Karate as Dynamic Zen

My own background in training lies for the most part in Shotokan karate (supplemented heavily with Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Filipino kali and Rickson Gracie Jiu Jitsu). Like most people starting out I was primarily interested in learning how to take care of myself in a fight while also being heavily influenced by the romantic images of Okinawa portrayed in the movie The Karate Kid II which was a very popular movie that played a huge part in inspiring me to head to my local dojo. This was not my earliest experience with Japanese culture but it was the decisive one and through its influence I have been living in Japan for the last 18 years.

I am heavily influenced by the philosophy of the Zen monk Takuan Soho and his work in The Unfettered Mind and have traced the transmission of this teaching through the last four centuries. As a result of this I take a concepts-first approach to my practice of karate and seek to uncover ever more obscure points that govern the execution of form, or technique.

I first explored this some 20 years or so ago publishing an article entitled The Concept of Shotokan Karate (now available on Amazon Kindle) but since then my investigation of the relationship between Zen and martial arts has gone deeper than I originally thought would perhaps be possible. As a result of this I will also be exploring how it is that a chosen combative art form can lead a practitioner to experience a state of "satori", or realization (often popularly described as enlightenment, though I prefer to avoid that term).

Karate as Dynamic Zen

In my early training and research I became exposed to various Eastern spiritual traditions, especially Indian Buddhism, Chinese Daoism and, of course, Japanese Zen Buddhism. I was immediately attracted to the idea of viewing karate as a kind of moving Zen (what I now call a dynamic form of meditation) and delved into various books and articles eventually coming across the biography of Yamaoka Tesshu and the translation of The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho. These texts have absorbed a huge amount of my time and attention now for more than 20 years and my research has expanded into fields such as neuro-science, history, archaeology, psychology, mythology and comparative religion to name the primary areas of my current interest.

Starting with the question - from an academic point of view - as to how a martial art (Shotokan karate in my case) can lead a practitioner to an experience of satori my research has led me to the tentative thesis that what is happening at the time of spiritual realization is a sudden, but absolute, shift in brain dominance from the controlling left brain hemisphere to the right brain hemisphere (subordinate to the left hemisphere for most of us during our waking hours). In this way we let go (completely) of our sense of linear time, of notions of self and other, of here and there, of now, then and later, all characteristics of how the left brain hemisphere understands and represents the world, and replace these usually-dominant thoughts with the sense that there are no divisions and no limitations.

Even more tentatively, I am absorbed with the idea that for a few millions of years the default pre-human and human condition was to be right brain hemisphere dominant and that our shift to left brain dominance has occurred relatively recently, perhaps by a severe change in diet, and reinforced by the creation of the spoken language and reading and writing (which were themselves made possible by the theorized shift in brain dominance). This, I hypothesize, is the Original Mind of pure consciousness, free of defilement and the conceptual world.

At first blush these questions may seem alien to the practice of a martial art, but I believe that extended practice of some combative form or another is a reflection of an ever-progressive quest to satisfy ever deeper needs, somewhat akin to Maslow`s hierarchy of needs. Often at the most fundamental level a martial system is required to satisfy the need to be able to fight. That is, after all, what separates a combative art from other activities. Some people may be happy to learn a few techniques and feel a little safer and quit training. Others, their need for at least rudimentary fighting skills now satisfied, continue to attend their dojo. These people are looking for other needs to be satisfied...the need to be fit and healthy, a social need, a need for a sense of accomplishment, a need for competition, if not with other people, then at least with oneself. And so it goes on. I had a need as a teenager for exposure to something that to me at the time was exotic hence the appeal of Karate Kid II and my desire to travel to East Asia. As we progress we may view our chosen art as exactly that: an art form that fulfills our need to express ourselves while also being a vehicle to investigate ourselves. Finally though I believe that a martial art can sate our need to understand the whole process of existence, of living and dying.

Thus our chosen martial art - whether it be karate or some other form - becomes a way of life: a lifelong pursuit to understand - and express - life through the practice of a combative art form.

Hsing I

Hsing I (also known as Xing Yi or Xing I) , along with Pa-Kua and Tai Chi, completes the triad of popular internal Chinese martial arts. Mind-Body Boxing (also known as Form and Will Boxing), was created by Ji Long Feng in the 17th century. Whereas Pa-Kua emphasizes circularity of movement, Hsing i takes a direct, linear approach to combat. From the five basic techniques of splitting, crushing, drilling, pounding and crossing, which are developed using both arms, the practitioner goes on to simulate the characteristics of twelve animals. Used in combination these techniques can produce a wide variety of attack and defense methods.

Hsing I and Pa Kua

It was the Hsing I master Kuo Yun-shen, fighting Tung Hai-ch’uan, an expert in Pa-Kua, that brought together an agreement between students of the two opposed styles (Mind - Body boxing being linear, Pa-Kua being circular). Unable to breach the circular defense of Tung, Kuo was finally beaten when the Pa-Kua master unexpectedly took the offense. Recognizing that both could learn from the other, the two agreed to have their students cross train.

