Martial Arts

January 17, 2014

The Non-existence of Spirit

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“Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly. Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void. In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existence, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.”

– Miyamoto Musashi, Book of Five Rings

In 17th century Japan there lived a swordsman unequaled in martial combat by the name of Miyamoto Musashi. He lived to a ripe old age and repudately never lost a single duel in his lifetime. In his 50s he began to reflect back on his life as a warrior and came to the conclusion that he was invincible, but he was not sure why. He did not claim that he had necessarily been more skillful than all of the swordsmen he faced, yet he was able to defeat every one of them. In his 60s he described the Way in a series of letters to a student, known as The Book of Five Rings.

The book covers a small array of topics but they all share a common theme. Behind every technique, word of advice, and wisdom, there is always the underlying reminder that you must bear yourself with the intention of killing your enemy. Your spirit must stay resolved to this end, lest you fall into defensive or ineffective strategy.

Yet in the last of these five books, the Book of the Void, Musashi explains that the spirit of the true Way is the void spirit. The void, as Musashi puts it, is “bewilderment.” This is to say that it is what exists beyond things that have existence, therefore it is non-existence. It is impossible to grasp “non-existence” in thought, because a thought has existence. In this way he equates it with spirit, as spirit has no tangible existence.

The power of the Void spirit is in its unbiased nature. To cultivate the void spirit one must empty the mind and be fully present in the moment. The void spirit can take on any spirit, and actions spring from the void spirit spontaneously. It is, I think, the essential spirit of nature.

In combat, with rigorous training, the void spirit will allow a fighter to call upon all  of his or her available resources as needed. By emptying the mind, all of your mental and physical faculties are made keenly aware of the present moment. Reflexes are uninhibited in the state of the void spirit, and the unbridled are man’s instincts for survival. In essence, the void spirit takes on whatever form it needs, adapting to the moment, and perceiving that which cannot be seen. As Mushashi would put it…

“You must research this.”

November 16, 2013

Shaolin Kung Fu and Buddhism

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“In Buddhism there are methods to meet the various needs and aspirations of different people, which can be divided into the following three generalized levels:

1) Live healthily and happily to a ripe old age

2) Go to heaven in the next life

3) Attain the greatest, highest achievement, described variously as attaining enlightenment, achieving Buddhahood, returning to God, union with Allah, unity with the Cosmos, becoming one with Brahman, seeing ultimate reality, or finding Absolute Truth.

Shaolin Kung Fu, in conjunction with the teaching of Buddhism, can help us achieve any or all these aims.”

~Wong Kiew Kit, The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu

I think it’s important when practicing anything really to remember your purpose in doing that thing. And if you want to do it authentically, then it’s important to learn its true method and purpose. This is especially true for things which have a looong history, such as languages, artistic or craft skills, martial arts, etc. When learning one of these things your mental state must match the activity, or your efforts will be shallow and inauthentic. So, when speaking Serbian, you must think and feel like a Serbian, or else it will be difficult to internalize the language and make it feel natural. You could not approach creating an impressionist style painting with the same mindset and feelings as you would to create a photo-realistic style painting.

The purpose of many martial arts are most importantly to build character, cultivate spirit, etc., and secondarily for martial application (though this is important too). Why is this so? Well, In the instance of Shaolin Kung fu, the Shaolin Temple was a center for Buddhism long before they had any form of martial arts. The martial arts were then integrated into their methodology for achieving the three purposes outlined above. So, to practice it authentically, this must be researched and kept in mind when pursuing your training.

Also, the proper state mind and body must be understood and maintained:

“What’s Shaolin style? Shaolin style builds moral character, promotes excellent circulation, strengthens the body, creates the limbs coordination, increases agility of the mind and the body, and trains Wushu skills to such a degree that victories can be gained in all forms of conflicts. What’s the practice? Advance is like lightning. Retreat is like the wind. The head moves like the waves. The feet are as solid as stones. The body flows like a flying dragon. The hands move like shooting stars. All movements spring forth from the human mind and human being nature. Attacks are hard and strong but not excessive, they can bend like the reed in the wind, changing from one type of attack to another. The attacks contain fakes and surprising strikes that combine to react to your enemies defence. In Shaolin style, defence is like a gentle girl, soft but not weak. Attacks are tiger like, violent and appropriate. If one wishes to defeat his enemies in a fighting, he must overcome his weaknesses in practice. Practice leads to skill. Skill leads to perfection, and perfection leads to the supernatural.”