Callahan’s opinion

When a person stands at the crossroad that is called decision, he must do one of life’s most important moves. He must choose…
And whatever he may choose, the only sure thing is that he cannot go back there to undo his decision. He must live with his choice from there on…
The fact that one can take a different course even the next instant, or maybe later on, is not “undoing” anything, but is clearly yet another choice.

The most important weapon to possess, at a crossroad of decision, is criteria. A teacher, who fills the term, will arm his students with the ability of developing their own criteria. And that is a huge difference from what teachers usually do, by just telling their students what it is that they should do!
There are many ways to hone a student’s criteria, but the most vicarious one, is to provide incomplete answers to a query, letting room to the student to fill himself as many gaps as possible. At the same time, the teacher should expose to the student his very own (the student’s!) path of thinking… 
Teaching is no game, it is a very responsible act that marks people for ever, and when a teacher produces students that can “walk on their own” making himself “unnecessary” then teaching becomes unsurpassed!

A high sense of criteria is one of the cornerstones in leadership, since a commanding person, is taking decisions that concern other people outside himself. This in its turn is the heaviest of burdens in command.

But with the coming of criteria we have also a “byproduct” of it, an unavoidable waste that it leaves behind. The exercise of criticism!   
And though criteria and criticism are two different things all together, they share a common ground, they are interconnected.
But make no mistake, a person with high criteria is an entirely different thing from a person who is or acts as a critic. A simple example to this (and since we did mention leadership just earlier) is the undeniable fact that no true leader bothers to waste his time on criticism, good or bad! To simply command… is more fun.
Emotionally said: No self-contained person of this world (who leads a life of his own choice) would make a critic, because he would be occupied… being happy, instead of picking around on what somebody else does, whether good or bad, I insist!
Yet, we are encouraged in every step of our life to exercise criticism, even if we have no criteria on what we are going to step on. Vote here, click there, do you “like” this, was that movie “good or bad” tell us your “opinion” you must have “a point of view” speak up, be heard…
In the end, everybody says something, so the outcome is… nothing! Correction, nothing would be fine, it's noise!
This kind of approach is leading us towards gossip, rumors, wild coincidence and bull….
A criterion is like a compass, guiding you into your best possible decision. But what does criticism serve anyway? Oh yes, pardon me I forgot, it is working when you don’t have criteria of your own, so somebody else will “protect” you and tell you what to do. So, don’t go see that “bad” movie it’s no good. How many times have you lost a good film by not going to the movies, only to discover later on your video that it was… a masterpiece?
(Personally, far too many, I admit!) 

Since criticism is into our lives and it’s growing in size, we must know how to “read it” correctly when we see one. A well written one (so to speak) should go into four parts, which either is in the order bellow, or at least does not look like coming out of a… blender:

1. A description-categorization that tells us what we have at hand. This first part is maybe the most important, and most… neglected, since here you are given all the information and it should be without any hint of critic.
2. Pointing out factual positives, but staying… scientific about it.
3. Pointing out negatives, but still staying factual (here is where critics totally “lose it”) And…
4. One can… knock himself out with his opinion.

Of course what usually happens is that you either go deaf by the sound of the cheer and the applause, in the case of positive criticism or, on a negative one, the critic forgets completely the use of the pen, because he is too busy… shoveling dirt.
And it is important to understand that, good or bad, makes no difference here, since I am referring to the nature of criticism itself. Where does it come from, what is its purpose?
This “game” is been so distorted, that you might find yourself at the top of the world just because someone gave you an absolutely negative review but it ended up working for you!
There is no true meaning in a good or bad criticism. In either case… I rest my case!

In order to make sure that the test below is working, I actually asked a large number of people the same question, to see what I would come up with…
Do you want to give it a shot?

Test: Please name me in ten seconds one great work of a critic that did make a difference in our world.

Now, are you too looking at the ceiling?

In the world of Martial Arts criticizing reveals a mind that lacks discipline and a mouth that runs too fast.
One should keep his “opinions” for himself, when it comes to people who outrank him (in the true sense of outranking)
But this is nothing in comparison to the next one.
That is when people of higher ability (and rank) in the Art, criticize those who are following, in the sense of “making them better”. I have never ever seen a student advance even one millimeter, because he received an “intelligent” criticism, by word or writing, and by now I think I never will.
But I have seen students advance by miles via the method of a crash course, an extra hour of practice, an early Sunday morning lesson… that kind of stuff…
Passing on the Art is done in silence and with practical corrections of technique, not words. Criticism, for good or bad, is an elevator of feelings, it can take you places but it rarely, if ever, pinpoints the true ground that you stand on. A Master might talk in a critical manner only when asked by the student himself, and even then, he chooses his words carefully.    
   
The use of criteria is an act of the mind that can put you into a better position on the field, while the use of criticism is an act of the pointing finger, that will lead you nowhere, and sometimes it might lead you on the “unnecessary” spot of the field…

January 25, 2008

A predator like no other

With a weak and broken voice, that could be hardly heard, it camped outside my front door, demanding to enter.
It was skinny, hungry and… one eyed.
This stray kitten, ageing between two and three months, was truly desperate and in agony, on how to survive the cruel city’s environment…
I gave it a little food and a name! “One Eye Willy” after the pirate from the film “The Goonies”. But there was no way that I would allow it inside our house. We have discipline, regulations and above all cleanness. There was simply no place for a cat in all this, I was firm about this!
Yes, I was firm, but that was about to change… Soon, we were invaded, overruled and conquered, by this tinny creature. Confirming the title of this text “One Eye Willy” simply took over…
 
Misunderstood!
Above all things, when talking about cats, this is the best way to begin with. Cats are deeply misunderstood, but I think that somehow cats themselves wouldn’t have it any other way!

To solve some of these misunderstandings first we need a person who has ears to listen and not just to hear… Because once too often bringing up this issue ends before it even starts, with the familiar negative waving, like in “I don’t want to know, I hate cats, I’m a dog person…”
So, let’s pick it up from there… from a dog’s point of view!
Science has proven that if for some reason man would suddenly disappear from earth (like in a sci-fi movie!) it would have taken a few hundreds of years before all dogs, without any exception of race, would turn back in being a wolf, again!
So, we say “cats and dogs” but this phrase is fundamentally wrong, since cats could only be compared to the untamed wolf… Because, if you leave the kittens of any cat (no matter how “domesticated”) in the wild, then you better watch out. 
Do I have your attention now?!
  
