Recently Michael Clarke Sensei of the Shinseidokan Dojo blog wrote about his perspective on “Modern Trends: Reality-based Martial Arts.” It got me to thinking about our ultimate adversary, ourselves. I also feel it is about “control,” control of ourselves. It seems that the biggest and single most important aspect to life and in particular self-defense of conflicts is how well we control ourselves, i.e. our impulses, our monkey brain on drugs and our perceptions and perspectives of the external life as influenced by our internal lives.
The gist of karate seems to be more about our internal selves, the battle we encounter in every facet of life. So, you might ask as to how karate, a perceived combative art or system, can help us in life’s battles? Our struggles from the very first moment we decide to take up the challenges inherent in karate training are the first steps along that “path or way” we follow in karate. Just making that decision alone is a huge hurtle for many especially if they decide to seek out a more traditional or classic form of karate.
Each and every step, much like life, we have to struggle with the tidal wave of learning, practicing and training in karate. It soon becomes apparent that the totality of karate training, if approached and practiced properly, takes us way out beyond our comfort zone in life. It is often understood that life itself is a constant struggle and that many seek out guidance through self-help books, video’s and programs working diligently to gain a handle on the hurdles and obstacles that every day life throws at us and no where is that more important than in conflicts.
In some of the other articles I have written I believe wholeheartedly that karate was never truly about combatives or even self-defense at its core but a means to an end combining the rigors of training and practice with the mental/psychological obstacles that such practices open up to our consciousness that make karate a way of the empty hand. I have theorized that in essence karate was always some means to achieve a higher goal. Strictly speaking in a combative perspective it was actually a training tool to prepare warriors for the rigors of weapons training, practice and finally application in combat.
When you think of the physical aspects of combat and then discover that the true weapon we all have available to us for success over an adversary you find that our “minds” are that weapon. Karate is about training the mind to create a mind-set or mind-state that can overcome any and all obstacles against an adversary and to accomplish this gargantuan task we have to first overcome ourselves. The true adversary we learn to control is our minds, our egos and our perceptions and perspectives within as influenced by the external - in karate the challenges of learning, practicing and applying both the mental and physical to achieve certain goals required in karate to move forward.
As humans we all want to keep moving. That movement to be beneficial and awarding to life and its pursuits must consist of a forward movement. An example is when a human finds a need for physical power they must learn, understand then apply the mental and physical manifestations of various principles to apply them in the physical world - the cumulation of mental states, physical principles and most of all in this instance the forward movement of mass, ourselves, to achieve physical power. The disciplines and principles of karate when applied wholeheartedly are the means to that end, first for our selves as our main adversary with a goal to make our “self” our ally in ever facet of life.
If we are to be successful against external adversaries we have to control our internal adversaries. Those mental and physical obstacles that would defeat us before ever encountering an external adversary. Traditional karate is about defeating then making our ego’s and prides our allies vs. our adversaries. It is about the struggle with our emotional intelligence to govern our emotional side of life so the emotionally driven monkey doesn’t hijack our minds leaving us exposed and susceptible to an external adversary.
In conflicts, that which is permeated in life, it is more about our ego’s and pride and monkey dancing that we are either successful or not. It is not about winning the war but rather being successful in the individual battles encompassed by the war. Conflicts are about how we perceive them and then how we use our minds to implement both tactics and strategies that will not defeat the adversary but convince the adversary to become an ally.
Karate makes us question our assumptions daily much like we must do in life to be happy and content and successful and so on. Through karate we can perceive and accept our nature, our aggression and by its practice helps us to channel that natural survival instinct toward a more productive use. It provides us the skills to create the confidence to recognize and identify those challenges that meet us in life as in those encountered in the dojo.
Karate dojo are a microcosm of life by its representation of our homes, our neighborhoods and our towns. We introduce difficulties through training and practice that provide tools to handle them thus tools to handle similar difficulties outside the dojo. One of the reasons a traditional form of karate is about training the mind, body and spirit - all necessary intellectual and emotional capabilities that lead to balance in self therefore balance in life.
Clarke Sensei said it best, “Aggression is a natural part of being a male; it is in our genes, but we do not have to fight each other, we can choose another path. In my opinion aggression is not the problem here; the problem lies in identifying where to aim your aggression and identifying exactly who or what you should be fighting against. You can choose to fight another person, you can choose to fight the 'system', or you can choose to fight your own negativity and the things about your character that lead to your unhappiness. While the first two options will undoubtedly create more problems than they solve, the third approach will direct you toward contentment. But it's not an easy path to walk; on the contrary, fighting your own ego offers far less 'instant gratification' than any other alternative, and yet its rewards are intensely meaningful and lasting.” - Michael Clarke, Shin Gi Tai, Karate - Training for Body, Mind and Spirit
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