Traditional training is largely concerned with the solo performance of forms that go back and forth in straight lines. Within these forms the fundamental techniques and combat principles can be found. The main methods of attack include the punch, an open palm strike and a ‘hammerhead’ (using the base of a closed fist to strike down upon the head, nose or shoulders of an opponent). These forms are done at speed, but without tension and the practitioner does not interrupt the flow of techniques, as seen in harder forms of kung fu, but rather techniques meld naturally into the next, a characteristic of the internal martial arts of China. That said, of Tai Chi, Pa-Kua and Mind - Body boxing, the latter requires the highest amount of overt energy to perform successfully.

Once basic techniques and coordination have been developed, a trainee progresses onto two man forms and a version of pushing hands. Two man forms are also set routines in which one or the other makes attacks or appropriate defenses, all done in a flow so that as one movement ends another begins. In this manner an overwhelming energy is developed. Failing the delivery of a knock out blow, pushing hands is also practiced, but this lacks the sensitivity of Tai Chi and is more concerned with overpowering an opponent.

In combat the art is most effective when employed directly so that the foe can be overcome in the shortest time possible. What it lacks in subtlety the art makes up for in sheer power. Successions of powerful attacks are made to weak points of the human anatomy to buckle the defender. Should the onslaught be withstood then the master relies on the application of joint locks to control his opponent and bring him to the floor when a coup de grace may be administered.

Ancient Origins of the Mysteries of the Martial Arts

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The ancient origins of the mysteries of the martial arts is, more than anything, what this site is dedicated to exploring and unearthing. This topic absorbs an enormous amount of my time and energy and is a subject I have been studying in detail for almost 20 years at the time of writing.

To me the various combative systems from around the world exist, simultaneously, on several different levels of interpretation. Most obviously they exist as fighting methods. More esoterically they are also methods of self-cultivation and dynamic meditation leading a practitioner to deep spiritual truths that transcend time and space. Martial arts can also be used for developing a high level of fitness and health, developing better concentration, as pure dynamic art forms comparable to dance or gymnastics, or as a key to unlocking social awareness. Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do and so on can all be used to achieve one or more of these ends, and others besides. I would argue that there is no “correct” interpretation and I personally have little time for those that argue (insist) for a uni-dimensional approach. There may have been a time in the past when the arts existed as purely utilitarian forms of combat that had little or no use outside of a battlefield but to limit ourselves to such an interpretation nowadays is to ignore a long history that has recognized that the arts are more than fighting methods. In any case, the chances of most of us ever being on a battlefield are virtually non-existent.

As I write this I just turned 41 less than a month ago. I am getting close to reaching my thirtieth anniversary involved in the practice of budo and Karate in particular. Though I still train twice a day for up to 4 hours, I have children and I have been living in Japan now for around 15 years (one of the safest countries in the world), and I simply don't see enough 'real life' violence to be particularly concerned about it. Like many in Japan, I do not train in martial arts out of fear for my personal safety (or that of my family). Quite frankly, I also think that training for a fight that will probably never happen is a waste of time and energy (and money!).

Have ancient shamanic vision dances for up to 24 hours inspired the practice of shugyo, or extreme ascetic training?

What continues to attract me to my practice and push me along a path of research and writing that may not seem to be immediately connected to martial arts is my fascination with the 'deeper' aspects of the arts. I believe that in the various combative forms we practice lie - sometimes hidden, sometimes not, sometimes commercialized - traces of a much earlier wisdom that was more readily accessible and acknowledged. I believe that talk of concepts like chi or ki can be traced back tens of thousand of years ago to shamanism; that breathing techniques and correct body posture can open access to the pineal gland so that we may experience visions that are directly comparable to the art of the Lascaux Caves in France and that found in the Tassili mountain range in the Sahara. I believe that Zen and associated ascetic meditative practices restore contact with the right brain hemisphere, a contact and understanding that has been declining for the last 40,000 years or so. In short I believe the martial arts are both physical AND spiritual practices and this, primarily, is what this site seeks to uncover.

I will allow time to reveal the full extent of my research, but for anyone looking to get a bit of an insight right now, check out my interview with Tony Wright, author of Left in the Dark and my notes on The Origin of Consciousness and My Stroke of Insight, which retells the experience of Dr Jill Bolte Taylor over a period of hours while she knowingly suffered a stroke during which she experienced numerous shifts between right and left brain hemisphere dominance.

We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a physical experience

Pierre Teilhard

Related Articles

Graham Hancock and the Sacred Vine.
Psychedelic Drugs: A Brief History.
Left in the Dark
Tony Wright Interview
The Origin of Consciousness
My Stroke of Insight

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Bill Walsh, 49ers Football and Excellence in the Martial Arts

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Bill Walsh, 49ers Football and Excellence in the Martial Arts.