The dog is the total subordinate creature and companion of man. He belongs to his master and he will die for him in an instant without hesitation. That is why the dog is far better than the cat, that will run away, will not listen to any command, and you can never ever trust it, some say.
And they are right… in being wrong, because in life some comparisons cannot be done.
You can never own a cat, the cat owns you! How can I say this? A cat “thinks” that you belong to her and not the other way round, it is that simple. If you want to “communicate” with a cat, the best way to do so, is to… respect her will to superiority. Of course no human likes that, because we think that this is our part, exclusively. With cats you have to learn to… give way, or buy a… dog.

Cats are non-religious, too. So, if you are into any form of religion, don’t try to proselytize it, it will not like it. I’m just kidding, but did you know that cats were viciously hunted and killed in the dark ages? They were considered satanic and evil, a Lucifer’s pet and were hunted down… Like science, it’s a miracle how they did manage to survive those times.
Only ancient religions (before christianity and monotheism) respected cats. That is why, beyond the famous sphinx, the ancient ruins of Egypt are full with representations of cats. It was a law of the Pharaohs to respect that creature and the punishment of hurting a cat was death.

For the last 34 million years felines where so successful in their task, nature decided not to change anything about their fundamental “design”. And that is a lot of years for a mammal. The only thing that did change was their size. In fact size of felines went back and forth from small to big, according to the game size offered at the time.
When you see a cat you must remember that this is actually a lion that comes in… compact size, nothing else. One could say that the only difference beyond size is that lions roar (very loud!) in order to “announce” their dominant territory, while a cat… purrs (very silently!) in order to plead satisfaction and affection!
And though scientists have a lot of Latin based names for felines, the off-the-record and un-official terms Lion-cat/Tiger-cat are not far from being pragmatic…

But why has the cat so many human enemies? This detest could be explained by how much we have in common with cats. More than you might suspect! And humans don’t always like what they see in the mirror. We always think that the dolphin or the ape is closest to man… but surprisingly it is the cat!
According to research (like by Joan C. Menninger-Stephan J. O’Brien, if you want to knock yourselves out) man has 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell while felines have 19. And also, to say this as simply as possible, in order to divert a feline’s genetic material into human it would take “one step” while the same attempt would take “one hundred steps” for mammals like mice or dogs… That close we are!      
Mark Twain once said that if we would “cross” a man with a cat, the man would be benefited while the cat would be lessened…

From a warrior’s point of view, cats are magnificently equipped to begin with. It’s been recorded that a cat once fell from a 46 stores building and only broke one tooth. This particular cat may have lost also one of its nine lives, that it is accustomed to be said that they have. Of course the feat of being able to fall from high places or always land on their feet, is a combination of nature’s gifts, on a marvelous flexibility and physical structure.
A cat’s senses could take several pages to analyze one by one, but I will direct this into one single observation, and have it done with. If you look at a cat that wanders around, it seldom, if ever, travels in a straight line. Its senses are so sharp and well attuned, that it is impossible for it to walk in a straight forward motion because it is usually… “self-distracted” (that might be the description) from her over-attentiveness.
Only when it hunts, can it dedicate itself to a straight line…
But what would be a cunning hunter without weapons?
Nature’s “idea” to arm felines with retractable blades… (sorry, I got carried away) retractable claws, is simply perfect! To look deeper into this, I will remind you that a cat of any size can play “war games” with a human or with a fellow animal just for the fun of it, and use its paws for attacking without ever scratching anyone! And at the next split second it can “activate” its claws into her famous swing-sweep that nobody would like to be in the path of.
Felines are natural hunters, by instinct they know how to pursue and catch their prey. But in order for a cat to complete its skills, training is involved. The mother of a cat takes it up to herself to train its young ones. It teaches them to ambush, trap and familiarizes them with the strategies of pack hunting. And odd as it might sound, no feline can actually kill. It is taught how to kill through training by its mother… So, if for some reason or another a cat misses that training, gifted as it might be, it will be doomed with starvation…

It was a sunny day and we where sitting in the living room with our balcony doors wide open, when suddenly we heard strange noises coming from outside. Next thing and before we could react, “One Eye Willy” was marching across the room with a huge bird in his mouth, that he just had killed. (Willy is a big strong male cat and he weights about 15 pounds and that bird was half his size).
He came straight towards me and put down the bird exactly at my feet, then sat back, in the characteristic cat posture, and looked intensively into my eye with his… one eye. Carefully, in a “what will happen next” moment, I took a look across the room only to meet dropped jaws. “One Eye Willy” our domesticated, totally indoor, sweet pussy cat, solid and unmovable as a rock kept starring at me, clearly demanding a reward for his feat. And I sat there half… proud, half “where is my cat manual of what to do next”.
For the record, the huge bird got a… decent burial and Willy got his reward.
Point is, despite the years since he came to us, he never forgot… his training.

We like to have pets in our houses for many reasons, but one advantage in the man-feline relationship is that cats are clean, since they constantly groom themselves. Although they can be very affectionate, they are also independent, not because they are “selfish” but because they seem to enjoy themselves in being alone. Solitude is not a problem for them…
Maybe that is why Catwoman could never marry Batman and “live happily ever after”. Can you imagine her as a… housewife?  Of course this kind of independence is always misunderstood by those who tend to mix their lives (instead of being together) since they lack the personality to stand on their own feet...                                

Every time when I am asked if I am a cat owner, in my mind automatically re-runs the phrase “who is the owner of whom?!” But still, I would prefer to have a “cat” (of any size) in my house, even if I had to force myself in it behind a chair and a whip…
I find that little distrust, between man and animal, a far more honest agreement, which keeps both parties attentive and alert. Blind obedience from/to any direction is desired only by the weak…  

Once, a long time ago in the past, man was just a good… snack for felines. And he still is, in some parts of the world or if you are not careful when wandering in the great outdoors.
But the beginning of the change came with the invention by man of the stick (that we are training in, in Aikido!) that soon became the deadly spear. Martial Arts are not only rooted on instinct self-defense and the Arts of war. They also go hand in hand with surviving skill and methods of controlling an environment. The use of weapons (like the spear) in order to survive, was an art that preceded war, which was invented much later in the human course. Instinctively man fears felines, since he “remembers” that it meant danger to be eaten by them.  
But by now, when the undisputed king of all animals, sees the red robe of the proud Masai in Africa, it turns away to avoid them. It has combined the tall stature and long spear of these people, with the certainty that it will meet its death, from a predator like no other!   

