New Years Message.

I am convinced that the study of some form of Bujutsu from a practical or applied perspective is more imperative now than ever.
Just yesterday a friend of mine at work was talking about what they were doing with a prison close by, how it was being closed down, they were taking 35 of their worst cases, moving them to other sites and releasing everyone else back into the system because they cannot afford to keep them.
I have not followed up on that report to see if that is actually what is going down, but I do know that the string of robberies that started on Division are growing worse and becoming more widespread, with more suspects ranging in age from 17 to 45, desperate out of work people looking to make ends meat.

The numbers for the recovery are skewed; my brother was released from Kitsap County, his case cleared, the judge told him he was only free to go because they could not afford to keep bringing him back in.
Apparently Kitsap is not far from being bankrupt, they released a large number of repeat offenders, free and clear, that same day.
There was also a felon pulled over in our small community that had a number of warrants who was released from custody because the city could not send someone to pick him up and the cop was the only one patrolling the area, he couldn't take him in.
Budget cuts have effectively reduced the police force, in the process of closing down the jails, people can barely get by, crime rates are bound to rise.

Just tonight we are having some snowfall, the heaviest of the year, no snowplows on the roads, not enough to take care of business anyway.
I rear-ended a car as I came down the hill doing ten miles an hour, the front end of my car is all smashed up, almost no damage to their car; we waited around for the cops for an hour and a half, no one came.
Finally we exchanged information and decided to handle it ourselves so we could all get home to our families; no one was hurt, most important, and the car had no engine damage, so it drove just fine, mainly just body work.

No cops showed up, lots of accidents, reduced manpower for response, all hell could break loose at any moment; once it sets in all hell will break loose.
My wife works alone during the nights at the local Gas Station, several times I've had to go up there and fend off some crazy freaks that seem to have some twisted world perspectives, come in and hassle her, often trying to take it farther than hassling.
The cops told her, when she asked them about response time early on when she started the job, that she was on her own because Stevens County now has such a small force and most of them are still in Colville at that time.
The power went out a couple weeks ago and people almost started looting the gas station for supplies, it was insane.
I told her to keep the pepper spray on hand and we were going to buy a gun after we got her registered, though it is open carry, so openly carrying a gun would be enough of a deterrent, at least in my opinion, it is better than concealing, that is just inviting trouble.

I often carry a big stick when I'm out walking because there are a lot of really freaky people out here.
I don't advertise my training, I don't wear Karate t-shirts or jackets or anything like that, but perhaps that is a deterrent as well, though it may invite trouble from some of the rednecks out here, not wise, because they run in packs with baseball bats and shotguns.

Either way, things are getting bad and I highly believe the numbers are skewed, lots of places here going bankrupts, from small businesses to government establishments; my job froze all our sick time and paid time off/vacation, so we don't accrue that anymore, or overtime, and the word layoffs are still whispering in the winds.
The point, everyone, is be aware, be responsible, and have a safe and happy new year, heres to hoping things start looking up for everyone.

Curing The Blind.

Kris never ceases to produce some very thought provoking material, but is the idea of provoking thought still in the realm of the monkey mind?
When I was a kid, just as much as, if not more, today, I would often think about something for weeks on end, my mind churning round and round, no way to make the wheels stop, it is like being stuck in a loop.
Not necessarily a good thing, but also not necessarily a bad thing; fortunately or unfortunately I had also been conditioned to go 'blank' in the face of adversity or pressure, I would just act.
I credit this 'loop' attribute with conditioning things to second nature, like a mental Kata geared towards subconscious conditioning, after all, we often fail to see this aspect of the physical loops performed that we call 'kata' or 'technique' or 'principle of motion,' whatever your chosen label happens to be.

Being stuck in a loop is not a good idea, you have to know when to change gears, you have to know when to shed your 'human' persona and take on instinct, to become the working, efficient animal that resides in the subconscious, that part of you that you are socially conditioned to find unfavorable.
That is the catch isn't it? Years of social conditioning seem to be at war with generations of evolutionary nature, thus that chattering monkey mind is born from the conflict between the two.
Perhaps that is a bit of a simplifaction, setting things of this nature in statements that make them seem like stone is misleading.

Ultimately the labels are of no use beyond the point to which they allude, which is an imperfect illustration at best, but one must realize just that, it is nothing more than an illustration.
The idea is to look within and feel, experience for themselves what it is that is inside, to observe and feel around for themselves.
Which is often the exact opposite of what people do, the exact opposite of what we've been conditioned to do by society.
It is certainly a war between two conjured images, once the truth is realized the images vanish and what is there is beyond description, but with the vanishing images goes that conflict, what remains is peace, certainty, not security or comfort, mind you, but a certain truth that is very real, substantial.
The alternative has to constantly dance around and justify/promote such conflict in order to maintain its' existence, which is ultimately a detriment to survival.

A Cat preparing to pounce is not divided, even dogs in play or fighting for real, they are not divided, they can be loving when the situation is conducive, or they can be vicious when the need arises, that is nature, there is no conflict, there is only what is.
So why is it man is divided and needs to seek things out in order to be reminded of what he or she should already know?
When someone cusses us out, gets in our faces, we have a tendency to freeze, our minds and spirits are locked in conflict, we're stuck in a loop that has been conditioned to do just that.
Years of an education system built toward those ends, years of television promoting fear and rewarding obedience with a false sense of comfort and security; the idea of the status quo, general acceptance by the 'herd.'
For fear that the 'herd' might cast you out into the wastes with the other rejects, for them to pick at your bones once they've killed you off.

Those that do not freeze can become haughty, ruled by impulse is not a strength either, it is just another form of slavery to the Monkey Mind that has given rise to the concept of the 'Monkey Dance' that various people have conceptualized.
Blind impulse is just as detrimental as the inability to do anything, but impulse itself yields instinct, thus it is not seeking to enhance this haughtiness, but to understand both, to put them to good use as parts of the whole.

This is another aspect that seems seldom touched upon, or at least glossed over with all sorts of spiritual or esoteric sugar-coatings that unnecessarily water it down to the point of mind numbing uselessness.
You have Karate Instructors dropping terms like 'Mushin' or 'Zanshin' here and there without really going to any depth, explaining that the concepts must be experienced, that they cannot be explained or taught, however, they never really go in to how one might experience these things either.
Anyone can be vague and use concepts they may understand on some superficial level, that does not mean it is useful at that point.

You don't hear about people having classes dedicated specifically to Mushin, Zanshin, or the Animal Mind; at least not in traditional circles, they pay it lip service, but do not truly include it.
People often have to find out the hard way, then they are left with a lot of unanswered questions leaving them disillusioned by their chosen arts, wondering why they've wasted all that time on something that is completely and utterly useless in the grand scheme of things.
It is useless because it is incomplete, and many have come to recognize this, setting about to make the corrections and fill in the gaps.

Budo Intensives, Will Drills, Situational Awareness, Projecting; these are some of the things that come to mind, but do they each provide depth training where it really counts?
The Armed Forces have war games, Hell Week, things that are really meant to test the metal of recruits before they are deployed to some distant battlefield where they will either live or die.
Even there, does this training really do what it is meant to do? With all the Psychological issues popping up across the board, the need for Psychological Specialists to intervene and provide treatment, Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome, which seems to have people stuck in a loop as well.
Does the training really do what it is meant to do? Perhaps it does for the context in which it is meant, but it seems that many have a hard time changing gears from one to the other.

One can cite many different contributing factors, it could be any and all of them at once, but in a civilian context the training is seriously lacking in any given civil defense art; the sporting aspect may or may not play a role.
Judoka maintain a keen distinction in the fact that they recognize what they do as a sport and train to those ends, Jujitsuka, anymore, train to the same ends, that is, stepping into a cage to take on another combatant in one-to-one, hand-to-hand competition to see who is the better and possibly win a lot of money and recognition.
The rest of the world seems confused on the issue; you have Karateka debating about this and that, but really, what does this accomplish? Certainly it sheds some light on things, but when debate becomes endless, debate itself has lots its' usefulness when it does not breed action, a will to change where change needs to be implimented.
This is the same monkey dancing around the issue, seeking to maintain dominance in justification of its' existence, a tricky, subtle little beast - when it latches on it really latches on and is very hard to get it to let go, it will find some way to keep it up without being noticed.

Even still, this paints a conflicting picture, that is, a picture that promotes conflict, but this is counter-productive in the fact that we must view the system not as a system with compartments or cogs and gears; like a machine.
We need to view it, or us, as people, as a person, a whole; this is something that has been promoted by the people of Integral Psychology, people like Ken Wilbur.
Unfortunately, in my view, Psychology as a whole is flawed, it is not a science and, more often than not, it, too, can prove detrimental.
Half the people there are put in positions to help others, when they, themselves, have not been helped.
Carl Jung was one such person that had gone through the experience of his own Individuation, having had periods of extreme psychosis that landed him as a patient in a mental ward.
A unique perspective to say the least.

What is the point of the above? We must seek a direct understanding, rather than a conceptual illustration complete with theories and hypothesis that may or may not be tested.
Things should certainly be tested, and re-tested, holding nothing as sacred or concrete, but at the same time, holding no bias that impedes development in our quest for integration, or our quest for 'truth,' 'reality,' whatever you want to call that things that is supposed to have no name.