As well as practicing martial arts, I am also a big fan of various sports, especially the English Premier League (Chelsea) and the National Football League in the US (Washington Redskins). Despite my favorite teams, I have a great deal of time for particular players, managers and coaches in these sports and others whether or not they play for my teams. In the Premier League I have a huge amount of respect for Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United. In the NFL I like players like Troy Polamalu and Ray Lewis as well as coaches like Bill Belichick. Another man I respect from more than 20 years ago is Bill Walsh, the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

During his reign Walsh turned the 49ers around, won three Super Bowls, created what would later become known as the West Coast Offense (characterized by the use of up to 5 receivers who would run timed pass routes to hit specific parts of the field at staggered times allowing for shorter, faster passes) and was christened The Genius.

I am nearing the end of a very interesting book written about Walsh and the 49ers called The Genius: How Bill Walsh Reinvented Football and Created an NFL Dynasty by David Harris, a book I recommend to anyone who wants to get an insight into how to be successful in a highly competitive arena and the price being at the top of your game exacts.

Walsh offered his players plenty of coaching along with advice on things like how to deal with the media. He went on to set up seminars on financial management for team. Certain principles though he returned to time and time again, emphasizing key lessons that would form the backbone of what he called '49ers football'. Having read them and spent a short time dwelling on them, I think they are worth sharing as they can be adopted by a martial artist to improve his or her individual performance while also being useful for a sensei to discuss with his or her class.

Beat the Opposition to the Punch.

Obviously this has a direct relationship with martial arts and in fact Walsh, an accomplished and would-be professional boxer, used the example of pugilism to demonstrate what he meant. Not only does beating your opponent to the punch offer an immediate and obvious advantage, over a period of time what starts as a small point of superiority can swell into a dominant one that assures victory. Bill Walsh valued quickness and explosiveness over toughness. He wanted players to be decisive, believing that anyone who wanted to simply stand and trade (a tough opponent) would be gradually beaten up before a final blow would signal the end. In Japanese martial arts we could call this sen sen no sen.

Set a Standard of Performance and Meet It.

Walsh emphasized playing as well as you could, week in and week out, irrespective of how your opposition were performing. Set yourself a high standard and determine that you will consistently meet that level. This was not just at game time; the mindset was also to be applied to practice, where the process started. Outperform the people around you in training and you will be able to outperform them in competition. This point can be applied to any endeavor.

Be Precise in All Things and Always Pay Close Attention to Detail.

Bill Walsh saw effective football as the end result of a combination of a multitude of minute details. Approximations of exactitude were not enough: everything had to be precise and practice was intended to accomplish that goal. Walsh wanted his positional coaches to be similarly exact in their feedback to players, whether positive or negative.

This attention to detail will be familiar to many who train in their chosen art with any degree of seriousness. Generating greater and greater power can be hindered by the smallest misalignment of the body. A small error in the execution of a punch can lead you to injuring your own hand more than any opponent. Attempting to execute a lock or choke when the pressure is angled wrong will lead to failure. Pressure points require not only a very high degree of accuracy, but also must be attacked from specific angles. Your instructor should be correcting your performance with evermore precise feedback as your technique becomes further honed.

Everyone Has a Role and Every Role is Essential.

The Genius believed that "championships are won with the bottom half of the roster." He certainly valued his stars, men such as Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, but he made sure everyone knew they were important and their successful execution of their role within the team was vital to gaining victory.

At first blush this principle may not seem to have a lot to do with the practice of martial arts. However, while martial arts are executed in isolation, skill is developed by interacting with the people around you in your dojo. In this sense learning a fighting art can be seen as a team effort. With the team working together effectively to build the skills of everyone involved, everyone can progress. Seen from this point of view your role in the gym is not merely to hone your own ability, but to play a role - an essential one - in helping your training partners to develop too. Skilled black belts or the equivalent are the result of not only their own effort, but of the input and challenges set by other members. Try to look at the dojo as less a collection of individuals pursuing individual goals and more as a team committed to seeing and helping everyone get better. Steve Morris (No Holds Barred) encourages sparring to be done with specific goals in mind, rather than a mock competition with a "winner" and a "loser". The point of sparring then is not so much to beat the other person, as to work with the other person to enhance particular attributes.

Preparation Breeds Execution and Execution Breeds Success.

Another key concept to 49ers football was the emphasis on execution, above and beyond emotional intensity, which was heavily favored by other coaches at the time. Bill Walsh would argue that strong emotions cannot win games; and in any case, anyone who was starting in the NFL was already at the height of intensity. Correct execution requires practice and repetition. In this way responses become automatic.

This is another key point that is directly applicable to martial arts. Endlessly repeating the basics may threaten boredom, but it is the only way to develop talent and flawless execution. I would say that over a lifetime of practice, this has to be countered with activities that alleviate boredom, but one should always go back to the basics. Learning new kata is important for various reasons, but one of the most satisfying results of this is go to back to your Heian Shodan or whatever equivalent beginners are taught after you have worked on more advanced forms and then re-examine the basics in a new light. It is for this reason that I primarily recommend taking a look at things like tuite and kyusho jutsu; not because they are necessarily more effective in a fight than a stiff jab, but because they had a new dimension of interest to the same patterns of movement.