                                                                   “If cats could talk, they wouldn’t”
                                                                                                        Nan Porter

February 21, 2008

The peace warrior

If we are to put down all answers that exist so far, on the question “what is Aikido?” and choose one, it is Steven Seagal’s answer that is the best ever spoken, by far! When he was asked by an Aikido student he simply replied “Got a couple of years?”
One might say, that this is more of an… evasive maneuver than a direct answer, but you see, this is exactly the point!
There is no possible way to do this otherwise… since two years of practice is just about right in order to put the puzzles together. And I only hope that nobody thinks two years of… constant talking would do the job.

In human history man never stopped hoping to find a way to end all wars and achieve global peace. And during that time, philosophers, sociologists,  scientists, politicians, historians, artists, poets, people from all walks of life that one can imagine, tried to pinpoint a way on how this could become a reality.
And while these people read and study the past, write theories and explore the discoveries of modern science (and how it could be of service in this direction) Aikido is an Art light-years ahead on this!

The nature of the universe is such, that destruction is always easier than creation. If we had a society, that could make total peace an absolute form of measure for its actions, it would take one man, and one man only, to defeat that society and bring it under his rule, by totally disrupting its system.
Let us keep in mind that it could take only one man, in order for him to invent, deploy and put in use, a weapon of mass destruction.
In theory, but mostly in practice, even if you’re only to defend yourself from such an attack, the result is “being prepared for war”, which more or less puts us back to where we are now. Thus, total peace of humankind (as some dream it) is impossible to be achieved.

We are now on a phase of constant controlled wars, which means that for now we are “lucky”. But I cannot help and think that my great-grandfather (whom I had the honor to meet) was not that lucky, since he lived and fought through both world wars. Can you even imagine what kind of life that was? And it gets even worse. Since I am of German origin that makes us two world wars on the… loser’s side!

Very much like today, there have been periods in history when man did try to control wars to a minimum. The Roman Empire is a well known example, when it did declare its famous Pax-Romana (Roman peace). And the system was successful for a long time, but only under the use of constant threat of… war!
Something similar was Japan’s golden era, the Tokugawa period.

Nevertheless, it is most frustrating to intelligent people, which continue their runaround and torture to the following thought:
If we can have total war (piece of cake, history is full of it) why can’t we somehow flip this upside-down and have our desired total peace?

Though the term “Peace warrior” became famous… elsewhere, there is this tiny Japanese man, who has it written all over him like no one else ever did.
Aikido, as given by O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, suggests winning no victory on an attacker. On a practical level we do not retaliate, we do not fight back, we do not even resist an opponent. And (if the level is high) we could neutralize an attacker without harming him and then sit on him until his aggression is gone. I have the greatest respect on many Martial Arts, for their abilities and performance, but there simply is no other Martial Art that can achieve that level of harmony between an attacker and a man who defends himself. Correction! You don’t even “defend” yourself, you harmonize with your attacker and neutralize his attack.
This practical application of achieving peace through a Martial Art has no equal.
And if we have indeed discovered the means of how to deal with this, what would it take to propel this into a larger scale?   

We live in a world that is constantly promoting the idea of antagonism. And we are so much in it, we are so much “married” to this idea, it becomes impossible to escape it, even if someone would leave an alternative exit open.
Antagonism might be the ruler of this world (for now) but it still is the furthest concept, to have anything to do with true civilization. Antagonism is childish, simplistic and destructive, because it always comes to a dead end that eventually leads to war (or something equally destructive). Antagonism survives because it is easy to understand and even easier to train people in to. It teaches us to be “better than others” make more money “than others” look “better than others”… and if you deny in any way to keep up with it, you’ll soon have to give way “for this spot you stand on, is occupied by others”
In order to antagonize you need “others” to step on. If you would leave a person that knows nothing else (than antagonism) on his own, he will probably not know what to do with himself. Antagonism needs others in order to promote its own ego, and no wonder, it teaches us nothing about ourselves…
Imagine a person that does not travel at all. At the end of the day he might think that his village is the world! In a similar manner antagonism has become a great mind-wall that blocks the view of other ways of thinking.
So, what else could be, outside antagonism?
Other ways of thinking, especially creative thinking, need mature minds in order to grow and the complexity of an environment that will not neglect intelligent thought.
It is said, once too often, that via antagonism the outcome will produce him, who is “the fittest”. This can be true for… animals, but in the case of civilized people there are other kind of measures, in order to produce the same result. It is called emulation!

Aikido, as given by O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba (allow me to insist), has nothing to do with antagonism. Yet, most people who practice Aikido do so with antagonism on their minds. Their Aikido still works, but only until they reach a certain point, a point long before excellence that is!
Being better than yourself is a game where you keep emulation on your mind, not antagonism. This slight degree of difference of attitude, between antagonism and emulation, makes all the difference and ends up being another journey altogether in the long run…
When I was a young Aikido student, one of the things that my Sensei taught me from early on, was not to keep for myself anything from what I have learned. The moment you feel that you have progressed even a little, give your Art away to anyone below your skill, don’t keep it for yourself.
If you “give away” your Aikido, then Aikido flows easier through you, and you become even better for anything you give away. This happens because Aikido is a non-antagonistic Art. Ironically enough is, that due to the habit of being antagonistic, Aikido remains the most open secret Art.

When I state that Aikido is “an Art from the past ahead of us” it is not another “nice” phrase in my writings. It was put there as a challenge to overtake, and I would happily… give it up or wipe it out! One of the problems in the “Aikido community” is that too many sophisticated and good ringing to the ear words, are being spoken. And on the practical level nothing much is done. Aikido and Aikido Dojos are treated as pastime places, not far from the attitude of a gymnasium. If memory serves, Dojo means also “a place for enlightenment”. The point is that “utilizing” Aikido’s potentials to the fullest, as an aim to improve the world, is still far away!

