awareness of self is essential to achieve these higher-level skills. “
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Interesting. Especially appreciate any reference to Hagakure. Musashi also said that victory over oneself is an essential element of training. Also like the bits about reconstructing breath and movement.
Have been fascinated, myself, with the study of skeleto-muscular weakness. For every strength, there are corresponding weaknesses. In general there is one area which takes the strength away from its base, starting uke’s body into unbalance. There’s another which works within the zone of balance, but closer to the body than the related musculature is strong. Once the weakness is exploited, uke’s balance is affected. In general the outer moves are easier to learn at first.
This is reminiscent of the action of an insect’s wings. For years this was inexplicable in scientific terms. Then somebody discovered that what was happening was not musculature but connective tissue. The wing joints stored energy and snapped back like a rubber band. The muscles pulled the wings into position. Then the snap was the power stroke. There are many “tricks” in aikido which use analogous but complementary weaknesses in uke’s body for apparently simple, effortless movement on the part of nage.
It might not be useful to try to train beginners on this stuff, because they won’t have sufficiently rebuilt their own movement and breathing systems. But, maybe, we don’t have to confuse ourselves with mystical words in foreign tongues. Energy – every day we manage the potential and kinetic energy of our bodies and tasks in the greater energy field of gravity.
Peripherally related: my flying sensei, Lou Fields – Annapolis, 1944, says something like, ‘You don’t have to help the plane go down. if the nose is pointed at the ground, pull back the power.’ Similarly, how much of shomen uchi is simply gravity? You certainly don’t want to get in its way…