Keep Your Wits at All Times.

Maintaining concentration in the face of adversity, fatigue, discouragement and a highly skilled opponent was of significance importance to 49ers football. Every play requires the full emotional commitment of each player. Small mental mistakes can have vast negative consequences. Being able to think under pressure then is a key skill. Repetition in practice, to return to the point above, breeds neuro-muscular memory which is what a player will revert to in times of stress.

Zanshin, a total awareness, remains a key concept in Japanese martial arts and can be forged in various ways. The grading system, sometimes much maligned by traditionalists, does allow for a uniform approach to inducing stress in practitioners and seeing if they sink or swim as it were. Can the karateka deal with the stress and still perform the basics? Competition, even just sparring for some, may be another way to test if someone can function under pressure. Obviously full contact matches such as MMA fights take this stress to an even higher level.

Communication is Vital.

Players and staff had to constantly talk to one another for 49ers football to work. Bill Walsh therefore cultivated communication. This was particularly important when things were not going as planned. This allowed the team to identify an issue and initiate a process of correction.

I think this point is also highly applicable to developing effective fighting skills. Most obviously communication between a student and his or her teacher is vital; but so too is that between students. Remembering that training should be undertaken with an attitude of teamwork to build skills, part of this process inevitably involves effectively communicating what is being done well and what is not effective. Certainly there is a lot to learn from self-examination, but sometimes the solution to a problem can be more easily discerned by the person on the receiving end. This feedback needs to be offered without any sense of superiority or one upmanship and taken without the ego intruding and becoming hurt if there is a perception of criticism.

Football Requires Endless Adaptation.

Walsh maintained that everyone involved with the team had to be adaptable to different circumstances and situations. Throughout the ebb and flow of a game and a season everyone also had to maintain a high level of concentration. What Walsh meant then was not passive acceptance of a situation, but pro-active adaption to new circumstances.

The idea of achieving harmony with an opponent (and, at a deeper level of understanding, of time and space) is central to the teachings of many martial arts. The very idea of karate as an empty hand form of combat is taken not only to imply that no weapons are used, but that the fighting method has no fixed style. It is "empty" until it finds a moment of expression. We are also reminded of the teaching of master Funakoshi that "form is emptiness; emptiness is form", a teaching taken from the Buddhist Heart sutra.

Count on One Another.

Walsh maintained that having high expectations among team members (not just coaches) was a vital component of success. This extended to the requirement that each player would sacrifice himself for the good of team because each individual cared about the whole. The Genius expected everyone to help everyone else improve.

Again, we have to recognize that martial arts seem to be more an individual effort than anything else but in order to improve we are reliant on the people around us; not just for instruction but for the challenge and feedback each person can provide to us. Sacrifice is perhaps too strong a word for an amateur training in the dojo nearest to his home 2 or 3 times a week, but nevertheless, a willingness to participate in drills and activities for the overall good of the gym, if accepted by all members, will create and maintain a healthy training environment.

Conclusion.

I think Bill Walsh has a lot to offer with his ideas on 49ers football, not just in the realms of the NFL or martial arts, but for anyone seeking to improve his skills in a particular area. The key ideas seem to be to always seek perfection and that no man is an island. To achieve perfection we need the help of our training partners, which suggests (and the legend Steve Morris seems to concur) that exercises in the gym should be less about competition and more about co-operative action intended to improve specific and overall performance (though there is a time and a place for some hard, competitive sparring).

Before interacting with a training partner in many martial arts we bow to one another or give some other signal of respect. Respect is a very broad term and can mean many things, but one meaning, the meaning I think Walsh would emphasize, is the appreciation for your training partner as he helps you to develop. Something I have encountered in my training here in Japan is that along with a bow people are prone to also say "Onegaishimasu". Directly translated, this means "please", but a more accurate interpretative translation would be something like "Please help me develop my skill". This is not only confined to the practice of martial arts.

There is a lot to study here and I can say that my own appreciation of the importance of training partners, to take one example, has changed significantly over the years. Nowadays I do not pay gym fees for the level of instruction I am given, but more for the opportunity to train with people of a high standard.

Train hard, live easy.

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Personal Development

What is Personal Development?

PD can be understood as developing the self and / or developing others. Its mainstream techniques include setting goals, developing plans useful in achieving those goals and then taking action in pursuit of those same goals. Typically goals are set in areas such as health and fitness, personal finances, relationships, careers, spiritual beliefs and overall life satisfaction.

Why is Personal Development Important?

Broadly I identify two approaches to personal development: curative and preventative. From a wide reading of personal development literature I would say that much of the PD field is curative; that is, the techniques and philosophies seek to cure a pre-existing problem. For example, perhaps someone is already over-weight, in which case a plan is presented detailing various actions to be taken in pursuit of the realization of the goal of weight loss. Another example might be with someone who is in credit card debt. Here a step-by-step plan on paying back that debt will be laid out and the borrower will take action based on that plan, aiming to remove all debt from his life. In both these cases the techniques presented are curative; they are reactions to an established problem that they seek to ‘cure’.