Fighting is something deep in our instinct and nature. War is an invention that steps beyond that. Even if we could have a well trained Martial society, that doesn’t mean we have to go to war with each other… An Aikidoka can understand that better than anybody else… 
Global peace, as it is dreamed of, will take another society, which will completely prioritize its needs, and put them into a different level. For the failures toward peace, we usually blame the corrupt politicians, the blood sucking weapon industries, the system, the neighbor, the boogieman…
But we fail to see that all of them are people, and it is people foremost that we need, to pull us out of this and into a new era for mankind that will be permanently free of war…
…said the man who oiled his sword just about an hour ago…

                                   …the problem is not with the people who started this.
The problem is with us, who do nothing”
                                                             Robert Redford in “Lions for Lambs”

February 29, 2008 

Hachiman’s… brother

Death! Undoubtedly, the one true immortal…
The following writings are only for those who can handle certainties. Certainties that are devoid and above illusions like: assumptions, beliefs, points of view, hopes…

Wait a minute! I would like to take this last one back! I mean the one with this being only for those who can handle certainties!
Because since death makes no exceptions on any of us, how can I?!

When the time comes to write about the one in the black robe, I always start as I just did above (with variations of course). I cannot help proposing, at each beginning, that the issue of death is more about people with an intellect that is able to “handle” this. Only to remember shortly after the deep dark end, that is gonna suck everybody else, too…

It is by now a common agreement (for logical beings, as Mr. Spock would say) that the ultimate power of the universe is change. Nothing is more solid, everlasting and endurable, than change. The only one who has a ticket for a free ride on this, the only one with immunity to change, is death. He never changes…

We go into life with a vision of what we would like to do, what we would like to become and mostly, and most commonly, what we would like to have. We prepare ourselves for all these, we target out our vision and go after them, but when it comes on dying, we have no preparation at all.
Of course they are those who “promise to prepare” us for death, but all of them remind me of the lady in the plane, which smilingly instructs me to wear a… swimsuit, for the case of a crash-landing. Once as a boy asked my mother why they don’t hand out parachutes in flights, but year in year out (that have become decades) a nice lady with a smile still exercises my patience on an answer that stayed unfulfilled…     
Now if I die in a plane crash, and have a few seconds to think, I will definitely remember this text and say the famous phrase: “I said so, doesn’t quite cover this”

Man’s actions differ, according to a great number of things. So, when his time comes to die there are differences in how he will go, according exactly to this. Some might say that a great number of people are “lucky” enough to die without being able to realize that, like in their sleep or an extremely sudden death.
No matter, because our point here is not only about the moment of death, but also on how death affects us, throwing his shadow at us while we live.
Man’s actions might differ, but death’s action is one and only. He has a poor repertoire, a very single minded play, which he puts up through the ages.
He comes, takes us, and that’s the end of it.

We cannot change death’s act, in spite of the efforts we make. But we certainly can change our act, which is not one, but differs, as I earlier said. Our positioning towards death can improve a great deal, if we are willing it. A man who prepares himself for death will, in effect, lead a different life.
An academic approach on this has no value here. One can for example read a thousand books on acrophobia, but when the time comes to stand at the edge of the cliff all academic knowledge, all verbal advice, is swept away in an instance by terror and fear.
One will need technical know-how and practical application, which is gained by a step by step approach on the field, in order to come up with results and get to the magic word: Experience!

Same is with death. Keeping near death as possible (like keeping at the edge of the cliff without fear) using a tangible Art, is necessary in order to fight back fear, expose and eliminate character weaknesses, and be able to look into the deep dark void, when it opens its mouth, calmly whispering “hey you, I’m right here!”

If I wanted a cuckoo clock my destination would be Switzerland, but in order to find those who were fearless in facing death I would look under the term Samurai. The Samurai (and the Spartans as well) did not create the Martial Arts only for war practices. They founded a way of life through being a Martial Artist also in times of peace. Facing death has a practical application in times of war, but is effective in leading a life that is above all conscious to given realities.     
One understandable argument goes like this: isn’t it a bit strange to practice an “ancient” Art in order to conquer fears, being a modern man?! Well, from a Martial Artist’s point of view, buying a cuckoo clock is even stranger… 
But please consider the following:
Death remained unchanged through the ages, through cultures, through anything we might have thrown against him. He just waits in the shadows for his time to come and greet us all.   

No training for this
It is relatively easy for us to understand life as we have it now, along with the global culture that goes with it. Today we hear the same music, see the same movies, drive the same cars, speak through the same mobiles… We also share the same thoughts and worries about the environment, about politics and if we add the World Wide Web to that, the package is complete. It comes easy to think “this is the world”.
My point here is, that it is difficult to fully understand the absence of certain issues, like the total neglect of any training that would prepare us to face death. Consider that please for a moment, let it sink in. In our modern world, we enter and go through life totally unprepared, for one of life’s most important issues. The last of issues that, nevertheless, defines and affects our entire life!  
And we learn about it “as we go along” when, every now and then, someone we care about dies “unexpectedly” (if we are lucky!). Every death of that sort, every terminal illness that can be measured in days by our fingers, leaves behind fear, grief, shock and, sometimes, trauma.
Our modern, civilized, technological world (that I nevertheless admire!) is totally unable to cope with that. All it offers on the matter is psychological jabber that is supposed to “talk us through” in… sessions. Not to mention the promises of religion (any religion) that all agree on one point. That the deceased will have a… promising future, of some sort.
In the first case I would rather kill myself, but not before having first killed… the jabber man. And in the second case I simply rest my case (one more time) since I can not see anything more tangible and certain, than the man with the black robe who waits to take a swing at me with his reaping hook.
By totally “ignoring” death and its importance, we lead a life with a wrong pulse. Conditions like boredom and stress, for example, are totally ruining our sense of time and rhythm in daily life. Both are the side effects from an inability to balance out time, time that is in our hands, like in “given time before we die”. And above this, how we master it.  Blaming the “modern technological way of life” has little to do with this. But it has much to do with our basic training when entering to life.
Martial societies clearly have no place in our era, but their useful heritage of Martial Arts is timeless and too important to be ignored in basic human training.
Unlike today, martial societies, like those of the Samurai and the Spartans, did cultivate their lives in a manner that would invite more often the realization of death into their lives. Today, this same approach can be applied only as a personal choice, since societies no longer “invest” in any kind of training that does not have show an immediate profit, of any kind. Against death no one can be “modern”, “meta-modern”, have “new ideas” or have an exciting term that is not yet invented! Death is old as time, and the approach of the Samurai way can never be “anachronistic”.