So in the end we must each seek responsibility for what we are doing, to cut directly through all the sugar-coated concepts to the experience itself and drink from that well.
There are many holes, many flaws in the above, but again, it is not meant to be perfect, just some food for thought.
What does Mushin really mean? What does Zanshin really mean? Fudo Shin? Kime? Kiai? Aiki? Cut through the mystical connotations surrounding such concepts, cut through the concepts themselves until all that remains is what you have.
Then we can understand what was once 'missing' or watered down, as part of the whole, and run workshops to help others re-integrate this, to deprogram them, turn them from monkeys to wolves.

Kata in Ground Fighting/Ne Waza.

I remember about ten years ago, a training session I had with in an old friend's back yard; Jeff Iller was a black belt from the old Bremerton Dojo, the guy that first introduced me to Bokken training when I was ten years old.
He was my Sensei's second in command at the Dojo, the go-to guy, he'd run classes whenever Sensei or Mike Wright were not around and he ran the Dojo when Sensei went on sabaticle to Tassajara for two years.
I looked up to him quite a bit; he no longer trains now, at least in Karate, he took up fencing and wood carving, he's now a master wood carver in Western Washington, you should see some of his work, it is absolutely amazing.

At the time he and Dr. Jeff Cooper had been getting together every so often, training at each others' houses, playing around with concepts surrounding Kata, before the big Bunkai craze really kicked in.
This was a couple weeks after my Shodan test, so it was actually about eleven years ago; we started off with Daruma Taisho warm-ups, then went over Saifa, though not the whole Kata, we broke it down and he showed me some things he and Dr. Cooper had been going over.
One of the things was interpreting a portion of Saifa as an application while lying on your back.
It was the section of the Kata right after the two front kicks, into Zenkutsu Dachi, with Tetsui Uchi (Hammer Fist) into the palm down by the knee of the lead leg.

Shinzen Sensei's post on practicing Naihanchin while on your back reminded me of this; I have been practicing Naihanchin from my back all evening, thinking about different Ne Waza positions.
I even tried searching for videos of others doing the same, unfortunately there are not many videos of people applying Kata in this way, which is a shame, because there is a wealth of knowledge to be had.

The application from Saifa can be seen in Gracie Jujitsu as a defense against someone trying to pass your guard.
Instead of a hammerfist, the arms would come together with the hands meeting behind the head, the arms applying pressure to the sides of the neck on the corroted arteries, also pressing down on the clavicles while pushing the opponent's base from beneath them with the 'lead' leg pushing on one side of their hip.
This leaves them lop-sided and light-headed, a great position of advantage for the one fighting from the bottom, as they can easily roll into a mount or maneuver to take the back.

One can easily see this type of thing in every Kata, but it is helpful to know how to look for it, so an understanding of ground positions is a prerequisite; this means cross training with someone who knows the material intimately, or at least studying and practicing the concepts on a regular basis.
From full guard, mount, half guard, side, rear, butterfly; the utilization of leverage over strength, patience over swift action, working from a completely different set of principles.
The ability to change gears is something everyone should strive for; I am of the mind that a system is not truly well rounded, it is only as well rounded as the person practicing the 'system.'
So in that respect it goes right back to the individual, with the implication that the system itself is nothing more than an illusion to be used as a means to achieve a goal.

As it would have it, a few weeks after the session with Jeff Iller Sensei I found myself at the home of Dr. Jeff Cooper going over kneck crank takedowns from Seipai in tandem with a crash course in basic anatomy and physiology.
Most sixteen year olds would have a headache after such a session, but I ate it up, I have always found this stuff to be fun in a sick and twisted sort of way.
I was the only one in Aikido class laughing as I flew threw the air, laughing still as I slammed into the matts.
Even in Brazillian Jujitsu class, I would shout 'woohoo' all the way through a takedown, and people would often joke about the abnormal flexibility in my arms and wrists like I was some kind of freak.
Unfortunately I was not born that way, that is just me taking it a step at a time, building up a tolerance and pushing to the next set of limits that need breaking.

This topic will prove to be very interesting and is something I feel can be covered to some depth for some time; there will be more to post on the Occult topic at a later date, for now, I am excited to see what Shinzen Sensei digs up and posting more on this stuff.
This is going to be a lot of fun.

Embusen - Insights Into Karate's Dynamic Sphere.

It is amazing what you notice when the boundaries are removed and you begin to study things from whatever point strikes your fancy.
Not that anything goes, but the pieces really start to fall into place. I was studying a few movements from Saifa Kata and then started to realize some things as I applied different embusen to the movements, namely, side to side instead of forward and back on a straight line.
Naihanchin Kata is a central Kata in the Shorin systems, at least that is the generally accepted history, but many affirm that even Miyagi Sensei practiced Naihanchin, Seiko Higa was also said to have practiced Naihanchin, yet they did not pass it on, or so we think.

Generally people wonder where the other Kata came from, namely Seiyunchin, Saifa, and others, but if we look closer it seems to me that they are similar to Naihanchin in many respects.
That is not to say that is where they draw their origin, but that Naihanchin may have played an inspirational role.
In either case, the point of the matter is not only study, but experimentation, getting to know the principles of movement from various angles, in this sense, various Embusen.
Not only that, but really looking at what the whole body is doing in each position; approaching the study of each as though it were an entire method unto itself, instead of just a collection of techniques.
Techniques are secondary to the principles, they are only correct insofar as they work according to those principles, and the principles may differ depending on various factors, including size, distance, ect.

One must also take into account the overall mindset that plays out in each scenario, but most importantly is the idea of merging itself, Mushin, bringing everything to one point where the lines blur, there is no division.
It is a moving study of oneself, the whole self, not just the limited aspects, as one is not just the body, one must also take into account the mind, the intent, the spirit, and the fact that the environment itself is an extention of the self, like a Bo or Bokken is an extention of the hand/arm.
This is the true dynamic of classical Karate, regardless of tradition.

Fitness Center Correspondence.

This is a copy of an email exchange I've recently had with the fitness center regarding the (mis)representation of the upcoming Karate Class they are offering. I understanding that this is also an advertisement for the Karate Class, I like Matt Thomas and wish him much success.
Anyways, this was a suggestion I had made, as their website states that they welcome suggestions toward improvement.

***

David Chapman wrote:
> Hello,
> Regarding your listing for 'Gojo' Karate, I am uncertain if this was an uninformed advertisement, but again, there is no such system as 'Gojo' Karate.
> Matthew Thomas teaches JKA Shotokan Karate and he is a skilled teacher in his own right, so it would be respectful to have him stand on his own merit, rather than misrepresenting what he teaches.
> It is different from Goju Ryu Karate, and the advertisement can lead people to think that is what he is teaching when it is not.
> Again, it would be better to include a full bio on Thomas Sensei and his art to allow people to make an informed decision on whether or not to accept lessons. Thomas Sensei's skills speak for themselves and I would even be willing to sign up for lessons with him as I have trained with him numerous times before and have tremendous respect for him.
> Sincerely,
> David Chapman.
> Representing an Active Group of Goju Ryu Karateka in Suncrest.
>
>
Mr. Chapman:

We have a complete binder of information representing Mr. Thomas that he provided us, including his bio for our members review. He and I have discussed your concerns and he sees no need to change anything we have done to this point. If you have any further concerns, Mr. Thomas is agreeable in speaking with you.

***

I had hoped the term 'Gojo Karate' was the result of the uninformed, but according to the above, it was not as they have Thomas Sensei's cradentials in print in a binder, so a mix-up could not have been possible.
Considering the owner's wife is ranked in Goju Ryu Karate under Jerry Coulter Sensei, who operates a Dojo in Spokane, over on Garland, I had failed to grasp how such an 'uninformed' mix-up was possible, however, benefit of the doubt being given, I inquired and was corrected by an associate of Mr. Thomas.
Great, that is fine, they also suggested that this could have been the result of a mix-up by someone who was not informed.
Unfortunately they were informed and are not providing the corrected information as part of their advertising, not good business in a community this size.

I know, get off my soap box, right? I don't think so. I started a few years ago with an uncomfortable experience involving a local Sensei and his Senior Students, that was the breaking point that created the 'Critical Corner' blog.
I am strictly against manipulation, misinformation, misrepresentation, and outright deception - even if it is a product of the misinformed, it is better to address it at the source and see to it that correct information reaches people for the benefit of both parties.
In some cases this result cannot be reached, that is why I left the Dojo of the local Sensei and his Senior Students on the south side and went to another Dojo, advising a friend to go to that Dojo as well.
That is also why I decided to take up teaching and ultimately decided to leave the fitness center after a year and a half.

I had lost an adult class operating out of that facility due to billing issues; mind you I was with my students when they paid their monthly dues at the front desk, and also with them when they received the bill for the charges they'd just paid, again, in my presence.
They were barred from the building until payment was received and ultimately my adult class was discontinued because they refused to come back as the billing was spotty and the practices of the business were questionable.
I kept training with them outside the fitness center, because, for me, Karate is not a business.
One person, John Evans, was still being charged the full price he had been paying as a member of Karate and a member of the fitness center while his son was training in my class; but I was told I was not allowed to train him in Karate even though he was paying the fee.
Not to mention this guy provided a roof over my head when I needed a place to go for a time, no expectation, no questions asked, so naturally there is more to it than checks and balances.
I have been the sympathetic ear to many around the area who have felt the need to express their disdain for the establishment, including former members who quit going altogether because of billing practices and the price range of the services, not just my classes.