While such approaches may be useful and even necessary for some, by far the method of personal development that I prefer is what I label preventative. Preventative personal development means that you pursue a life course that minimizes and even removes the risk of getting yourself into an undesirable situation in the first place. For example, rather than gain weight and then set about losing it, preventative personal development teaches skills and knowledge designed to ensure you never become over-weight in the first place. Similarly with credit card debt: by disciplining yourself and your spending at the outset, you intend to never find yourself in a situation where you owe money on a credit card, as an example, looking at 15-20% interest repayments.

In terms more immediately understandable to martial artists, it is the difference between avoiding going to high risk areas where a fight is more likely to break out (the preventative approach) as compared to getting into combat and having to use your art to fight your way out (the curative approach).

Two outstanding examples of mentors that I identify as teaching the preventative approach to personal development are the late Jim Rohn and Denis Waitley. Jim Rohn’s (paraphrased) exhortation to ‘build on rock, not sand’ should never be forgotten. Similarly, Denis Waitley talks about (among other things) taking a proactive approach to your health, rather than waiting until your bodily systems are beginning to fail before taking action. This of course is a central point to Asian medicine which tends emphasize prevention rather than curing.

Preventative personal development then is important in ensuring your quality of life from the outset by pre-empting and pre-solving problems and issues that would otherwise be detrimental to you and your lifestyle.

How Does Personal Development Relate to Martial Arts?

At first the link between martial arts and personal development may seem tenuous at best. Martial arts appear to be about fighting and preparing for a fight, whereas personal development focuses on, among other things, the creation of wealth, happiness and contentment. My own understanding of martial arts, and the method by which I practice and teach, runs deeper than this however. Sure, martial arts appear to be about fighting but, I would argue, if that is all they are about then you are most likely wasting your time studying them. How many fights have you been in since you left Junior High? How many fights have you even seen since you left Junior High? I’m not saying violence can’t rear its ugly head at unexpected moments, and we should certainly be prepared for such an eventuality, but to spend hours of your week preparing for a fight that in all likelihood is never going to happen is not an efficient use of your time and energy. What I am interested in, and what my life philosophy of The Way of the Enlightened Zen Warrior is about, is applying knowledge and concepts that you learn in the pursuit of your art to the wider context of your life. Karate do is, afterall, a way of life. An obvious example of this is related to your health and fitness. Martial arts of all styles provide an excellent method of keeping fit and setting high personal standards, as long as you don’t overdo it and over train and / or pick up an injury. What is more useful to you on a daily basis: your health and fitness or your ability to fight? A further question for you to ponder: would you consider extreme, ‘realistic’ training that leaves you injured in preparation for a possible street fight worthwhile?

I want to emphasize that I am not advocating that the fighting aspect of the arts be disregarded. Far from it. I sincerely believe that it is the combative dimension of the warrior arts that keeps us realistic. Funakoshi sensei asked us to part the clouds, not live with our heads in the clouds. But being realistic means being realistic. So again, I would ask you to consider: realistically, what has more value to you: your health and fitness or your fighting ability?

I can provide some more concrete examples to demonstrate my point with, to take two, time management and making money. Martial arts techniques, or at least those inherited from the battlefield, are efficient. They had to be and they still have to be. Any inefficiency could lead to a violent death. Efficiency then is a concept that can be applied to other aspects of our lives, one such being time management. A lot of people have problems with time management, but what is effective time management if not the efficient use of time?

Turning to making money: anyone who has ever invested money or traded on the stock market or the Forex market will know how important timing is to turning a profit. With proper timing your earnings can accelerate exponentially; but with poor timing you can quickly find your capital wiped out. Timing too is a vital component of every martial arts technique when thrown with the intention of connecting with an opponent. Timing is as important to throwing a punch and knocking someone out as it is to making a million. So again, ask yourself what is more useful to promoting a successful life: effective time management skills and the ability to make money or your prowess as a fighter?

This fundamental observation on what skills and concepts grant us the highest return for the energy and effort we put into their investigation and development is also supported by my research into spiritualism and ‘enlightenment’. I define satori (‘enlightenment’) as being a moment of complete right hemisphere brain dominance, following my reading of two people in particular: Dr Julian Jaynes and Tony Wright.

While I an open to the suggestion both men make that the human species is caught up in a dynamic shift in brain dominance from the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere, I also recognize that we all live in a world that has been created by and for people who are left hemisphere dominant. It doesn’t matter how ‘enlightened’ you are, you still need to get up every morning and live your life...and living that life includes interacting with other people, looking after yourself, and making money as well as understanding some overriding spiritual meaning to it all.

