Climbing the Stairs

When climbing stairs, is your focus on the stairs themselves or the destination?

Nago Castle Ruins - Okinawa

Don't bother setting goals on reaching certain steps. You'll reach that step and feel a false sense of accomplishment having reached it, when in reality you still didn't get where you want to get to (the ultimate aim at the top).

Having a goal is only good as a strategy to distract from the difficulty of the task, but if the task itself is the point (as is the case in Budo training), then setting lots of little goals along the way will only lead you away from the task eventually.
The only aim should be on reaching the top of the stairs, not little intermediate goals along the way.

In our Budo training, seek only to be the best that you can be and to constantly improve!
Don't distract yourself with little goals and false accomplishments.



Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have. J

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

Mythology & Culture Of The Ryukyus



A view of Kudaka Island (the Island of the gods)
from Seifa-Utaki (Okinawa's most sacred site)

Okinawa prefecture in southern Japan consists of the Ryukyu archipelago, including the largest island, Okinawa. The Indigenous language and culture differs from the Yamato (standard Japanese). Ryukyu was an independent kingdom until conquest by the Japanese Satsuma clan early in the seventeenth century, Okinawa was influenced by both China and Japan, and it often served as a bridge between the two cultures. Okinawan culture and religion have been maintained as distinct entities in many ways to this century. The Ryukyu Islands stretch for four hundred miles between the southern tip of Kyushu and the northern coast of Taiwan.
Okinawa is about seventy miles long, situated more or less in the middle of the island chain. The population currently numbers about 1.3 million, excluding American troops.
The Ryukyuan economy was based on subsistence farming and fishing. Perhaps under the influence of Chinese envoys, the small independent polities that existed in the islands were amalgamated by King Sho Hashi in 1429 into a single kingdom. One of his successors, Sho Shin (1477-1526), consolidated these conquests and established a Confucian-based government, forbidding the carrying of arms and institutionalizing the separation between nobility and commoners.

In the late sixteenth century, the growing power of the southern Japanese domain of Satsuma brought the Okinawan kingdom more and more into Japan's orbit than China's, and the kingdom became a part of the Satsuma domain in the seventeenth century. In contrast to the Japanese on the main islands, Ryukyuans have been recorded by almost all researchers as being singularly uninterested in mythology. 

Satsuma Samurai

Mythological figures are amorphous and undefined, and discussions of legends and mythology seem to have little or no interest for the average Okinawan. In many cases what has been touted as a Ryukyuan myth was a reworking by a mainland Japanese scholar in search of sonic affinity between Okinawa and Japan, usually to justify Japan's ascendancy.
Such myths that do exist and are retold are generally origin myths, and even those are often abbreviated and localized. The Ryukyuans are religious in the sense that most individuals recognize the importance of participating in rituals and in carrying out ritual requirements. But their religion is not focused on, nor dependent on, clear enunciation of the gods they refer to.
The focus is rather upon the proper conduct of rituals, which are deeply embedded in Ryukyuan life and interpersonal behavior. Unusually too, Ryukyuan religion is one of the few female-centered religions in the world: The majority of ritual specialists (priests and mediums), and all the senior ones, are female. Whether this is the relict of an earlier matriarchal type of religion or a peculiarity of Ryukyuan culture is impossible to say. The main Okinawan mythological figures are the kang. These are conceived of as very similar to humankind, if much more powerful. Where portrayed, they are seen as figures dressed in Chinese robes and hats: the clothes assumed by the nobility of Okinawa.

The kang are generally neutral so long as the rituals are carried out and people behave "properly" in their relations with others and with the sacred groves and caves the kang inhabit (or rather, through which they travel to the mundane world). The kang are powerful and possess abilities that people do not have. They will interfere in human lives if the rituals are not carried out. Even so, they can he manipulated, even cheated, by human actions and deceit. In the vague mythology that is expressed, there are a number of identifiable categories. The senior group are the zing no kang (heavenly kang). Like the Japanese kami, these are vaguely felt to be superior. Among them are uniang sea kang), milli no kang 'water kang), and aida-kang (solar kang). Again, like the Japanese system, there are a plethora of local kang: well kang, house kang, and paddy kang. There are also occupational kang: fishermen, net-makers, and boat builder kang.