So, I have as much reason to want to see them go under as anyone else in the community, but my main concern was that they get the correct information out to people so that they can make an informed decision that will benefit both parties in the long run.
Allowing Thomas Sensei's teaching to stand on its' own merit and speak for itself, while allowing the fitness center to benefit from Thomas Sensei's deep knowledge base by bringing in students.
They are well aware of the difference, yet they continue the misrepresentation, in the long run it will make people think that I have come back and am starting up classes again, or it will make people think that some other Goju Ryu Karate teacher is in the area teaching Goju Ryu, which is an outright attempt to attract Goju Ryu Karateka into the fold.
That is fine, I encourage cross training, I have no problem with it and would even be thrilled to become a student of Thomas Sensei's in Shotokan, but this itself is a complete slap in the face to Thomas Sensei, and me.
Not to mention that those who are informed enough to research 'Gojo Karate' will find nothing, thus turning away many more prospective students.
(understanding, of course, that many do not research before hand, at least that used to be the case, many more are researching these days - the public are not idiots and will not be treated as such).

The refusal of the suggestion that could prove more beneficial than harmful is simply unfounded; unless they feel they will not benefit from promoting Shotokan Karate under their banner.
That is the ultimate disrespect toward a Karateka of Thomas Sensei's caliber.

Isolation Training.

Constant improvement is the name of the game, the job is never done, the training is never ending.
It is always a good idea to isolate certain aspects of the whole so that one can focus in on them to gain a deeper understanding and improve upon the overall structure.
One day or week it may be kicks, or even just one type of kick, a few minutes here, a few minutes there, with a full days worth of training nothing by that area of focus thrown in somewhere in the middle.

As the old saying goes, give an inch, take a mile; this is true in training as well, if you inch your way up, then you end up finding that you've actually travelled a mile, if not more.
I like to take this principle and apply it to Kata, as I've said before, isolating a certain string of movements, not really focusing on how 'Jodan Uke' might link to 'Jodan Tsuki' in the case of Gekesai, but really just focusing on how the movement as a whole works as a single unit.
I look for breaks in the movement, areas that seem to detract from, rather than add to the efficiency of the whole motion.
Sometimes it is useful to break it down to the level of individual techniques as that may be where the improvement needs to be made, but these are nothing more than momentary labels, useful conceptual tools to help focus, like a conceptual microscope.
We cannot dispense with conceptual blending, because that is how the mind works, so it is best to understand this aspect as well, so training can even be isolated to understanding and improving upon the workings of the mind and mental states.

There is also the useful tool of speed, the ability to slow things down in training allows for a closer, more detailed look at things, offering the closest thing possible to a bird's eyed view of what you are doing.
The saying used to be, 'Go Slow to Learn Fast,' a saying I have just stolen from Kris Wilder, I don't know from whom he stole it originally, but it makes a lot of sense when you apply it, yet another conceptual tool manifest through physical movement.
Couple this with visualization and you add depth; you can visualize different sorts of scenarios, different types and sizes of people, each of which add something different, a different angle that will present different challenges.
Even outside the realm of physical training, one can take the visualization method on its' own and actually 'train' while they are not training, as elite athletes often praise the benefits of visualization outside of physical training as a factor in their performance levels.

Practicing on hills, on rocky terrain, on slippery terrain, in the street, wearing boots, a heavy coat, ect.
Each of things things brings something unique as well and should not be ruled out as training impliments, or a different level and type of Hojo Undo that is supplimentary to traditional Hojo Undo training.
Not only does it condition the body to work in different ways according to different environmental challenges, but because of its' nature, it is naturally portable and has direct relevence to the goals the Karateka may be seeking to achieve.

Specifically on isolation of certain aspects, a punch is a good example when it comes to the depth isolation training can bring.
You will learn what works and what does not in the simple mechanics of a punch, then make changes according to what works, while cutting out what does not.
It is easy to see how this might be applied to other things, even outside Karate, it gives the mind an edge that other people might not have, thus, can be a factor in success at work, at home, and at play.

The Healthy Path, Karate and Other Interests.

So, I have started to write a story that I began to flesh out about five years ago, nothing really to do with Martial Arts, I just thought it would be an interesting endeavor and the timing feels right.
Doubt it will ever get published, but I have always found writing and drawing to be fulfilling activities outside of Karate, but are they truly outside of Karate training?

Back at the Olympic Martial Arts Center, the old Bremerton Dojo at which I first started my training, my Sensei would hold art classes an hour before the first Karate class was set to begin.
He went over various 'techniques' for drawing, his method utilized a carpenter's pencil and the idea was to draw something interesting with what you were presented, without letting the tip of the pencil leave the paper, and you were timed - it was speed drawing.
He also went over a method for isolating certain pictures in a grid and drawing only within that square, one square at a time; then there were methods of tracing, which I was not too fond of, but it did help you get a feel for what you were drawing before going at it free-hand.
I always felt the free-hand pictures to be more interesting than the traced pictures; while the traced pictures did have a certain character to them, there is nothing like free-hand.

Recently I was exploring different ways to approach writing; some methods were like the tracing methods, in which you took a piece of someone else's story, wrote down that portion of it, then took off on your own, ultimately deleting the part that was not your own.
This exercise produces some interesting results, it gives you something to work with, but allows you to go off in whatever direction happens to lead the way resulting in something very unique.
A combination of the free-form and tracing method utilized for drawing above, similar to the way a Karateka might utilize Kata and Kihon training.

There was also the idea of taking one of those word magnet things, making a sentence, and running with it, seeing where it went.
Then it recommended checking the headlines, taking a headline and toying with the idea, seeing where it goes, or advice sections in the newspaper - for the more science fiction oriented, it even recommended taking headlines from tabloids in order to see what sort of wierd ideas might pop up.

As a poet I often play around with words and formations, this is a fun little exercise, but more often than not, the poem just happens, it just forms as I write it and when I am done, I have what I have.
Another piece of advice, from Kris Wilder actually, was that the most interesting writings often exclude self reference as 'I approached so and so' as much as possible.
An interesting little tidbit that has truly made my writing more interesting; the first practice I had with that was writing a portion for one of his books that was to be called 'Why We Train,' or something along those lines, ultimately the book never came to be.

None of these are any different than Karate, in fact, I noticed early on, as a child (maybe I was mistaken) that the majority of people in the old Dojo were artists in some other respect aside from Karate.
Even now I notice such things when I meet and get to know other Budoka in my journey down the path, many could be, and often are, great artists and writers, philosophers of a sort.
One such person is someone I have never met in person, but often trained with my Teacher, Michael Dascenzo, his name is Gary Gabelhouse, a longtime Karate student, a published author, a mountaineer, and, at the time he came to the Dojo, a Teacher of Bonzai.
Apparently he had written a book to which he had also sold the movie rights, at least that was the news a long time ago, I have not seen a movie produced from his book as of yet.

The book that the movie 'Bless the Child' was based on was written by a student of both Zen and Goju Ryu Karate.
The book differs quite a bit from the movie in that it alludes to more of an underlying Zen outlook and includes the Karate element of the author's life as a strong point for the main character.
The movie contains neither of these things, but is still a good movie never the less, if you like the psychoreligious-horror-thriller-type movies.

Another great benefit of Karate training, the ability to try new things and to discover ourselves in whtever we happen to try, whether or not we actually do anything with it.
It is not a question of success or failure, it is about just doing it and seeing what happens.
It most certainly is not a healthy path to have no other interests outside of Karate, but that doesn't mean that Karate does not play a big part.

Don't Think, Just Do.

At this point I find that the little things make all the difference, doing a little here, and a little there; two minutes on a break, five minutes in between doing other things, and perhaps a couple long sessions during the week.
It can be a moment just to stand in Horse Stance with intense focus, maybe taking a couple steps in horse stance, maintaining that intense focus, or it can be in running through some reps with the Chi'ishi, again, maintaining intense focus.

My student, Guy Smith, used to take a long heavy metal pole he'd found in his back yard and practice rotating it in different directions with focus solely on strengthening the wrists, as a result, a few minutes a day, every day, and it was near impossible to get a wrist lock on him.
The man trained EVERY DAY, he'd run through Kata every day, he went to extremes to get the movements and principles down and in a matter of a few months he'd picked up the underlying principles and appeared as if he had been doing them for years.
Nevermind the physical training, that was the easy part, as it often is, the mental training he'd done is what made all the difference; he took something I'd said to heart, 'This is the only technique you need to know,' is what I said as I slapped my belly indicating Haragei.
That is the only technique he really trained, and even when he wasn't training, he trained it, it made all the difference - it is the technique of no technique, getting passed the general concept and straight to the principle, where the concept is meaningless, true meaning is beyond conception.
Another key factor is in non-grasping, it is good to have a goal, but the goal should not impede the training; the quest to understand is not as important as actually doing the task.
Certainly you will find differing ways in which to improve yourself as you are training, and that is the point. They will come to light naturally, it does not need to be forced, and you also do not need to stew over it.

