MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS FOR DAILY LIFE

About seven years ago, I was teaching a class of black belts when I severely damaged my knee. All three ligaments were torn and I had to have the knee rebuilt. During my recuperation, I thought I should write a follow-up book to my first book on the martial art syllabus I had developed over three decades called Seishindo. Roughly translated, "Seishindo" means "spiritual energy way."

The first book, which is no longer available, was called "Seishindo: A Modern Method of Self Defence." It catalogued the techniques I was teaching and provided a philosophical basis for each ranking. It also provided a Use of Force Continuum spelling out the behaviour of an assailant and what under most laws would be considered the appropriate use of force to be used in defence of self. It was a unique aspect of my teachings.

But I wondered, as I lay on the bed, my rebuilt knee wrapped tightly, ice water pumping through to reduce the swelling from the surgery, of what good would my martial arts teachings be to someone who had never studied martial arts. Was there anything I learned that would be applicable in daily life other than learning the physical techniques.

Yes! I thought so immediately but when pressed to put my thoughts on paper I realized this was going to take a bit of thought. I wrote down the list of Principles. They would be of no use, they were the essence of the physical martial arts techniques, not what I was looking for at all.

Next, I wrote down the Five Concepts. Now I thought I was getting somewhere, it was just a matter of thinking about these five concepts in a non-martial way. The same went for the idea of the Five Mental Attitudes. I brushed up by reading articles on philosophy and psychology that I felt were germane to my project and in no time I had a manuscript. In fact, I submitted and had the book, THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY WAY, printed before I recuperated and returned to work.

So, for the next ten weeks I will post a synopsis of the chapters relevant to using martial art teachings in a non-martial way for daily life.

Comments

ON THE CUSP OF A RADICAL PARADIGM SHIFT

It has been a long time since I last wrote in this blog. I have been busy with music projects and writing novels. In fact, I am writing my ninth novel right now and am just taking a break. I wanted to get back into keeping up with my blog but didn't want it to become a format for political rants. Let's be frank, the political landscape is abysmal and folks have never been so divided and so entrenched in their views. I am no exception! Rather than regurgitate the dogma and doctrine of one party over the other, I am guided by the tenets I have long adhered to: democracy, equality under the law, opportunity, justice and a strong social safety net. I welcome diversity in all forms. I believe we should all be accountable and responsible for our actions. Worker's rights, women's rights, these are important to me as basic human rights. Income inequality is a huge issue. Of course, captains of industry deserve the right to have the largest piece of the pie. T

POSTURE

It is acceptable in martial arts to adopt any particular kamae, or “posture,” as an expression of one’s self in an artistic or stylistic manner provided it is a sound stratagem in and of itself or that the individual is so adept at the posture it makes her effective in a self-defence scenario. In many cases, a particular kamae or posture signals the style of martial art the person has studied. The straight up posture, fists clenched, arms out and slightly bent, legs in a wide stance could indicate a karate practitioner. Arms up, away from the body, palms toward the opponent, might mean a Muay Thai fighter. The various forms of Kung Fu, indicating the Tiger, the Dragon or the Praying Mantis are distinguished by their exotic postures, and so on. How we present ourselves in daily life and in a non-martial context gives people hints about ourselves. Whatever way we present ourselves can be considered our kamae, our posture. This begs the questions, just how does the world perc

AESTHETIC DISTANCE

I love films. I have always loved films. In high school during the very early seventies, I was able to take a film arts course along with English courses, media and communications. I loved it. Film is art. The famous MGM logo with the lion’s roar that prefaces so many famous movies incorporates the Latin, “ARS GRATIA ARTIS” which means “art for art’s sake,” and was designed in 1916 by Howard Dietz. The saying is credited to the 19th century French philosopher, Victor Cousin and was written as “l’art pour l’art.” One of the basic lessons I learned in film arts was the concept of aesthetic distance. This concept originally applied to literature refers to the gap between the readers, or as in the case of film, the viewer’s conscious reality and the fictional reality constructed by an author of a book or the director of the film. Of course, in film there are so many more variables to be considered, actor’s craft, lighting, cinematography, music et cetera.

Not Yet Nirvana

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