It is here that personal development really becomes a useful tool to us: it helps us improve the quality of our lives and that of those around us. It is firmly rooted in the conceptual world and recognizes that that world is complicated and that we must satisfy different needs to experience our own individual sense of happiness in contrast to the conditions our right hemisphere wants met to realize its own (different) form of bliss. For example, our right hemisphere enjoys artistic stimulation (among other things) and being able to sit quietly and listen to some good music is one way of satisfying this desire. At the same time, in order for us to be able to buy a CD player or download a song we need to be able to engage our left hemisphere. The process through which we achieve this purchase is a long and complicated one; much more complicated in fact than you might first think when you take your time to consider in detail all the multitude of different things that have to happen for you to be able to go shopping or go online for a download. To be able to comfortably afford a CD we need to have a job that provides us with an excess of income…to get that job the usual route is to get good grades at school leading to professional qualifications…and so on. In these activities the left hemisphere is primarily engaged and for many of us we feel happy through a sense of achievement (getting good grades, a good job and earning good money) while interacting in a meaningful way with the people around us. Personal development is much more geared towards this kind of satisfaction. It was created in the ‘real’ world for use in the real world. In other words, it deals with reality…and this takes me back to what I said earlier about the reality of combat.

Martial arts cannot and should not be divorced from reality. They are martial arts. I say this not only because of any over-riding need for effective fighting techniques but because a firm grasp of reality is necessary to live effectively in that reality. Martial arts teach us to view reality in a complete manner; from both the perspective of the left and right hemispheres. While our left hemisphere conceptualizes everything and our consciousness acts as a constant filter between what we perceive and how we perceive it, our right hemisphere, being non-conceptual, simply cannot conceptualize what it perceives and therefore experiences reality ‘as is’. Both perspectives are important and allow us to view reality holistically. This in turn takes us back to the underlying spiritual philosophy of many of our arts: Buddhism. Those of you familiar with the Noble Eightfold Path will know that it rests fundamentally on ‘Right View’; or seeing reality. Certainly in my teaching of The Way of the Enlightened Zen Warrior, this ability to view reality from both the left (the normal view of reality) and right (a supra-normal view of reality) hemispheres is of vital and fundamental importance.

So, to sum up: Personal development is relevant to the martial artist because it enhances his or her ability to deal with the conceptual world, or, to put it another way, to fearlessly confront and harmonize with the reality that the martial artist uncovers through the crucible of combat. Understanding the reality of combat is too limited; we need to understand reality in the broader sense. Martial arts provide us with a vehicle to access this broader reality by first confronting us with the reality of a fight and then encouraging us to apply that same conceptual understanding to different areas of life, away from combat.

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Martial Arts, Life and Timing

Timing is everything.

But what does it mean to the Enlightened Zen Warrior?

In a previous post I argued that martial arts are the study of efficiency. Today I will be arguing that the arts are also the study of timing. Timing is another concept that is vital to the correct execution of a technique but is also a concept with an unlimited number of applications. It is through the investigation of both the concept of timing and the application of timing that we can move closer to understanding one of the central teaching of the Buddhist Heart sutra Emptiness is form; form is emptiness. This understanding will be of immense benefit in ensuring out personal success, personal development and eventual spiritual realization.

In a fight it is not always the person with the highest technical standard that emerges victorious. The pretty fighter is not always the best fighter. One concept (among many others) that the technically superior fighter may be lacking to his or her detriment is timing. The warrior with superior timing, if lesser technique, is the one to put your money on. Timing is undoubtedly one of the most crucially important concepts in both a fight and in life.

Timing as a concept lies behind the successful execution of all techniques, whether it be a punch, a kick, entry into a throw or lock or in using some kind of weapon. This is the first clue for the Enlightened Warrior: the form is diverse and multitudinous. The concept underlies all applications, however apparently varied they are. What is common to both a successful punch and a successful kick? Timing. What is common to both entry into a throw and entry into a lock? Timing. What is common to both a sword thrust and a cut? Timing. There is no single form that timing is applied to. Rather timing is applied to all forms and all types of martial arts.

I am a big fan of the author Conn Iggulden and I am currently eagerly reading his new series of historical novels on Genghis Khan. Something I learned from reading these books is that the trick to the superior skill of the Mongol bowmen while on horseback lay in their ability to time precisely when their war pony's feet were all up in the air. It took years of practice to find this split-second moment when a stillness could be felt and the arrow released from the bow to strike its target without the aim being jarred by the contact as the legs of the horse hit the ground (this is also a great example of another important Zen Warrior principle: stillness in motion, something I will no doubt be returning to in the future). The point I want to make here is that the technique of shooting a bow from horseback relied on exactly the same concept that successfully punching, kicking, locking and so on requires: perfect timing. Again, we find another, vastly different, example of how form - the technique - can vary while the underlying concept (here, timing) remains the same.

All well and good. But the Enlightened Warrior recognizes that he no longer lives on a battlefield and perhaps only rarely visits such a place to defend himself and his loved ones. What use then is perfect timing in the real world?

Let me give you another example of how to use timing in your life away from the strict practice of martial arts, one that I use all the time to make money.