When I read a textbook I treat it as though I am reading a good Novel, I do not try to grasp anything, I simply read, I let the words go by, in one ear and out the other as my step-dad used to say, but doing this I find that I have a greater grasp of the subject matter than when I actually try to grasp it.
It is not simply a 'grasp' of the subject, it is an understanding, in my own words, like it enters my consciousness and mingles with my pscyhe (soul, whatever you want to call it) and becomes part and parcel, although I suspect it was always there, therefor nothing is really gained (Dogen was right).
Perhaps, even now, I am using too many words. A better way to put it is just read, or just train.

Sometimes I will grab a long piece of dowling, go out to a dirt pile in the part of the back yard that is my son's dirt bike track and just practice stationary sword cuts with the intent to stop just short of making contact.
I find that training in one area often bleeds into others and control is a great aspect to develop, because if you can control even down to the centimeter, or less, then the possibilities are endless.
Focused direction of intent, focus, again, is the key word, the root word, that is the main point.
It is not about thought, it is about focus, it is not about understanding, really, it is about focus.

Pros and Cons.

The best way to test the impact power of a strike, whether with the hands or the feet, is to impact something.
In tournament training they used to have us perform specific things to perfection, not necessary to effective application; they would train us to make something look crisp, clean, and have a little snap of the heavy-weight gi on the end just for emphasis, to impress the judges, nothing more.

I was very good at this, I trained for hours upon hours to get things down, to get them right, without really questioning what I was doing.
Even when I no longer had the urge to compete, I kept at it with a mind to achieve oneness with every technique, as was the way of my Teacher.
I did find that when I sparred certain things came out, but they were not readily understood.
The directness of the training does not necessarily need to be so direct, as the idea of timing is built in to understanding the timing of Kata, the idea of rhythm is there, the applications are there as well, albeit to a lesser degree.

I also took to the fighting, or Kumite aspect, which is nothing like fighting, but does have its' upside.
I became very good at breaking the timing, owning the rhythm, utilizing my whole body, the footwork and hand positions worked in tandem as key factors in my stragey, but the greatest key factor was the Kime I had developed, the Zanshin, the Fudo-Shin, the indomitable spirit, the spirit to move in like a predator, to rip the defense to pieces and claim the point.
That does not mean I had any power to my technique, the training was not geared toward those ends, it was a glorified game of tag that I did not start questioning until later on.
Now, the younger crowd can run circles around me with their pesky little taps, but one good hit would drop them and disqualify me. The last tournament I competed in was for fun, I had barely gotten any points, but landed a nice uppercut to the ribs; I actually felt the bone through my thick padded gloves, knocked the guy back, weezing, but he'd tagged me before falling backward and 'won' the match.

That is not a good test of one's metal, it does not take into account the amount of Sanchin training a person has had, nor the amount of power output the person is capable of generating, or lack there-of.
My good friend Levi, from the Family Karate Center (a student of Gene Villa Sensei) once summed it up like this, 'If I draw blood and get disqualified, then I know I have won the fight, I might not have won the match according to the rules of the game, but I won the fight (because of training to those ends).'
He also joked about how the Russians did not know what pads were during the IOGKF World Championships and how the entire Russian Team was disqualified, along with a Sensei from Okinawa who was set off by a well placed kick from a Russian opponent.

Does not sound like good sportsmanship, but ultimately it rings true in most cases; good technique in tournaments does not translate to effective technique in application.
That is the difference between Traditional and Classical, at least if you want to use such terms, the terms don't matter, the art speaks for itself. There are benefits to both approaches.

Portability, not Disability.

What is the importance of stepping in a system? When I think of a stance, I try not to think of them as stances, but snapshots of transitional positions, the 'stances' as a set concept simply do not exist for more than a split second.
The reason we train stances is for familiarization, ingraining specific mechanics to the point of becoming second nature.
Is that entirely true? If it is true then why do so many people revert to the bouncing/dancing style of tournament sparring? It has portability, whereas the ideal of a stance is understood as supplimentary, yet the supplimental principles are rarely utilized as many of us Westerners, indeed, not just Westerners, tend to revert to Boxing.

Personally I don't see a problem with Boxing, the principles are sound, well tested, and should really be examined.
My Grandfather was a Golden Glove Boxer and noted just how many similarities there were between some of the stances I practiced and the basic boxing stance. He said it was almost like someone took aspects of the Boxing stance and cut them apart into little pieces.
Not entirely true, I think he may have been being nice, trying to make conversation or something along those lines, but, as families go, Boxing is also a tradition in mine and I was trained in the basics, so I can kindof see what he was saying.

There is more to the 'stances' however, but we must think of them more like 'footwork' rather than stances; does that mean that we get rid of stances altogether? No.
We must re-arrange our perspective in order to take in the whole picture, that there are no stances, that Zenkutsu Dachi and Sanchin Dachi are both aspects of the same thing, the same centralized stance, which will take shape depending on the over-all strategy.

Shifting between rooted and non-rooted should not be an issue, moving while maintaining alignment should also not be an issue; stances should be portable and useable, they're not just for supplimental training.
Why would you train one way and apply yourself according to a completely different set of motion dynamics?
It really makes absolutely no sense, it is like learning one thing that you will never use under the guise of fitness and conditioning, then moving in ways that are completely contrary to your training.
That is like teaching a Soldier to cook, complete with a pink apron, with very little time devoted to actual soldering, then expecting them to dawn the fatigues and go out to soldier.
Not a good analogy, I know, but hopefully the point is clear. Punching air is not the same as punching an object, just as stepping, planting, standing, and stepping again is not the same as fluid movement.

Shake Some Leaves.

It is interesting, and somewhat refreshing, when someone says to me that they are a bit too 'traditional' for my tastes, yet they end up here, reading this blog.
It is not that I am against Tradition, to me, there are many different forms of tradition, which is obvious by the differing forms we see within the world of Martial Arts.

Okinawan Karate is different from Japanese Karate, even when one tries to assimilate the traditions of the other, there remains a stark difference in content.
Even from school to school the content may differ, while in Japanese tradition everything is centralized, or at least it tries to be centralized, with very little difference from one to the other.
That is the ideal anyway, not necessarily the practice, and because it is not necessarily the practice it is not necessarily the reality.

Shinzen Sensei had posted a good post on the attitude of Tay-Gay, something uniquely Okinawan, the idea that things are not so rigid or orderly, 'let the chips fall where they may.'
It reminded me of what Gandalf the Wizard said in the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring, 'A Wizard is never late, he arrives exactly when he means to.'
Less structured, yet even amid chaos there arises structure, so while structure exists, it is not nearly as important.

Japanese structure everything, absolutely everything; this reminds me of a story I once heard from my Zen/Karate Teacher about a man who was a master Gardener in Japan.
He was putting his sons to the test to see who would succeed him in the family business, each of them set out to create the perfect garden, he inspected each, and when he came to his eldest son's garden it was perfectly arranged, perfectly ordered, right down to the lowliest stone on the path.
'Almost perfect,' he said as he sat thinking while looking at a tree, he then snapped his fingers, went up to the tree, shook it, causing all the flowers to fall on the ground, 'That's it!'
So, while there is order, there must never be so strict an adherence to order, otherwise everything is just a steril recreation of the former, there is no touch, no creativity, no spontaneity, no life.

That, to me, is the essence of Tradition. There is a certain spirit to it, a feel to it that goes beyond words.
Shotokan considers the three 'K's' to be traditional teaching, and in regards to Shotokan, they are, just as Sport Karate is a tradition among Sport Karateka, especially if it is a family affair, or if they are passing on that specific aspect of the art.
The ascetics are an aim of many Traditional Karate schools, but in my view, ascetics are not so important (this coming from a guy who used to compete on a regular basis in Kata and Kumite).
This is where, I believe, the paradigm shift occurs. Pragmatic or Applied Karate versus what we had/have before.
It is not the same, the methods are not altogether the same; the approach is very Kata Centric, but ultimately it is not as clean cut as the other and the end result is a bit rough around the edges, but the spirit of 'Tradition' remains.
All it is is shaking the leaves up a bit.

Zach Kohrdt June 30, 1995 - December 14, 2009

My wife has had the opportunity to meet many interesting people in the small community of Suncrest, having taken a job up at Suncrest Gas and Grocery.
Wherever she goes, she tries to do what she can for people, regardless of how well she knows them.

I did not have the opportunity to meet Zach, unfortunately he passed away on December the 14th of this year.
Often we take for granted the lives that we are given, we don't really realize just how short it is, or can be.
My own Daughter almost died at birth, I lost a Niece, Martha, to heart problems, she was only two years old, and a Nephew, Sabastian, to an underdeveloped heart, he only lived for eight days, just long enough to say good bye to the parents he would never really know.
I feel there is good reason for everything that happens, though sometimes things might seem senseless, perhaps it is not for us to comprehend as our comprehension of such things tends to distort the true purpose, we're limited in that way and such limitations help to keep us humble.

My Nephew has a twin sister that is alive and well nearly eleven years later; looking back, it was obvious, he was her big brother, he gave his heart up so that she could live a full and healthy life, with no complications.
Both her parents are Deaf, and her mother's side of the family has a history of heart issues, she inherited neither.
My Nephew seemed to take all these things on himself. Many might say I am reading into it a bit too much and that this is, perhaps, a play of human nature in the need to make sense of things.
Ultimately they may be right and often things are not what they seem, but, at the same time, things are exactly what they seem to be.