Noro

The final category is composed of the utaki, the ancestors, who might mediate between living individuals and the kang. All of these conceptualizations are blurred and vague and few Okinawan can distinguish (or are even interested in distinguishingl between these figures. It is sufficient, in Ryukyuan eyes, to behave properly and make the offerings via the noro (village priestesses).
The mythological timeline, vague as it is, starts with the Age of Heaven. During that age, the heavenly kang (or, in some versions, Nirai Kang, the heavenly creator deity) instructed a brother and sister kang, Shinerikyu and Amaikyu, to create the land and the people on it.
The two of them descended from heaven and created the mythical paradise of Kudaka Island out of the waters. Another version of the same myths (in the Chuzan Seikan) recounts that the two descended with building materials, stones, earth, trees, and plants with which they held back the waves and formed the archipelago's islands. They then gave birth, without sexual intercourse, to three offspring the first ruler (a son), the first priestess, and the first farmer (again, a son).
After several generations a descendant of these first people was born. Tenteishi, as he was named, divided humankind into proper classes: kings, nobles, farmers, high priestesses, and village priestesses. Each of his five children assumed one of these positions. The people were then many, and they crossed the sea, landing at Sefa Utaki the sacred grove of Seefa) on the south shore of Okinawa island. Sefa Utaki is still the main pilgrimage site in Okinawa. Every village or community normally has an utaki where the local priestess communes with the kang.
The world was ordered so that temporal power in Ryukyuan communities is wielded by men, while the spiritual power that supports them is wielded by their sisters. The same is true in most families. With the establishment of the unified Okinawan kingdom in the early fifteenth century (the kingdom also controlled, with greater or lesser effect, the outlying islands), the female-male system was formalized, and village noro (priestesses) were trained and appointed by the central government.

The generalized creation story recorded in the main island of Okinawa is repeated on other Ryukyuan islands, with local, rather than "national," referents. Ouwehand recorded a similar story on the island of Hateruma, which makes no reference to Okinawa. And the foundation myth of sister-brother founder deities can also be found further south, in Taiwan and the Philippines, as well as further north, echoed in the Japanese foundation myth.
For the Ryukyuans there are two distinct realms: The first, of humans that is, the mundane world), occupies most people's interest. The other realm, of the kang, is poorly identified, diffuse, and not clearly conceptualized. The kang inhabit that realm, but they are able to manifest themselves in the mundane world. The portals between the two worlds, at least insofar as humans are concerned, are the sacred groves (uaki), springs, and caves through which the other realm may be accessed. Above all, however, it is the hearth through which information on the doings of individuals and families reaches the kang.





Today's post is from the book: 'Handbook of Japanese Mythology' by Michael Ashkenazi.

If you wish to learn more about Japanese Mythology I suggest giving this book a look.











Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have. J

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

Budo for Everyone

Who are the martial arts for?
Who should do martial arts and who shouldn't?
Who decides who is suitable for training in Budo?

The answers to these aren't straightforward.
When asking these questions it's important to first ask what budo training is for and what a person can get out of Budo training.
There are many reasons for someone to participate in Budo. Some of these include:

• Improved health
• Improved strength and agility
• Confidence
• Discipline & will-power
• Understanding & knowledge of ‘self’
• Life perspective
• Calmness of spirit
• Self-defence skill
• Reduced angst
• Reduced stress
• A Purpose
• Feeling of accomplishment
• Reduced victim-mentality
• Control over fear
• Selflessness (reduced ego)
• Stronger self-determination
• Better posture
• Better balance
• Responsibility over self
• A sense of honour
• An honest heart
• Reduced need to 'prove' anything
• Reduced need to be 'better than others'
• Clear mindset
• Better endurance
• Better focus
• Higher awareness
• Consideration of others
• True sense of respect.

While each of these can be a result of the training, not all of these are a priority for everyone. It all depends on where the instructor puts focus of the training.

Every instructor has a certain point of view regarding the use of martial arts and what they think their students should be getting out of it. It depends on what the instructor's focus is. As this focus determines what the students will be getting out of training. Therefore it really depends on who is teaching that determines what type of students they attract. 