Does man’s plan to prolong life include the simple thought that by doing so we extend and prolong the shadow of our death too? We usually find out that in many of our discoveries tag along deterioration, pollution, side effects and decadence. But we do so rather late…  

No old ways no new ways
Classical Martial Arts where on most of their part born on the battlefield and they include row applications of “destructive death” as applied in war… Thus, death is the very cornerstone that shapes a Martial Art. Practicing a “deadly” Art includes using as much control needed in order to distant yourself from killing each other and stay alive in practice… That is the main reason why in Martial Arts there cannot be any competing. If you push your abilities, the danger zone in Martial Arts, becomes a “near death” zone. This is not an “adrenalin” thing, this is not being “mucho” this is clearly about control over fear of death.  And it can be used, in order to “balance” out the day. By doing so, how can one “have stress” or “be bored”?

One of the most common misconceptions on the matter is as follows: If I think every morning of death and “meditate” on him, I will learn how to have no fear of him.
No! You will probably become depressed (and if you live near by, give me headache).
Death is no sunshine! In… his case what we “think” and what we “feel” and what we “believe” becomes a great disappointment, sooner or later. As always, it is what we are prepared to act, that counts.         

In the shadow of death
The common un-trained man walks into life making sure to position himself in a manner that leaves death’s shadow fall at his rear, at all times and out of his view. This man lives “happily” and runs into his life giving no value in death, and thus, no correct value in life.
Every time death decides to drop his shadow in front of him, he loses the world and is unable to confine himself turning “happy” to “greave”. Again, losing both values.
The trained man walks into life making sure to position himself in a manner that leaves death’s shadow fall at his side, at all times. Thus, he keeps an eye on it, acts not surprised when death pays visits, and values life with a right portion of death in it, making the best out of them both.
He practices the technique of breathing, without excluding his last exhale…
Martial wisdom is not merely about lack of fear due to training. It includes an understanding of life that goes to the point where you detach yourself from it, and live with a “who wants to live forever” kind of freedom. To be realized and awake on that matter, makes living a passing from one day to another, as if each day is that last one to come. Thus, you waste non, no more.

“Tomorrow is promised to no-one”

May 19, 2008      

The sword rules

All Martial Arts that are “complete” in their structure, have depth of principals and techniques and, finally, have sufficient historical background, are sword based. A Martial Art of such kind does not merely include swordsmanship in its practice, but literally… stands on it.
For example: The Chinese Art of Wing Chung cooperate two short swords widely known as “butterfly”. It is no wonder that this Art is characterized by its short, compact, economic and well combined moves and techniques, which are a result of simultaneous use of two sort swords.
Also the Art of Tai Chi, mostly known (as in wrongly known) only as a peaceful practice for… elderly people in parks, is a formidable Art. Many of its graceful and elegant moves are based on the long double edged Wu-Jian sword.
The connection between Aikido and the Japanese sword is inevitable, since Aikido is a direct descendant of the Samurai Arts. For a Samurai the sword was considered to be his very soul, and he would actually give a name to it.

Today, with both feet on the ground and clear logic in our heads, one must see the true role of this weapon from the past. The katana, as a practicing tool, is nothing less than a compass and guide that keeps the Art from deteriorating. An Art is only as good as the people that carry it on. But history has proven that all times are not equal, and Masters differ in expressing their Art’s application according to… many things. Thus, the Arts tend to decline. Sword practice with a live blade can prevent that. A sword is absolute! You cannot unload it, there is no safety trigger on it, and it cuts even while lying on the floor, simply because you touched it. In effect, its use demands a seriousness and equal absoluteness on our part… In return the sword becomes a catalyst, a measure of its Art! Any Art…
  
Practicing Japanese swordsmanship is pure joy, whatever the “school” (ryu) you are in… well, at least until you have the sufficient experience in order to move into a choice.
Repetition and time makes the sword an extension of yourself, in a unique relationship that has no equal. The outcome of practicing with a katana (always in accord of a wise choice of “school”) is an accumulation of Martial skill that will “stay with you” even when you are without your sword!

This solitude “affair” between man and weapon, creates the need and anticipation to practice as soon again, in order to improve and hone your skill, but it is also a meditation like practice, in which you can measure up yourself on “how can you perform today” on all levels, physically, mentally and so on and so forth…
Even when surrounded by many other students in practice “the Art of drawing the sword” is mostly a solitary act. This of course happens due to the nature of the sword that is nothing less than a lethal weapon. Practicing with it takes extreme caution and attentiveness at all times.

As one grows in his Art he realizes that apart from a Sensei, that is guiding you and apart from attending a Dojo, that is the home for all practitioners, experience gained comes from within. You practice, you push yourself and improvement comes as if it was already inside you. And if you figure out how to push yourself in this direction, you become self-reliant, “self-taught” and probably very good in what you do!
End of good news!

A wise... bucket
Among many other talents, skills and education, my Sensei was a qualified engineer. He would literally un-screw his car engine, down to the last part of it and throw the entire… thing randomly into buckets! Then, to my amazement, he would re-assemble it in no time. Now hear this: In order to regain his bits and pieces of the engine, he never looked twice in the same bucket, he was that good!
So, I took it on myself to “follow up” with him (a polite way to state that I was competing with him every step of the way) and I found a way to go round mechanics and do what was natural to me. I drove faster than him… This was easier said than done, because he himself drove like a maniac and I always could sense that he was ahead of me. But driving was no bucket full of screws, so I made sure to prove that this was my field…
Nevertheless, he could laugh it up every time I called him on the phone admitting that: “I am in the middle of nowhere and something is wrong with my car, can you come over?” Lesson of the day, in the end Sensei will have the last word…

So, I might have been developing my driving skills, but I was not far from the point where finding the hole at the gas station in order to refill, was my highlight mechanical achievement…     

Driving skill comes with mileage, pushing your limits and practice. And the more you drive the more you improve. Until it comes natural to you and evolve as you go. And you can become really good at it!
But this cannot help you the moment of a mechanical failure… You open the hood and just stand there…

Help?!
Something equivalent happens when it’s time to ask the question “what sword is the right choice for me?” This is where good news end!
Drawing, re-sheathing, executing forms and cutting, is like driving. Driving, literally `takes you to places and metaphorically speaking, the Art of the sword does “take you to places” as well.
But choosing a sword is like a bucket full of screws and parts, waiting to be re-assembled again! And you can look at the bucket aaaall day long, and it still doesn’t make sense. You can drive a car, you can wield a sword, but what do you do with a… bucket? No, no, don’t stir it, it only becomes worse!