My heart goes out to Zach's family, as no parent should ever have to out live their child, many cannot comprehend the pain that they must feel right now, and I hope that many more never have to.
His services will be held tonight at 7 PM at the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, 6116 N. Market St. Spokane.

The Not So New Kid On The Block.

The new kid on the block turns out not to be so new after all, it was a pleasant surprise to find that Matt Thomas Sensei was picking up where I left off and that the 'Gojo Karate' advertisement may have amounted to nothing more than uninformed information distribution.
Classes at the Suncrest Fitness Center are resuming under the banner of Matt Thomas and JKA Shotokan as of January, definitely well worth the price they are going to charge, unfortunately some may not have the opportunity as the price has been the issue in the past for many families in the area.

I know Thomas Sensei does not need my vote of confidence, as his skill speaks for itself, but he definitely has it; I'm certain he'll work out some schedules that more than compensate for the differing skill levels on the training floor.
If I could, I would sign up for classes too, dawn the white belt again, at least in my time away from my usual training, and learn more of what he has to offer.
As much as I like and trust Thomas Sensei, however, I do not trust the billing practices of the fitness center, so I may not be able to attend classes.

For anyone in the area reading this, I do recommend that you stop by if you're in the area when classes resume in January and train with Thomas Sensei.
He is a very well rounded and knowledgeable Karateka with years of experience not just in Karate, but in Chinese Martial Arts, American Kempo, and Okinawan Karate as well.
A very open minded individual, I first met him at a seminar on Sanchin Kata we hosted for Kris Wilder here in Spokane, the second time he and his son came to a class and we had a note sharing session, in which they performed some Goju Ryu Kata and we took part in performing a Shotokan Kata.
We picked them apart, examined them from a practical angle, and left with some more questions in mind, at least I did, and that is always a good thing, very thought provoking.
He's also had practical experience in the Correctional Profession. So not only does he know his material, he understands it from various angles and is definitely rooted in his training.

This is going to be a very interesting new year to say the least. Good to see more activity out here.
Now, if only we can formulate some way to bring everyone together as a community for such training at least one weekend a month.

New Kid on the Block?

I just recently noticed a new school of Karate opening, proclaiming to teach Gojo Karate.
I wonder if this is a typo on the name of the 'style' or if it is actually the name of the 'style' the person is proclaiming to teach?
I've seen Goju Ryu spelled as Gojo Ryu in romanization, but I often wonder, when I come across even a slight mispelling.

Maybe it is not so important, but I think a person needs to be careful when they decide they want to take up training because just about anyone can open a school, even with only a few days experience at a previous school.
I'm not against the foundation of a new approach to things, even dubbing it as a new 'style,' though I am not one who believes in 'styles' per se, I do feel that training should be carried out to the fullest extent possible, complete with the availability to have students verify, especially if it is a commercial endeavor; otherwise it should be stamped 'Buyer Beware.'

I don't even so much mind these schools opening their doors, as long as it is advertised as such, with no real sugar coating or anything added to the advertisement for the 'appeal factor.'
If there is truly something worthwhile about the training, then it will be evident and they would be able to utilize that in order to promote their school or system, rather than passing it off as something it is not, even by way of allusion rather than outright fraud.

I know where my training comes from, and I have a paper trail to prove it, I have plenty of sources that can verify it, and I provide this freely to my students so that they can verify for themselves.
I would also expect this of anyone that I train with, regardless of 'traditions' and 'etiquette,' if I am paying money for training, respect aside, I want to know more about the person I am receiving that training from.
More so if I were to enroll my children in a class with anyone else, should they express such an interest, for children are the most vulnerable and uninformed parents are really only contributing to the problem.

The new place, in question, is actually an old place; the place where I used to Teach.
They were running an 8 week Self Defense Course after I'd left and then announced that new classes will be starting in January, among those classes is listed Gojo Karate.
I'm hoping, for the sake of the community, that it is just a typo and it is something legit and not just something thrown together or drawn out of a hat because, as their reputation goes, they are not the best at billing practices and they will charge an outrageous amount of money for participation in this class, on top of membership fees and everything else.

I don't mean to be negative in this regard, but fortunately, or unfortunately, many in the community will not be able to afford the pricing for the services of the Instructor and what they have to offer.
One of the chief reasons I left that group, that, and they attempt to dictate the classroom and whom can be present for the training period without any real regard for differing levels in ability, so one class, an hour session, nothing more. With new people coming in and old people leaving in frustration because there is no real advancement as things need to keep starting at the basic level, this is not good for business to begin with.
Most Dojo have multiple class times, beginner, intermediate, advanced, with an all-ranks class thrown in the mix somewhere so that all bases are covered and it is often a requirement that seniors attend the basics classes on a regular basis, as it is all in the basics.

We'll see though, I'm hoping it is legit; perhaps I'll go sign up for sessions and see what it is all about, get to know the instructor and see if they are interested in training off the training floor as well.
Would be nice to have more of a group involvement out in this small community, it was nice to have Matt Thomas Sensei drop by for some training, and some correspondence with a guy named Ben who studied Enshin Karate, would have liked to get together with that guy too.
There are not too many people in this area interested in forming a close-knit community or training cooperative, something akin to what they have in Seattle, my stomping grounds, there's no place like home... ;)

Karate and the Occult 3 and a Half.

If you take Seipai as an example, my favorite Kata by far, many say that it is related to the principles of Dragon Quan Fa.
Taking that into account, whether it is accurate or not, one can clearly see the 'slithering' nature of the Kata, when this is allowed to permeate, one can feel it as they go through it.
Even if they break it down for practical study, this feeling is necessary for the principles to work.
Therefor, it is not about the form itself, it is about the principle of movement and the spirit that gives it life.

The Nordics/Vikings used to induce a 'Berzerker' mindset through ritual, taking mind altering substances while going into a frenzy around a camp fire before taking that frenzied, or berzerker mindset onto the field of battle where they would devastate their enemies.
Their myths and legends played a key role in their warlike mindset as well, according to their myth they saught after order, with the Gods fighting the Giants, whom symbolized chaos, death, darkness, suffering. Valhalla was the reward for the lives they lived according to their traditions.
They were among the most feared people on the face of the Earth in their time.

The masses believed in their Gods and Goddesses, but the inner circle of the Priesthood, regardless of which tradition to which you are referring, had other insights into such myths, this is why they were the Priesthood, this is why they had monopoly on the souls of those they served in that respect.
The Romans themselves understood social engineering; Plato understood it based on his use of the concept in his work 'Republic' which outlines how such things can be used to control the masses if the true information is kept to a select few in secret and the rest are fed half-truths and kept in the dark through censorship in just about every aspect of life.
This was used to train and mold the perfect 'Guardian' of the imaginary 'Republic' in mind, body, and spirit, complete with a creation story for the Republic itself that is meant to act as a trigger for patriotic spirit through which the Guardian would draw his will to fight and protect the Republic as the 'Chosen' state.

Native Americans would dawn war-paint, go through rituals headed by the tribal holy man, or Shaman, prior to going into battle they would dance around a fire inducing a frenzy, complete with drums and mind-altering substances.
When they went into battle they would let out that terribly familiar shout, or war cry, in fact, the idea of sacred sounds or songs is common among the many tribes.
It is common throughout the world, regardless of religion or not; we can feel how certain songs on the radio effect us.
Some songs make us happy, some induce some nostalgic memories, others get us depressed, others make us angry, some give us terrible headaches.
These effects are further amplified when you add alcohol to the mix and, depending on the type of alcohol, specific moods can be singled out for amplification. I know Yaeger has a rather vile effect on me when taken in conjunction with certain forms of music, now I refrain from drinking.

Certain foods can have this effect too, some foods make you feel like absolute crap, other foods make you feel great and, when you look at your moods, some of this can be traced to the types of food you eat on a regular basis (not to mention what the food does to the body, something to think about).
Red dye in drinks, soda, and other food products has been linked to aggressive behavior along with products containing processed sugar.
[There is a study outlined in a book called 'The Owner's Manual to the Brain,' one of my favorite books on the subject, in which sugar was taken off the menue for inmates entirely, save in the form found in natural fruit; the results showed an almost instantaneous decrease in violent crimes across the board, especially among the inmates more prone to violence, such as murderers].
Colors in the visual spectrum can have similar effects on moods as well, some colors are conducive to calm, rest, learning, ect.
Other colors are conducive to depressive moods, moments of reflection, regret, anger, anxiety, ect.

The voice itself carries a lot of power when wielded by skillful orators. Case in point, every time our current president speaks, whether you agree with him or not, you find yourself wrestling with your mind as your mind succumbs to the oscillations behind the words.
His tone seems flat, but it has more commonalities with ritual chants than it does with normal speech, so it is meant to sound flat, with raising oscillations, or emphasis in certain areas, yet never leaving the base tone meant to lull the mind into a sense of pliability.
Once this is achieved and the mind fully succumbs it can be lead in just about any direction the orator chooses, in this case, words, or tones indirectly dictating actions.

