“I find it interesting that karate teaches methods of mayhem alongside of social responsibility. At least that’s what most schools strive for. Budo (martial ways) and bujutsu (martial methodology) are defined as having similar goals, but stressing different ones. The priorities that distinguish budo and bujutsu are laid out in Classical Budo”
Sep
07
I am for Bujutsu over Budo…Combat Effectiveness…still what it’s all about for me.
“But are traditional martial arts more about making good citizens or good fighters? I believe that budo – with its emphasis on morality and social responsibility – requires a combative core to make it all worthwhile. If a style or system gets too bogged down with philosophy or the “art” aspects to the detriment of realistic effectiveness, then it’s simply not worth it.”
…fighting is about social dominance. budo is about life or death. if you approach things as a fighter you may be a strong fighter, but you will be at a disadvantage with a killer.
one of the more wonderful people i know is Lou Fields, Annapolis ’44. Okinawa vet. master pilot even yet. retired as captain of a fighter squadron. he has quite a menagerie at his place. all sorts of animals that have needed homes. as he puts it, “everything needs a chance to live. with the exception of those who don’t deserve it. i keep a loaded shotgun next to my bed for those.”
as for martial arts, there’s a passage in Hagakure to the effect, ‘why study martial arts for 30 years? you’ll simply be an artist. you can be a samurai right now. if given a choice between life and death, choose death.’ O Sensei went a step further and said he was neither attached to life nor death, but the idea is similar.
if a situation arises a fighter will approach it differently than a samurai or even a good aikidoka. one of my most talented students came to me after an extensive background in other martial arts. net effect, he was jumped one night in N Beach. he dispatched two attackers with strikes, but the third got him in the back of the head with a bottle. tough, though, he turned and took him out too. i have a feeling of him getting tangled up with fighting the first two, rather than taking in the whole situation.
would i have succeeded in beating the c!@# out of three guys? maybe not. probably not. i certainly wouldn’t have punched them out. might have killed some unless their ukemi was good, but they also might have even changed their minds and looked for somebody else. or they might have killed me.
when a situation arises, as an aikidoka you have to accept the idea that your prospective time on earth just became very short and make the best of what you have left. if God grants that you survive, praise & thanksgiving are appropriate.
Sorry…I choose life…The Japanese penchant for death here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banzai_charge