The entire approach in choosing a sword is that of a good… mechanic. You will need to know everything from scratch, on history, on metallurgy, on the sword market as it is today, and you will need to be doubtful about everything, until you check, double-check and re-check again your info. For all this you will need books, magazines, create a fat file of info printed from the Internet, and stay bookmarked on those sites that can teach you something. The only problem is that you will need to understand correctly all that info and reading that kind of stuff is no joy ride!

This is a realm that has little or nothing to do with our standard everyday practice, which takes us a step further. We will have to deal it with a different approach.
The solutions to a right sword choice are at the end of a long trail of equations and numbers, which I am only too happy to skip here all together, since my intent was and remains to prompt and “provoke”… (the Internet is more than full with info on this, than anyone can handle)
When all cards are finally on the table (including homework) and things start to make sense, you will never come up with an exact figure that will pinpoint “your” sword. Instead you will always come up with an approximate estimating, telling you in general where it is the right place to land.

Two more problems on the “sword-choice” that are raising the bar a bit higher:

“Ask your Sensei” is one of them. It comes highly recommended everywhere and it is understandable…
Of course one should ask his Sensei, he knows you best (sometimes even better than you know yourself) and he also stands at the best spot, between you and the “school” of swordsmanship he represents. “Ask your Sensei” works for me, too! Since students that are under my guide won’t find me as pleasant, if they do whatever comes to their heads! 
But let me ask this: Who was the one choosing your Sensei in the first place? And under what criteria was that? And “what if” you would like to move on, to another Dojo maybe or to another ryu as well!?
Back to square one, aren’t we?
(Note: In Aikido this problem appears more often, and is better understood, since there is a “free” choice of ryu, regarding swordsmanship)

There is one last piece of the puzzle to be taken under consideration, but if you do, you will probably have to “deal” cards again. It is called value for money. This one was/is my own personal favorite… torment (you can include car issues as well)
I have a beyond measure detest for anything that is expensive, overprized and above all, un-necessary. When it comes to a katana I even find the remark “investment” insulting. The sword is a piece of weapon, period. And as such, it becomes a matter of principal that it should not exceed a certain cost! The only problem here is can one hold back?!

Becoming “one with your sword” comes not without drawbacks. Emotion might be the practitioner’s “soft spot” in buying a sword. Every time it is time for me to have my next one, I become jumpy like a nervous cat.    

The prior to the Internet times were… terrible (to say the least) regarding the sword market. Nowadays things are far better, but the market is cunning! Today’s choice could be tomorrow’s avoidance. So, to put up here an address, a brand or a company, means little…
The best way to approach this, the best advice that will last trough time is to grab yourself… a bucket!

July 25, 2008 

These Japs are all… Chinese to me

To tell them apart (the Chinese from the Japanese, I mean…) makes still one of my favorite avocation, whenever the occasion rises. Their resemblances and their differences, as people and culture, are coming together and going apart simultaneously like a tide. For someone like me, a typical Caucasian from Europe, understanding those “tides” and being able to recognize them at the first glimpse, was and remains an interesting, and as well entertaining study.
I suppose like many others of my kind, when I first started this, I only got back a look-alike feeling of… slit-eyes staring back at me. Probably (and rightly) just as I must have looked… pink skinned to them.
Nowadays, due to an increasing globalization, most people can tell the difference of Japanese sushi from Beijing duck, but what about the plates and bowls they are served on? Or the drawing that decorates them? The actual handwork of making them? Did you know that the famous chopsticks, though having the same principal and technique of use, they are not quite the same?
Even for a true connoisseur of Chino-Japanese culture, an archeologist let us say, there will always be a new field to discover. Like for instance, etiquette of behavior in a Kwon or a Dojo. In a Chinese Kwon the classical salute (one of many) is to join your fist into your open palm, while any attempt of “hand gestures” even as a salute is considered a hostile act in a Japanese Dojo, where you simply bow. A Chinese Sifu enters the premises and everybody stands up, while with the appearance of a Japanese Sensei the custom is to drop Seiza (seated on knees) on the spot.
As John Blofeld points out in his book “Taoism”, a Taoist garden appears to be in total chaos, while a Japanese Zen garden is arranged with the outmost extreme order…

Like in every field in life, if you combine ignorance, naïve-ness and stupidity, one of the results will be a new… aesthetic, more known as a junk culture aesthetics. The German expression for it is “kitsch”. In the case of (deliberately or out of ignorance) mixing up Chino-Japanese matters that regard the Martial Arts, the results are truly hilarious…  
If Japs are Chinese to us, I wonder what the following picture is, to the eyes of a serious easterner Martial Artist: The Ninja from Kentucky, with the Samurai sword, the Shaolin salute, the body building deformity, and all that wrapped up in a colorful… pajama. Not to mention the total mental confusion that will include some religion, a little philosophy that will suit us, a lot of western psychoanalysis and a solid rock opinion because we are skilled tongues. This surely is a… cross “training” that leaves nothing out, but in the end has… nothing in!   
    
Geography meets history
Nations make history as they go along, but a great part of this history is determined by geography. And whenever geography needed improvement they gave it a hand, by building castles on hills, walls around cities, outposts on strategic sites etc.
In the ancient world two factors were essential in the making of civilization. Influence from other nearby civilizations, in order to interact with, and stability of peace, in order to give it time to produce “fruit”.
By studying eastern history, we westerners discover that “these easterners” are… upside-down, in comparison to anything we have experienced in the west. I remember when as a young trainee, there were times when I thought of hanging myself like a bat, in order to learn my lesson straight…       
Since the talk is on “extending” geography with human structures, one good example of this is the following: The Great Wall of China, which extends beyond compare at the size of almost an entire continent, was not build to keep out the enemy, but to keep its civilization within!!! Unbelievable as it may sound, this was the original idea of building it (are you upside-down yet?)

More than we know, China is the oldest, deepest and greatest civilization of mankind. But it was never fully deployed, hence the phrase “don’t wake the great dragon”
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony was partly dedicated to the five most important inventions that China made along its history but five inventions is an understatement. If one reads his history correct, he will know that China could be easily renamed to “Invention-land” and I will respectfully decline in putting up the list here, since I got only… one life. Let’s put it in another way. Chinese did invent just about everything…
Nevertheless, an attitude of self-containment, constant internal turmoil, political change, plus the vastness of this country did not allow those inventions to flourish.