I've used this method myself when I worked as a sales representative for a phone company, selling phone packages and hardware was something I took to rather quickly, I knew the product, so I knew how to sell it.
Most importantly, I was trained on how to talk when I sold it and it came rather naturally, I could make the most unappealing product sound like a luxury to just about anyone, no matter how much they protested.
It was like finding the right frequency, breaking them down, and ultimately winning them over, they would get all glazed over in the eyes and nod in agreement after even a short amount of time.
They had to take me off of sales due to the amount of money I was making in commission, and this is not something I am proud of, I often had trouble sleeping at night, so utilization of such a thing for the wrong reasons does take its' toll.
Over the course of the next few years I would watch to see how much our current President ages, how tired he looks, even now, I can notice the change in him as a result of his using such a skill in such a manner.
Of course some might attribute this to some kind of mystical retribution, and that may be the case, but what I know, personally, is that I felt terrible, drained, like I was constantly assailed in my sleep and while I was awake, but that is beneath the surface, always presenting a smiling face is another occult skill called 'masking' and can be very intimidating in its' own right.
We do this a lot actually, especially those with the machismo mindset.

Relating back to Karate, sound is an effective way of inducing that 'fighting spirit' while scaring the hell out of the opponent, Kiai-Jutsu.
This is something that is not often touched upon to any respectable depth in any school of Martial Arts (of course there will be a few exceptions to the rule, but often what I hear is fairly weak).
This can be seen in an angry exchange where one person starts yelling, cussing, pointing, shifting vision, pacing back and forth, he is charged for the fight and determines the other person's mindset through his body and voice, which are conduits for the transfer of his aggressive energy into the opponent; this can be considered almost like an emotionally charged assault on the senses.
We already know the mind and body are effected by the environment and the people in that environment, someone skilled in such things would find it easy to avoid conflict altogether utilizing nothing more than Kiai-Jutsu in this form.
It is not artificial, it must involve the whole mind, body, and spirit, as in all things.

Karate and the Occult 3.

The idea of Solo Kata performance, in my view, was a suppliment to the central aspect of application, not the other way around.
There are many purposes for supplimental solo training, one, to practice skills learned when a partner is not readily available, and two, to continually develop internal aspects of the mind/body/spirit complex.

How does this link with previous posts in the series I have started posting on a whim?
The term Thelema is popular among followers of the occultist and hedonist, Aleister Crowley, who also spent some time studying some form of Eastern Philosophy in addition to Masonic Ritual.
The ritual, like the practice of Karate, whether solo or with a partner, is considered as the conduit of the will (Thelema), and true will has a way of affecting change.
This is directly related to the teaching that 'All is Mind' but in this instance it is focused primarily on mental action in the form of 'Will.'
Will, itself, can be related to the concept of Fudo-Shin or indomitable spirit, or strong willed, which manifests in Fudo Tai, the indomitable body.
This can further be related to the writings of Alan Watts in which the environment is taken as an extention of oneself, both physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Carl Jung also refers to meaningful coincidence as an extention of this, or a principle of interaction between the two modes of existence.
He terms it as 'Synchronicity' in which events happen in a meaningful way in direct relation to something going on in the mental or, what he terms, the psychic mode of existence (psychic, in this instance is not referring to extra-sensory perception).
This also links to his teachings of Dream symbology in mythology, that Dreams have meaning, that they are communications from the Collective Unconscious - he holds that the same is true of Synchronicity, that the Collective Unconscious is not just limited to mental process.
Quantum Theory states a similar principle in how the mind/will of the observer directly effects what is observed.
An example of this is in the experiments that proved light as waves, yet also proved light as particles; two separate experiments by two different people proving two different hypothesis, seemingly contradicting one another, yet both hold as true.
(Certainly not concrete evidence, nor a very good example on my part, I do apologize).

In the beginning we learn the form, at least that is how it goes in many schools, then we learn the intricacies of mechanics (that is how it should be, often this amounts to nothing more than corrections to make the performance look good), after we have integrated all this, we learn more about visualization, and how to utilize visualization to direct intent/will.
I have felt this as smaller movements within larger movements, seemingly like tracers from glow-sticks outlining a path of intent within the body that directs the flow of that intent outward along certain pathways, to which the body conforms in mechanical structure for optimal output.

The practice of mindfulness is a foundation for this, as with mindfulness comes understanding, with understanding comes the insight on how to do something, with insight comes intent, with intent comes action.
Repetative training along these lines will ingrain the method into habit, thus, instantaneous, but we often get hung up on things, the way becomes blocked, so we never really get to that point with certain things.
One of those things is the fact that often we are painted a very rigid picture of how things are supposed to be, we are not given very good explanations, so we cannot penetrate to the true nature of training itself.
That sort of programming is meant to keep people in line, keep the pockets of the Instructor lined with cash, and the school doors open so that more people can come in and pay for training.
Crowley once used this tactic, where he taught one group one thing and another group something completely different; he stated to each group that they were learning the real teaching and that the other was receiving something false, that he was just using the group for financial support (as both groups were made up of prominent figures in society at the time).
If we examine that it becomes obvious that he may have been using both groups and offering his true understanding to neither, or at least offering only bits and pieces to both, as would have been in keeping with his character.

In the case of Karate, there is no one unified body governing everything, if there is, I have not heard of it.
Within each organization lay a person in the 'know' so to speak, with the Instructors beneath them subservient to the standards that have been put in place, with requirements in place to follow such standards for every PAYING member of the organization.
They're paying for the house, the car, the Dojo, the member Dojos across the country, ect., yet they are only given bits and pieces, while their immediate instructors only posess bits and pieces, the guy at the top supposedly has the whole enchilada and he is keeping it to himself until someone else comes along that can replace him in his retirement and death.
This continues the whole cycle, and sometimes it is a false continuation as the Teacher may not even give the succeeding student the whole thing, taking the rest of it to the grave, leaving the student to figure it out; especially if the Teacher feels the student is an idiot and needs to be taught a lesson.
I've seen this a lot, one friend I made in a local Aikido School was a Japanese kid, the son of a man teaching his own brand of Jujitsu, but he refused to Teach his son anything more than the basics because he said, 'You're too stupid to learn, go learn from Gaijin!' (This friend of mine stated that his father viewed Gaijin as nothing more than Barbarians).
Hurtful, yes, but it shows something guarded by very strict standards, especially upon the son; something that illustrates a purpose for standards to begin with, and further illustrates the principle of Shu, Ha, Ri, and Ku in action.

Most times these mystical allusions in our modern world, especially by western organization leaders, amounts to nothing more than a commercial ploy to keep people coming in.
The whole idea of Mysticism leads one to a deeper understanding of the mundane, when understanding is gained, the thing that is understood is seen for what it is, in a very Zen moment of insight, it becomes nothing special, the rock becomes nothing more than a rock.
You will hear these quotes from various people in the mainstream, but they usually say them as a pretext to stating something profoundly vague about the inner dimensions of the art.
Anyone can come up with a vague statement that completely boggles the mind, that is what it is meant to do in the first place; to keep the mind off balance, to keep it searching, thirsting after something that may be nothing more than a drink of water easily obtained from a drinking fountain directly behind the Teacher.

Karate and the Occult 2.

The occult has many negative connotations attached to it due to many differing factors, some being attributed to some dangerous personality cults, but even there it is a thin line and often very hard to tell which way something will go.
Yoga has a lot in common with hermeticism, but you find Yoga taught in just about every health club on Earth, yet the mystical underpinnings seem to be toned down in every case.
Some go as far as to light candles to set the mood, doing a bit of meditation that amounts to nothing more than deep breathing, again, nothing of what these health instructors consider 'mystical trappings.'
This is fine as they are only interested in the health aspect, but ultimately American Yoga, as a result, has become nothing more than a trinket available in health clubs.

The same thing is happening with the Martial Arts when it comes to the hands of the health buffs, it is gutted, reworked, and marketed as a great aerobic exercise.
You have Cardio Kickboxing, Tae Bo, the PX90 form of Kempo; again, nothing wrong with these, but one needs to accept them for what they are, Martial Arts void of spirit.
While I did say that I had seen Aikido listed as a personality cult, do I feel it could be understood without what was considered the core spirit by 0-Sensei? I don't think so, it would no longer be Aikido.
Just the same, without understanding the Kundalini process in Kundalini Yoga, how could it be anything more than Health Club Yoga? Certainly the teaching will not take to everyone, some may even scoff at it, but ultimately the complete understanding must include this inner teaching, as with all things.

It is like taking an intellectual approach to Zen, you may be able to recite all the Koans and come up with an intricate answer, but Lin Chi would still smack you on the head and boot you down some stairs because you still have not 'got it.'
No amount of intellectualization will help one to understand the experience, the only thing that will do that is the experience; Zen, without this, is no longer Zen, it is nothing more than the study of Zen.
That does not make a person a Zen Practitioner, if such a thing can even be termed in such a way.

Taking Zen as an example, Carl Jung once said something about there being a great danger in discovering your inner divinity, that one must be very careful; this I took as meaning not to attach to any particular level of understanding because they can lead to folly.
Baker Roshi is a good example of this; I have nothing against the guy, but when he was named as American successor to Suzuki Roshi he gained a lot of influence and power within the community, as such a successor is considered a 'living Buddha' by some.
He took this to heart and used it to selfish ends, leading to a serious scandal within the American Zen Community.
That being said, he was human, he may have been well aware of such trappings, or not, but he gave in to the lesser part of himself.

