Martial Arts

I studied martial arts for several decades. I leaned that there is always someone faster, stronger, better... or who carries a gun. So in terms of defending yourself, it is best to forget martial arts and learn to run really really fast!

Anyway, every founder of every great martial art spoke of his art in terms of spirituality. In this regard, I particularly enjoyed Aikido. I was fortunate enough to study with one of Morihei Ueshiba's (the founder of Aikido) top students. What Ueshiba taught however, is radically different from the bastardized and diminished faux-Aikido now so popular in many dojos. And yes, unlike the much diminshed versions taught all over the world, the art can be deadly. Very. Why is this important when the ability to kill or dominate are merely the distinguishing hallmarks of those suffering from psychoses? Because unless one really pays attention, this violent and abusive aspect of any true martial art can take over, until ego leads, not spirit. And so Ueshiba never allowed competition or agression to seep into the practice hall. The purpose of Aikido to him was enlightenment or awakening, much as the Buddha taught. The relationship of the movement as well as the martial art aspect was for him, exactly the same as the practice of sitting in the zendo. It was not something to be cultivated in its own right, but rather to be used as a means toward that single purpose - full and permanent awakening. The martial aspect was, as it is for all true martial artists, incidental.

In 1925, after a life time of searching, Ueshiba awoke from the dream in which so many live out their lives:

“All at once I understood the nature of creation: the Way of a Warrior is to manifest Divine Love, a spirit that embraces and nurtures all things. Tears of gratitude and joy streamed down my cheeks. I saw the entire earth as my home, and the sun, moon, and stars as my intimate friends. All attachment to material things vanished.”

After many years of "ripening" as the Cha'an people say, he had a second vision in 1940:

“Around two o’clock in the morning as I was performing ritual purification, I suddenly forgot every martial art technique I had ever learned. All of the techniques handed down from my teachers appeared completely anew, Now they were vehicles for the cultivation of life, knowledge, virtue, and good sense, not devices to throw and pin people.”

And two years later, the final vision came in 1942, during the worst fighting of WWII:

“The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood as a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek competition are making a grave mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst sin a human-being can commit. The real Way of the Warrior is to prevent slaughter — it is the Art of Peace, the power of love.”