Japan’s story is… differently alike! There is no other way to put this and be correct.
Japan, deeply influenced by Chinese civilization, managed to form its own culture that became unique in character and proved to be flexible enough to transform, and sort of continue its culture into our era.
Small relatively in size, privileged by being an island, it was characterized by its Martial oriented people. The only two great attempts to invade it, by the Mongols under Kublai Khan in 1274 and in 1281 (Japanese were outnumbered in both invasions about 4 to 1) landed in the ocean.
To state for any nation that it is a “copy-paste” civilization would be an insult, but for the Japanese. Give them any invention, throw anything at them, and they will take it, totally absorb it, and develop it beyond recognition. Their abilities on that are equal only to the famous… Borg!

As nations, China and Japan had (have?) an eternal rivalry and as well a mutual respect, hidden many times. Both had ongoing internal conflicts and as well great periods of peace and prosperity. And both people’s ability of being polite, under any circumstance, is a virtue only taught by them to the rest of the world, a virtue that sadly can not be measured or appreciated. 
 
Historically speaking, in many ways the Chinese remind me of the ancient Greeks, while the Japanese remind me of the one city that became an Empire by its own hand. Rome! More than this, both… pairs remind me of their interconnections between them. The similarities on that are interesting, to say the least.
Maybe a step into the study of archeology could require modern museums to have Chino-Japanese and Greek-Roman exhibitions, side by side.      
Today’s Japan leaves little, if any, room for doubt, that it is one of the world’s leaders that is still reflecting some of the beauty of its past.

To tell apart Chinese Martial Arts from Japanese Martial Arts is not that difficult if you give it a try. But I always had difficulty in explaining, without being misunderstood, that after being able “to tell them apart” comes to keep them apart…
It is okay to read Sun Tzu’s Art of War and then read Hagakure, but if you are accurate you will keep those books on a different shelf, just as they were anyway, when you bought them at the bookstore. For a Martial Artist that means as well to keep them at a different place in his mind!
It helps a Martial Artist more, to study and deepen his knowledge according to the Art’s origin. Let me explain why. For any Martial Art to develop, it took many generations of Masters to bring it that way. And the mark of the culture of the particular nation which the Art belongs to, is there. We are talking about hundreds and sometimes thousands of years of evolution. “Jumping” from one culture to another and picking up what is “good for you” on the way, deprives you from taking your Art to its real depth. This is one reason why most practitioners go up to a certain point, failing to dive deeper into their Art. In whatever Art you have chosen, the better results that you might seek are not next door. You will not become better because you looked the other way, since this will only destruct you…       
The only problem is that I cannot argue about it, since I will look like a fool. What am I to say? If you practice Aikido stick to your damn sushi and forget about Beijing duck? But on the other hand, it could be that too, couldn’t it?

The Shaolin, the Samurai and Aikido in-between
The quintessence of Martial Arts is for them to be effective in their application of self-defense. This legacy stands above anything else during the passing from one generation to another. It is an historical fact, not speculation, that all Arts that lacked on effectiveness are today extinct. Time is the most caning endurance tester of all, and effectiveness is a true survivor of times.
Nevertheless, one crucial factor to consider is how one Art does achieve its effectiveness. If Aikido could answer for itself, it would point out one of its main principals that is “driving an aggressor’s force of attack back to him”. Compared to other Arts this might take a longer time of training in order to materialize, from being a sentence into becoming a praxis, but it still feels like nothing else on earth, each and every time you apply it. You will bring this huge person to his knees, with only a considerably small amount of pain for him, and the first thing that he asks, when he’s up again, is “how the hell did you do that?” only to get the, standard answer (by me anyway) “you tell me, because I feel the same surprise every time I do this…” Aikido is “magic” my friends, mainly in how it is effective!

To a westerner’s eye, the comparison between Chinese Shaolin Arts and Japanese Samurai Arts, seem to have a similar effect. Somehow the Shaolin Arts always gained first impressions over the Samurai on the how matter. This is quite understandable and there is a reasonable explanation for this, since the Shaolin were and are warrior monks, while the Samurai were… plain warriors, with mostly only death on their minds.
I have noticed on many occasions over the years as a Martial Artist that people tend to connect that “rightness” is on a monk’s side, and why not? You pray with one hand and… kick ass with the other. Personally, as a young boy, I was “in favor of the Chinese” on all parts for similar reasons, too. To the point where, if I had a time machine then and took the trip to visit me now, I would surely see me as no less than a… traitor!

Recently I found out that the Shaolin opened their first Temple in the west, in my homeland Germany. This turned out to be a success, so after Berlin the idea became to actually build a “real” Shaolin Temple in the country site (which is possibly already done by now).   

First impressions gained I said earlier, but are they really true and factual? If you put the best of theories, philosophy and intentions from any Art, Chinese or Japanese, and try to actually prove them on a practical level, Aikido is the one Art to… represent them even better. No matter what, if we keep in mind the concept of how Aikido simply raises the bar to a different level. Correction! It plays at its own game, would be more accurate. One might say “but of course, you’re practicing Aikido, what else would you say?” But please keep in mind the following: “Those Japs look(ed)… Chinese to me”, too. I am neither of either (Chinese or Japanese) but only a guy who has carefully chosen an Art to practice, having my eyes open to all directions in comparing it. But more than this, while being prejudiced against the nation where Aikido was created, my search proved me every step of the way wrong on that!    

There is a respectful number of Arts (not many though) with different ways of application, and thus different ways of expression. That I respect them all as they are, goes without saying. Aikido’s “drawback” is that it remains the most difficult of all to learn, not to speak about mastering it. I had a favorite “pattern of thought” that I kept on repeating to myself, in my stormy early practicing years, that were everything but easy.
“If you could transfer the ability of a Martial Art in a split second to an innocent young boy or girl, which Art would you pass on without any hesitation?”

I am glad as a person knowing that my choice on this one was always clear.