In my view, Karate, Yoga, Hermetics, and even Shamanism have much in common by way of their inner teachings, many of which have been hidden over the course of many generations (speaking primarily of Karate).
Many people will tell you that Karate is based in Zen Buddhism, which is fine, but when I think of Karate taking root in Chinese animal forms, I often think of Shamanism.
Does there really need to be a difference? No, not really, but Shamanism is a mystical tradition and can be considered as occult with its' own inner teachings; according to these Teachings one can use visualization to learn things, to seek some inner knowledge or truth, ritual dance to induce altered states (some use Peyote), there is also the teaching of 'shapeshifting' ect.
Kata, if you understand it according to the animal traditions, has particular commonalities with ritual shamanism and the concept of 'shapeshifting' or taking on the attributes and spirit of an animal, whether it be real or myth (the difference between a crane and a dragon).
Many people also forget that Shamanism and Warrior Tradition have been intertwined in nearly every ancient culture; Shamanism being a rather modern term that would not have been used in those times, and the primary belief, cross-culture, is that all is mind.
That is also the central teaching of Hermeticism; you also find it in Hinduism with the concept of Brahma within all things, Taoism also espouses it, yet does not espouse it at the same time, very much like Zen.
Buddhism does not deny it, and some traditions do teach this aspect, however, the Pali Canon simply stated that it is unimportant and Buddha neither affirmed or denied it.
Even certain sects of ancient Christianity taught it; Judaism, certain sects, also teach the same thing.

Ancient Druids taught along the same lines and sought to get in touch with nature, their traditions are fairly close to Native American Shamanism.
Okinawa was a matriarchal society for some time and the Priestesses were in charge of lighting the hearth fire in honor of ancestors, so they had a traditional of ancestral worship with the maternal lines taking precedence.
They also had, like other cultures, a tradition of nature worship and, like other tribes around the world, revered the spirit of animals.
Chinese traditions grew out of ancient Shamanistic or nature traditions and carried much influence along those lines for thousands of years.

Shamanistic culture is highly ritualistic, meant to induce altered states in preparation for work, the goal being the achievement of success by the person or tribe on the 'earthly' plane (as many new agers call it, sounds a bit corny in my opinion).
As previously stated, rituals are done in order to ensure success in a specific task, whether it had been hunting, war, or, in our case, getting the interview for that dream job we want, to ensure the stock market levels stay in our favor, ect.
Yeah, it seems silly, but we all do little rituals in our own little ways when we want something to go our way, whether we notice them or not is another issue entirely, but they seem to be built in to our nature.
So-called 'Cave Men' have been performing ritual burials since the dawn of time, from this grew the idea that death saw a passage from one world to another, ect.

The idea of warfare is as old as time itself as well and is intertwined with the need for resources.
One group has something the other wants or needs, so the other will go to war in order to obtain, maintain, and control it.
Plain and simple, that is how it is, no sugar coating, that's what it has been since the dawn of time, from great wars, to small skirmishes, even to muggings.
That may be a bit of an over simplification, as there may be other factors involved, such as insult, or adding insult to injury, but these are usually personal matters and if they are used as a pretext to War they are often utilized to spur the soldiers into a patriotic frenzy with the ritual smear campaigns invoking the idea of good versus evil, ie, liberation versus oppression.
Areas are often taken that have no direct link to the resource, other than strategic placement for staging to achieve the main goal.
All of this is very ritualized as well, even in our modern age, though not directly, and on a much grander scale.

Some cultures believed in taking on the spirit of the animal to help one defeat their enemies on the battlefield.
Thus it is easy to see how such ritual dances and evolve over time as they are passed down, maybe even from a form similar to the play between two animals.
My Aikido Teacher was a Native American who had ties to the Shamanistic tradition, the dances were rather loosely defined, but did have a combative aspect to them, though not directly, they were meant more to get the 'right spirit' he said, depending on the task.
Western traditions seem to be more rigidly defined, some seem less open to certain things, but ultimately, though not openly admitted, are based on the same things against which they protest.

That would be the idea of the occult, secret teachings as defined in the west, yet teachings that are open in other cultures, yet may not be readily offered to the public, taking only a select few students to carry on the tradition.
It is said that the trials of a Shaman can be deadly, but so can the trials of manhood in some tribes, so this is really nothing new, it is a part of their culture that is common knowledge among those people; yet in the west we have, as pointed out, similar traditions, they are kept behind closed doors.
Mormonism has some rituals that are very similar to freemasonry, freemasonry can draw much of its' inspiration from hermetics, and hermetics traces back to the area of Egypt, which also gave rise to later Kabalistic traditions as well as Gnosticism (at least in theory).
Further links shown in the area link through an ancient mystic tradition that split into two, Bahmanism and Zoroastrianism, from which we can find traces of later traditions in Judaism, Christianity, ect., and they maintain a fire, similar to the Brahmin Priests or the Okinawan Priestesses.

The idea is generally about finding the mysteries of human nature, of some divine spark within, something that takes root in an obscure source, some call it spirit, some call it will, some prefer not to give it a name, but it is found in every major culture the world over, even if only in allusions.
This, I think, sets the stage for a follow-up post, as this is getting quite long, so I'll leave it here.

Karate and the Occult 1 and a Half.

I remember having a conversation with someone, in passing, about Martial Arts in which he had mentioned that he trained at a local Temple Kung Fu School for a short amount of time before moving on to another school.
He said he had signed a contract with them, but the school was just getting more expensive, not to mention the people were getting even stranger by the day.
I replied that people are strange in general, this was half-jokingly, as I had dealings with these guys before, I used to live down the street from the school in question back when it was still operating as part of Mr. Olaf's Churc-erm, I mean, Organization.

He said he had stopped going altogether and just focused on other things; the Temple kept calling him asking why he had not been to class recently, it started as once a week, then it became once a day, then it became twice a day, and so on.
He said they even tried sending people to his house, people who came off as missionaries that go door to door, asking if everything was okay, the phone calls stopped when he changed his number, but he eventually had to move to a different house.
This was only after a short amount of time 'training' at the school, to which he did not really equate to training, that the techniques were questionable, and everyone was constantly told that they would need to join a different 'club' to learn the deeper more advanced stuff, naturally each club was increasingly more expensive.

The school espoused a cultural doctrine based on Mr. Olaf's personal twistings of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu, though he had never trained in Kung Fu, the techniques he taught were his own twist on Kempo techniques he'd learned from a family member, without ever having set foot in China.
The methods of suggestion and outright brainwashing of this school were so successful that people bought into it for many years, even when presented with evidence proving the contrary of the beliefs to which they had been programmed. Even Mr. Olaf himself believed in his own lie.
Here is a guy that lived with a tiger, that dressed in extravegant Chinese outfits, living comfortably on a very large property made up to look like a scene straight out of 'Hero.'
I believe he went mad, or something along those lines, as people started to wake up and eventually brought on law suits, the whole thing came crumbling down.

The school in town is still operating, although under independent leadership, teaching a hybrid system that they call Kung Fu For Life and the atmosphere seems completely different, far removed from what it once was.
Great things can happen in the aftermath, when people wake up and find that they've been duped, they will take what they have been given and turn it to their advantage; will they follow the same path? I believe many will take the lesson learned and go a different way.
Generally these can be construed as wake-up calls in which the person realizes some truth about their situation and discovers something about themselves - for some it takes a while to get over cult manipulation and brainwashing, but when they do they come out with some inner strength and determination, having discovered a part of themselves they had not previously known.
So there is a positive to come from the negative; in this case we got a man who was strong enough to see what was wrong, he went out, studied other things, came back, took everything he learned, including the bogus Kung Fu, and formulated his own school, a school that is now accepted in the community at large as a legit school; it is no longer put down, but recommended within our community.

Remember, this is referring to the personality cult side of things, the term Occult implies something much different, the next post will illustrate this a little better...

Karate and the Occult 1.

Firstly, we must understand that negative connotations about 'occult' are not necessarily related to what we mean when we use the term 'cult.'
Occult is something that is secret, known to a few, or none at all, thus, not known to the general populace at large, though it may be directly or indirectly influencing their lives, whether they know it or not.

Yeah, it seems a bit strange to be discussing such things here, but in my experience it has direct relation to what we do every time we bow into the Dojo, dawn our Gi and face Shomen saying 'osu' or whatever phrase happens to be utilized in the opening 'rituals' and yes, ritual is the key word there.
Everything is ritualized and ritual is utilized to generate specific types of energy/intent to see that the ends are met with success.
We can see this in every major culture the world over, but most don't really notice the rituals that we still continue to perform every single day of our lives, life itself seems to be like a ritual and, knowing this, can be influenced either positively or negatively, depending on understanding in other areas of interest.

You think of television as something harmless, we watch it every single day of our lives, but we really don't pay it any mind.
Have you ever looked at the brain wave readings between someone who spends most of their time watching television and someone who doesn't, someone who would rather spend that time reading?
Compare those readings to someone under hypnotic trance, or even someone high on an opiate, such as heroine.
Television acts in the same way, it opens the brain up to suggestion and it is, indeed, one of the most highly addictive things on the face of the earth; try to quit watching television, even for a few minutes a day. How much do you think about it? How long can you hold out without picking up the remote and turning it on?

