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.

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