I discussed in my post called 'Your Budo', about how some instructors are more interested in making their class more 'successful' as a business rather than improving the quality of the students.
This is when the student's become 'consumers' and 'customers' rather than something more like 'trainees', or 'apprentices'.
As 'consumers' the students training frequency becomes more important than training 'quality'. As a result, students start to think that they are doing what is required simply by turning up.
These instructors have a need to have more and more students in each class, so need to appeal to a wider range of people. It's gets to a point where they will accept anyone as a student, regardless if what they are teaching is suited for them or not.
As far as I see it, a good instructor that has some sense of integrity should be able to turn 'unsuitable' students away.

I know that this might seem to sound a little bit "discriminatory", but allow me to clarify. 
Things like race, gender, physical attributes and/or disabilities have no bearing on martial arts and are never a reason to deny training to anyone!

Having said this, an instructor (or club) that only gauges the suitability of a prospective student based on their ability to pay for the training, isn't an honourable instructor and lacks a sense of integrity. An attitude of 'Budo for Everyone' might sound open and all-inclusive, but that's not really the aim of this attitude. Saying that "everyone can train" is actually all about have more and more people bringing their money.

While it is true that everyone is physically capable of participating in Budo training, unfortunately not everyone is able to truly be a Budoka.
The thing that determines your capability in Budo has nothing to so with being able to physically do the techniques or not. It's all about your mindset and your attitude.
YOU determine your capability for Budo. You decide if your suitable for Budo training. It's entirely up to you if you're going to be open-minded and if you're approaching your training with the right attitude.

The simple fact is, while everyone could do the actual training, not everyone is suitable for Budo and probably won't get very far with it (sometimes in spite of attaining certain grade ranks).
Suitability is determined by the mindset of the practitioner. It's a simple fact that some people don't have a "martial mind" and struggle to understand the concepts involved. The majority of people don't have a martial mind before they start training in Budo, but it seems that some adopt it eventually and other's don't.

An honourable instructor must decide who they should be teaching and not just blindly teach any student. It is possible that your students aren't after the same outcomes as you.
What if a person turns up at your dojo (willing to pay for training) but after a month or two you realise that they simply aren't there to learn the lessons you are teaching. Do you continue to string them along? Even though they'll never understand what you want them to learn and they'll never get from you what they want to learn.
Is it not best to suggest that they find an instructor that will have views that line up with theirs?

Many of the techniques learnt in the martial arts could be used to kill a person if used by the wrong person.
What if a person turns up at your dojo (willing to pay for training) but after a class or two you notice they are displaying many of the signs of a sociopath (or even a psychopath)?
Do you keep teaching them potentially dangerous techniques and skills? (by the way, if your answer to this is "yes," you shouldn't be an instructor... or a martial artist).


To answer the questions posed at the top of this post:
Who are the martial arts for? The Martial Arts are meant to be for anyone. Any person who want's or needs to benefit from the positive lessons that some from being a Budoka.

Who should do martial arts and who shouldn't? A person who is capable of understanding the concepts of Budo and is capable of adopting the "martial mind". It is an unfortunate truth, but some people simply don't have the mindset for it and must change how their mind 'ticks' before they will progress very far with Budo.

Who decides who is suitable for training in Budo? Each individual student determines their own capability to be a Budoka. Only the student themselves are in control of their mindset and attitude.
Having said this, there is a responsibility on the instructor to determine if their students should be taught. The instructor must have the integrity to act if it is clear that the student shouldn't be training a in Martial Arts.



Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have. J

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ

"Ri" 離 - No Budo

Today's post is part 3 after the last couple week's posts. If you haven't read that yet, please click here for part 1 and here for part 2.

守破離
As we've established in the last couple of weeks, SHU is to 'obey' and follow the system and HA is to 'detach' from the system. Finally, the last level RI is to 'transcend' and the system becomes irrelevant. This is the highest level of Budo training, it is the ultimate aim for any serious martial artist.
The funny thing is, putting effort into "aiming" for the RI level won't get you there.