Kris Wilder wrote, a while back, about the negative effects of the daily news and how one's outlook on life in general can be improved if you just quit giving in to that urge to indulge, but it is extremely difficult, it is ingrained, it is programmed, it is addicting.
Advertisers and others that would seek to gain from exploiting such weaknesses are well aware of the effects, they count on them, they understand them, otherwise they would not be able to exploit them.
It is blatant, not well hidden, in fact, it is often considered as 'common' knowledge, mainly because we are so far down that hole that many won't ever hope to break free of that grip, so it really doesn't matter who understands at this point, does it?
That is another mode of exploitation, the input of doubt into the mind, which is open to suggestion because of influence from other areas on a constant basis, including television, radio, internet, computer use in general has the same effect.

Arthur C. Clark, I believe, wrote something about how advanced science will often appear as magic to the primative.
We stand as the primative in the view of those in the know, easily influenced in one way or another, from many different angles, utilizing many different tools, and what is worse, it is not a united front, everyone utilizes such understanding to their own ends, whether they be commercially oriented or personal, in either case it is about what can be gained for themselves.

What is more, the study of such things is not limited just to corporations, there are individuals in history whom have understood how to manipulate such things, often to disastrous ends.
Heaven's Gate, Aum Shinrikyo, Charles Manson, David Koresh, the Koolaid at Jonestown (where we get the term for kool-aid drinkers, right?).
It is pretty scary to think that such things can, and often do, happen even within our own community of Martial Artists, because the practice does make the mind pliable, it does, over the course of exposure and repetition, break the mental blockages down and open the mind up to suggestion, especially through the culture underpinnings and esoteric allusions.
Morihei Ueshiba was listed as a cult leader on a list I had viewed once, with Aikido listed as a personality cult, if you look at it (and you don't need to put much effort into it) you can clearly see why this would be so.
Personally, I like O-Sensei, he reminds me of Yoda, but it is only obvious that he does fit the bill in nearly every way possible, though he does not go to extremes of cultic abuse of which I am aware, so he does fall short in that respect, however, his mentor, Onesaburo Deguchi, founder of the Omoto Kyo Shinto Cult, he does push the limits on such things.

There is also the idea of Ki, which is made out to be some mystical sort of thing, though in modern times the trend is to give it more scientific overtones; that is not to say it does not exist, or not exist, but one can see a paradigm shift when it comes to approach, understanding remains the same, words are what change.
The use of 'Ki' or the interaction of forces in nature, that is the key underpinning, the sole element to which everything else is achieved in the ways of manipulation.
Robert O. Becker wrote a book called the Body Electric that touches on this very topic, great read, great stuff, too bad it was suppressed by the US Military and other agencies one would think would be open to the findings of such research.

I'll leave off here and pick up later...

Karate and the Occult - Introduction.

I have written about this particular subject before, based on personal experience, but I do not believe I have adequately touched upon it in any previous post on the matter.
I am not only into the study of Martial Arts, I am into the study of a great many things aside; as such, I think it is particularly valuable to separate myself from what can be termed 'fanatical' about the subject, perhaps a better term would be 'enthusiastic martial hobbyist.'
I understand that some may look down upon that as though I were not dedicated to the study, but after eighteen years in the study, not long compared to others, I have come to feel that my dedication and devotion to understanding is not in question.

Martial Arts, in my view, are a cult, at least a great majority of schools/organizations fit the bill.
It is not only an introduction to exotic forms of exercise or self defense, there is a massive reworking of the mind/mental make-up as well, it starts from day one; some adults are not easily given to it if they are starting later in life, but if one has trained for a number of years since their youth, as I have, the signs are more pronounced.
Does that mean it is a bad thing? I honestly feel that most schools are commercially oriented and, as such, have the satisfactions of the consumer in mind, which means there is an exchange going on.
Maybe a bit one-sided in some cases, especially the ultra-traditional schools that require adherence to certain standards, to a certain code of conduct and etiquette, sprinkled with some less-than-clear allusions to something deeper and you have the recipe for a personality cult.
It doesn't smell pretty, though it is interesting to get to know the cultural aspects, and it is necessary to understand things on a deeper level, one must proceed with caution and question everything.

I've been to places where people laugh and have a good time, but they don't seem to take it any further, however, I've been to other places where people still seem to have a good time, yet are very serious about their training and have a professional sort of respect for their Teacher, a thankfulness that is deserved, yet never expected.
One could say that, after a certain point, a Teacher can be said to be wise and have the ability to provide insights into other areas of life, but this is true of all things from Martial Arts to the Custodial Arts of the Janitor mopping the hallway. There are dangers in both instances; you never know if that Janitor has ever committed a violent crime, you also only know as much as your Teacher is willing to tell you, whether or not it is truth, half-truth, or entirely false, that is also up to the Teacher.

This is not to say that the Teacher should be viewed with suspicion, but that one should be aware.
You can often feel these things, there is a certain air about them, however, it is not the case in every instance.

The effects of the Martial Arts seem to be muddling at best, especially since they are not entirely understood by those who impart such knowledge.
Certainly one cannot hope to understand everything, but even a working knowledge seems to be lacking, or purposefully omitted.
What is the purpose for omitting information, if not the control of information itself, or the control of those to whom the information is intended? What is the motivation? Control, for the omition of information is based in fear of loss in control if the information is imparted freely.
Not only would this be disastrous for commercial interests dependent on the influx of consumers on a continuous basis, but it would also be disastrous from other angles, especially if it turns into something akin to a cult surrounding a charismatic individual who may, or may not know what they are teaching and, in most instances, never practice what they are preaching.

In either case, both parties are dependent on the fraud promoted in the advertisements; whether it is truly fraud or not is not the point, the fraud is in what is presented and what is actually on hand.
Organizations, as I have stated before, are like giant pyramid schemes with one person at the top, they are usually in both categories of 'commercial interest' and 'personality cult' wrapped up in the mysteries of culture (I have always found it ironic that the word 'cult' is in 'culture,' something to think about).

I think this is a good place to leave off in this series of forrays as we place the whole thing under the microscope...

The Meaning of Kokoro Kan.

I think that, every now and then, we need to really reconnect with ourselves, in fact, we should be doing this on a daily basis.
My 'Teacher' used to tell me, as I have said before, that they were not my real Teacher, that the Teacher was the guy in the mirror staring back at me; so the real purpose of training was to get to know that guy, to listen to what he has to say in brutal honesty.

That person has no ties to specific dogmas or doctrines, not the real person, the person beneath all the sedimentary notions and ideals collected in the hustle and bustle of modern life.
No, that person is the person whose never worn a mask, the face before your were born, as they say in Zen circles; it really is like a form of Gnosis, as Socrates says, 'Know thy self.'
So one of the steps on the path to knowing thy self is also one step on the path toward real wisdom, in 'knowing that I know nothing.'
It is the same as stepping into the Dojo of some other style, though you may be a 'Black Belt' in a specific style, it is unrelated to your current endeavor, you are in new waters, you know absolutely nothing.
At least that is the mindset you ought to have if you are to be taken seriously as a student.

I've always liked the saying, 'In a beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in an expert's there are few.' It smacks of reality, because if you watch an expert, they know the rules, the tricks, the ins and outs of their chosen field of expertise, therefor, everything seems impossible as they are afraid to step beyond those boundaries into which they have been conditioned.
A beginner, on the other hand, is like a bull in a china closet, they don't know, and therefor are not conditioned in the same manner, they break things, they smash them, 'whoops! sorry!'
Maybe it is a bad thing sometimes, but sometimes it can be a good thing, quite refreshing, forcing the 'expert' to rethink their stance.

When alone we are not dictated by the need to gain rank or recognition within a specific school, at least I am not, mainly because I do not belong to a particular school any longer.
I remember something Kris Wilder once said, the reason they do not have a patch for the Hokusei Yudansha Kai, the fact that a patch denotes an organization, and an organization denotes standard, a governing body, all that neat stuff.
Really he simply said, 'We decided that no patch would be our patch, that way if we were somewhere else no one would know any different and we could easily intermix with others and learn more freely!'
Funny how such a simply thing could bring about such a profound transformation! That is often the way of things though, that we must let go of those notions.
To get rid of those notions is the key to discovery, shedding all that baggage that 'defines' who we THINK we are, getting down and dirty, straight to the source, and really discovering ourselves according to what is there, not necessarily what is 'imparted' (if any such a thing can be said to exist at all).

That is often why I think it is best to train alone and to accept partners into training, rather than straight on students, because one implies a cooperative effort, the other implies submission or dominance depending on the role.
'Teacher' and 'Student' are relative terms anyway, as a good Teacher will often learn from the student and a good Student will certain learn from the Teacher that they are learning nothing new at all, but only seeking what is already present.
In this way, one may have been walking the path longer than the other, but it is really nothing special, a guide, a light in the dark until the latter can take up their own lamp themselves; to which some are ready sooner than others, but this is down to the person.

Does any of this make sense? I think this is why, any more, after my experience with the fitness center, I am less apt to accept new 'students' and more interested in continued training with those that have already shown interest to some greater depth, because those are the people that do not waste my time, those are the people that see beyond the norm, and they take it with them in their heart and really apply what they are shown about themselves.
It makes sense that Sensei would name his school Kokoro Kan, or School of the Heart, so in essence, I did not leave that school, I did not leave that tradition, nor has the school left me, because it is me, no matter where I go, no matter what I find myself doing at a specific time, that is practice, that is Budo.