One of the ways that I support myself and my family is through micro (day) trading. This is different to investing (which I also do) in that investing takes a more long term view of the market while micro trading involves entering the stock market for deliberately short periods of time in order to make smaller but faster profits. The system I currently use to micro trade depends heavily on the performance of the American market (I micro trade Japanese stocks - I live in Japan, remember!) and the exchange rate. Using some basic indicators I am able to determine or time my entry into the market. When certain conditions are met I will make a quick trade allowing me to pick up maybe 2%-3% returns in 5, 10 or maybe 15 minutes. With enough capital behind you that can quickly add up to providing you with a very nice lifestyle.

Notice in the stock trading example that one of the crucial concepts I am required to use is timing. If I time my entry into the market incorrectly I can lose money. Correctly timed though I can make a nice return with very minimal risk. Here the form that timing takes (stock trading) could not be (apparently) further from executing a punch but, I hope you are now beginning to recognize, both stock trading well and punching well have far more in common than may immediately meet the eye. Both stock trading and punching both require excellent timing.

Now let me ask you to consider these questions:

- Is timing important in asking your boss for a raise?

- Is timing important when asking a girl out for a drink?

- Is timing important when teaching your children important lessons at an appropriate age?

- When is timing not important?

A little too early or a little too late can mean the difference between success and failure. Reflect on this as it is of vital importance in the Way of the Enlightened Warrior. Timing is all.

Returning to the Heart sutra we can see that form is governed by timing. What form timing appears in (punching, kicking, stock trading, driving, whatever) is as varied as you can possibly imagine yet timing is always present. In turn, we require a form (entry into a lock, a sword cut, crossing the road) in order to display our understanding of timing. If we have poor timing the form we use to express that understanding will be poor. If our timing is good our form will demonstrate that. What we learn in martial arts has a direct application to our life...and vice versa.

Take your time to meditate on this. To the Zen Warrior timing is everything and everything is timing.

Train hard, live easy.

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Efficiency and the Martial Artist

Nowhere is efficiency a more vital skill than in combat. The difference between the warrior that is efficient and the one that isn’t is death. There is no middle ground.

On the battlefield of yesteryear there were two predominant types of techniques and principally two types of close combat weaponry that were necessary to both realize the technique while simultaneously shaping the technique. Each of these two types of technique were based on efficiency and they were:

1) Techniques that were designed to cause rapid and massive blood loss (and used sharp weapons to do so) and,

2) Techniques that were intended to cause a massive and overwhelming amount of immediate shock (and usually used blunt weapons).

As ghastly as it may be for us to sit safely at home or in an office and consider this, the fact is that in the time between mortally wounding an opponent and that opponent actually losing consciousness, it was entirely possible for him - if strong enough and pumped up with adrenaline - to kill his own killer. It wasn’t enough therefore to simply deliver a blow that would eventually cause death. The key was to deliver blows that would immediately render an opponent unable to fight or strike back. Those blows therefore needed to ensure either massive blood loss or massive shock or, preferably, both (a sword, as well as being a badge of rank, was particularly suited to achieving both). The aim was to finish the fight as soon as it had started. Given the press of bodies on the battlefield an enemy warrior was never difficult to find and would always be close by, so messing around with one would leave you vulnerable to his friend. Everything had to be efficient. If it wasn’t you life was forfeit. The battlefield was a Darwinesque arena for the survival of the most efficient.

In today’s martial arts weapons of any type are taught far less than the unarmed forms. It is illegal in most countries to brandish a weapon of any kind in the first place and if you were to actually use that weapon, even in a case of self-defense (except perhaps when your life was endangered), you would end up in prison for a long time. Grappling arts remain popular and they concentrate on creating shock (by twisting or breaking bones or using severe throws to the ground) or gain victory by causing an immediate loss of the flow of blood to the brain or constricting an opponent’s breathing (through strangulation or choking techniques). Striking arts, such as karate, kung fu and tae kwon do, focus mostly on techniques that will cause shock to an opponent by punching and kicking. Although the life-or-death nature of the martial arts has been lost it is still possible to train with the same approach to techniques that fosters combat efficiency (though you must stay within the parameters of the law if you apply the techniques in a real fight).

Martial arts then are a study in efficiency and that concept of efficiency is found within each and every martial art and is applicable to each and every martial art.

This insight raises the question of how do we use this concept in our lives?

A Personal Example

I was prompted to write this blog entry after a comment I received about some details I wrote up about on another site detailing my newly emerging interest in Forex trading. In that entry I talked about my Forex news site and how I had created a win-win-win situation. This is a personal study in efficiency. My point in writing this is to highlight how a concept I learned in one dimension of my life (martial arts) is directly applicable to a different area of my life (currency trading and making money).