Yoda  +  Mr Miyagi  =   Epic Master!

One in a Million
It's a very rare person who truly reaches the RI level. They say only about 1 in 1000 people achieve the Black Belt rank, but the vast majority of Budoka will stay in the SHU level, following the rules. It's only a portion of people who are willing to question the system and find their own way (probably about 1 in a 10,000 people).
Of these people, it's a tiny fraction of people (maybe about 1 in a million) that actually master the way of Budo and reach the RI level.



5 signs that you are in RI

1. No Kihon - A person who has reached the RI level is beyond the need for learning or practising the Kihon techniques. Their Budo is part of them and they are part of Budo. Everything they do is done with such skill that there is no such thing as correct or incorrect technique. This person is able to apply the right strength to any body movement in order to make it effective, they have an automatic intuitive knowledge of the way of executing movement in both a natural and effective way. There's no such thing as specific individual Kihon techniques, it becomes more of a spectrum of abilities, one movement can flow into and resemble another with no clear defined difference between one technique and another.
   -
2. No Kata - A person in RI is beyond the need for Kata (the way we think of kata anyway). The technical abilities are still there, the bunkai is still there, the lessons from the kata are still there and the point of kata knowledge is still there, but the actual kata in terms of that particular form and embusen aren't necessary. While a person in RI may demonstrate the different kata for students and other masters, they don't have any requirement to be practicing it in the same we that we do.
   -
3. No Mind - SHU is about learning and studying, HA is about analysing and understanding. These both require lots of effort put into thinking and processing, especially if we want to progress in these levels. Once we've spent years and years learning, analysing and understanding, we reach a point where we have gained so much knowledge and wisdom that we're past the need for thought or effort, it becomes automatic. You don't need to put effort into knowing, you just know. It's the difference between trying to remember someone's name and knowing your own name, there's no thought process involved in remembering your name, it's just there.
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4. No Effort - There's an ancient Chinese Daoist saying "Wu Wei" which literally means 'Non-Action' or more accurately 'Effortless Action'. The idea is that the Daoist master lives life effortlessly 'going with the flow', only taking action (or not) when it's natural thing to do. They never try to force a situation or manipulate things to be a certain way. In many ways a Budo Master is similar to a Daoist master. We know that training in Budo requires great physical and mental effort. This is the biggest difference between RI and the other two levels. All of the effort for years and years ends up having a lasting effect on the budoka, so much so that everything they think and do all day every day IS good Budo, they are effortlessly Budo experts.
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5. The Way - With no Kihon, no Kata, No Mind and No Effort, what's the difference between being in the RI level and simply quitting and not being part of Budo anymore? The answer is 'The Way'. A person in RI has an intuitive knowledge of the Way and follows is without and conscious thought.

5 signs that you're not in RI
(and probably won't be)

1. Deciding that you are in RI - A person that judges themselves and determines that they are beyond need for Kihon or kata and thinks they no longer require to be thinking or putting in effort has greatly misunderstood the journey and still has much to learn.
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2. Telling others that you're a master - A person that boasts and tells others that are beyond need for Kihon or kata and thinks they no longer require to be thinking or putting in effort is a fool and hasn't got the first idea about the way of Budo.
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3. "Practicing" Budo - A person that needs to practice their technique (as is the case for most of us) is required to put effort in and therefore not in RI.
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4. Training - Similar to the above point about practice. You can tell by looking at a person's Budo technique if they know what they're doing and if it needs work or not. If they obviously need to spend more time training then they still have lessons to learn and they need to put effort in and therefore not in RI.
   -
5.  Lack of Wisdom - This involves anything that is not the way. For example:
   A practitioner who needs to compare themselves to others,
   a practitioner that is only focused on achieving the next grade,
   a practitioner who couldn't defend themselves,
   a practitioner who can't explain complex concepts in a simple and
   a practitioner think's budo is all about their style.

Understanding SHU-HA-RI is understanding the process of mastery. Understanding mastery gives insight into understanding the journey of the way. Understanding the Way is truly to point of martial training.

Comment below to share any thoughts or opinions you might have. J

Thanks for reading.
Derm

Ͼ