My FX site grew out of my recently re-discovered interest in Forex trading and my need for current knowledge about the exchange rates (yen to dollar in particular) to day trade export oriented stocks on the Japanese stock market. Several months ago, after the Yen/Dollar exchange rate hit 90 yen to the dollar the G-7 nations expressed their dissatisfaction with such a rate of exchange. My wife and I quickly made some money as immediately after this announcement the Yen/Dollar rate changed but, perhaps more importantly, this event told me that if the exchange rate hit that figure again I shouldn’t expect it to go much lower, if at all. I began watching the exchange rate more closely and, sure enough, it did reach around 90 yen to the dollar once again; this allowed me to redo my previous trade and make a nice profit in a short space of time. But my interest didn't stop there. The volatility of this period also affected many of Japan’s premier companies, and Honda in particular, as these businesses continue to export heavily to the US. So, as I was absorbing information early in the morning in any case prior to the market opening at 9am I decided I would open a new site giving concise news summaries and see if others were interested.

The result of this efficient use of the information I study every morning is now this:

- I have a web site that is growing in readership every week (and I make money from this).

- I am able to use the information I absorb on selected days to day trade export related stocks (and I make money)

- I am in a position to monitor shifts in the exchange rates (and I have and continue to make money from this).

- Furthermore, the bank we have our mortgage with here in Japan allows us to use our savings to cancel out interest fees but, importantly, we do not have to hold these savings in Japanese yen. The money we made when we went long against the dollar not only made us money through profit but also by holding the US dollars in the bank we didn’t have to pay back as much interest as we would have done without funds saved (so in effect we are making money simply by holding money in our account). We were able to repeat the same process with the Aussie dollar and are now back in the US dollar.

Now consider this:

I have absolutely zero financial training or education. Effectively I have four sources of income, three of which are directly connected to the information I study everyday (and the fourth – the decreased interest fees – automatically benefits when we make money because by increasing our savings through profit we simultaneously decrease out interest repayment), and all because I am able to make efficient use of that information. I could perhaps even add a fifth source as my adventures in the Forex market and stock trading give me something relevant and beneficial for people to write about in this blog…which helps promote my site and attracts more readership. A sixth source would be the conversations I have had with coaching clients (some of whom are based here in Japan) who are in a very good position to take direct advantage of my knowledge (at their own risk: I am not certified to give this kind of advice). Many of these clients have already earned back my coaching fees (and more) by doing nothing more than listening to what I told them, taking the time to think about it and arranging for the buying of dollars.

Now I’m not telling you this to make myself sound cool, I’m telling you this because I wasn’t taught this at school or while taking an expensive finance-related course at university. It isn’t specialized knowledge. I learned about efficiency and its application through martial arts; and you can do the same through the following exercise.

Applications

The concept of efficiency can be applied to any and all of your endeavors. In fact, as a skill and concept it is directly applicable to many of the issues that people have problems with that draw them into personal development in the first place. Financial goals, as my own example shows, can begin to be achieved through greater efficiency. Time management problems can resolved through the more efficient use of time. A promotion at work can be yours if you become a more efficient worker or your business can become more profitable by running it in a more efficient manner. Gain greater health and fitness through the efficient selection of foods and efficient work out schedules. Your knowledge and expertise can be enhanced through the efficient selection and study of particular materials and so on.

Exercise

In this simple exercise you will use the Zen Circle as a teaching device to open your mind to the idea that a concept – in this case efficiency – learned in one arena is transferable to other areas of your life and endeavors. Get yourself some paper, a pencil and an eraser and draw the circle. Within the circle write the word ‘efficiency’. The circle here represents your sphere of efficiency; it is the skills and techniques in your life in which you are already efficient. What is outside the circle are all the other aspects of your life which have not as yet been touched by your new insight into using your resources in an optimal manner.

Take a moment to look over the circle and what it represents. When you are ready erase the line that marks the circle so that what is inside is also outside; there are no limitations. Free your mind from the false belief that your study of efficiency is only relevant to one part of you and that it is instead applicable to everything you do that makes you you. Consider this as you look at the word ‘efficiency’, now no longer contained but instead without limit.

A more general exercise is for you to choose one thing that you love doing. For me it is karate but you it is most likely something completely different. It doesn’t particularly matter what vehicle you use to discover and express efficiency, but choose one activity (whether done at work, around the home or in your free time) and begin fully concentrating on that interest with the intention of making your performance more efficient, whether physically or mentally. As you do this you will also find yourself making the activity more your own and more of an expression of yourself. This is totally natural and is something to be encouraged.

As you learn different lessons in efficiency, begin to use the concept in other parts of your life (an extension of the Zen Circle detailed above) and see how your results are affected. Identify any areas of your life that you feel you need to work on and start examining your problems from the view of taking a more efficient approach. Hopefully using this methodology will help you out; and the lessons you learn from these experiences can be fed into other areas of your life, always making yourself more efficient.

The important point is to transfer your knowledge and experience of efficiency from one form to another. You don’t have to learn anything new as such, you just need to learn how to reapply what I am sure you already know; and as you deepen your understanding of efficiency in one particular domain, reuse that insight wherever it is needed.

No divisions, no limitations.

Train hard, live easy.

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