                             Two parallels, on the same route, to a different direction
                                                                             serving the same purpose…

August 28, 2008

Carman II-On the road to nowhere

The tireless service of the horse towards man came only to an end with the beginning of the car. But before it did, we used this beautiful animal in every possible way and for the longest part of our history.
The horse’s tasks and labors, extended from that of personal transport, to the work on the field, for the purpose of hunting and as a charger in wars, for the dragging of all kinds of carts, for competition in sports…
And its service is not quite over yet…

Cars were… luckier than horses from early on in their career. Since almost from the start we did build engines into different types of carts, in order to serve us better according to duty. So, the tractor worked on the fields (where else would it feel comfortable?) the Jeep served in the wars, the track carried the goods, the racing  car could unleash its speed on the circuit, the Land Rover was send on exploration missions and the careless roadster took us for the  drive of our lives…
As I have mentioned before, and will not tire to repeat, the car as an invention saved man’s enormously much time and effort, to the point that it did set us free. But like in so many other occasions, we humans managed the unmanageable, by becoming bad users and gradually started to turn our own invention against us, equally maybe in as many ways as it did set us free.
Now we blame the car for the injury and death toll, for the pollution of its engine and for the destruction of the landscape, which is “cut” in slices in order to build more and more roads.
On top of it, when one country tries to pass laws that improve or at least control the situation, another new “blooming” economy goes back and repeats our mistakes right from the start. And here you have it!
It would seem that we are on the road to nowhere.

The tour
The ideal way to get the best out of a tour, which is taken by car, is to be “on the road to nowhere”. Well… but not like the one I mentioned earlier.
Let’s take a minute to think about that, but do so by going backwards in time. From all tasks and labors that the gallant horse took on its back for us, which one is still today fully active?
Is it the carrying of goods? No, unless you belong to a religious sect that forbids cars. Is it the plough of the fields? I guess not either. But it surely is the careless horse ride that one does just for the fun of it.
From all the “useful” activities that the horse once offered, that which survived into our times was the one that has no particular “use”. And as a matter of fact it looks to have a promising future ahead of it… As we will see later on, this is not totally accidental…
Speaking about horsemanship, whenever I am given the opportunity to have a ride, I just take a stroll along the fence and do the one thing that I could never do with a car. I let a horse… pick me, instead of the other way round (well… unless when I am seduced by a car counts as the same thing).

The first and easy conclusion to fall into, in taking a car tour without a specific purpose just for the fun of it, is to think that this is only one more step into the dead ends that we brought ourselves on the matter.
But let me ask you something. When was it the last time that you took a tour like I describe it earlier? And I insist that you make the effort to remember a careless, with no particular destination tour. Unless I am that lucky (and happy to meet you too) most of you have to think really hard to remember, isn’t it? But in the huge meantime you used your car like a service mule, so it did everything else for you, right?

It is exactly the absence in our lives of taking “the road to nowhere” and a careless tour, that brought us this far. One might say that this has nothing to do with our “car problems” but I say that it has everything to do with it.
It always is the little unimportant things, which work as catalyst and finally make a big difference. Take the following example for instance.
What is the ingredient that lacks to the million zillion of unsolved problems in an “expired” married couple? The couples with this unbearable personal situation, which is transferred to their entire surrounding beyond themselves, like to the rest of the family, their children, their friends… The same ones, who will go at each others throat, economically, socially and professionally?
Absent is the tiny, “useless”, non-serious, for free element, called “being in love”. One might say that this example is naïve, but what about the couples that are in love, with that unbeatable attitude of “taking world” with only that?!  
No wonder that from all of the horse’s works through a period of thousands of years, it is the “useless” ride for fun, that remained in the end.

As in so many fields, so it is with cars. We need a change of attitude that we all well know it will never come. But I’m still free to write about it, and above all, continue to take my own tours…

My “dream car” that turned into a… dinosaur!
The fun of a small practical “jeep” that could go anywhere and at the same time would be great to drive on the road, died right after its birth. It was never given the chance to follow its own evolution and development, while remaining true to its original principal and idea. Today, cars known under the general term as SUVs have nothing to do with the intelligent proposal that first saw the streets at the end of the 80s until the mid of 90s. SUV’s became huge dinosaurs of the worst kind. They are too big, too heavy and too energy demanding in order to just move about. They promise to include everything and go everywhere, but in the end they end up doing pretty much nothing… And this comes from a man that still “believes” that SUV’s are maybe the best way to go around with…
Cars like Suzuki Vitara and Toyota RAV4 (both in their first generation) showed the way, and what followed was unbelievable and still goes on to this day. In no time many car companies came up with their own original idea on how an SUV should be build, putting into production fresh inventions of 4wheel drive and new applications on suspension, which would combine both on and off road abilities. Honda’s HRV and CRV, Subaru’s Forester did not copy anything, but kept true to the concept of a “light, small, practical, fun to drive, all-rounder” all this in a design never seen before. Note that this revolution was entirely done by the Japanese… And it was so successful that the market went wild…

But soon enough manufactures did go after the “bigger is better” concept and here we stand today… With a very limited exception to the rule, SUVs took the wrong turn and you will allow me to put it in an emotional way and say that today’s SUVs simply suck.
In order to prove my point I once took a top of the line SUV, that was expensive as a… house, and drove its owner right out from the street and into a terrain with rocks and trees and ups and downs and mud and stones. And every time I approached a passing through all this, leaving room from colliding as far as a finger, I said to my turning pale friend “see, I can’t get through here we are to fat” “see, I can’t approach this part we are too heavy”.
You want the results of this? He will buy a bigger one that just came out, I will congratulate him because I love my friends as they are and that’s the end of it.  

So far I have given names to all of my cars… Christine, Jolly and now Blondie! Even if they gave me a monster SUV for free, what would I call it? (At least until I have gotten myself to the nearest dealer in order to sell it)
Jumbo? Piggy? Rhino? Beats me!
 
Last desperate idea was just to sit around and wait for “dinosaurs” to be extinct. But time goes by and these monsters simply… refuse to die.
 
For a driver that takes more often long tours and dares to take a destination into unknown land (Romans called it “terra incognita”) it is only natural to go after a car with… extra capabilities.
Choosing a “normal” car is an art that one has to be good at. Nevertheless the reward of this right choice is… beyond description.
But choosing an SUV is twice the art, and thus a nightmare. Since a car like this is trying to combine two different and opposite things into one, the outcome can be a car that… fails on both parts. So the possibilities of choosing wrong are… endless. But still, the fact remains that with an SUV you can go further where a “normal” car will have to retreat…

There can’t be a comparison between those two… (and there should not). For a true connoisseur it would never be right and I would like to explain why in the simplest form there is…
Almost from the very beginning of cars, there where two ways of car racing and car competing.
Racing on a closed circuit and racing on the open roads (like the early Rally) that would include all kind of… terrible terrain and conditions. These are two different fields, that each demands a different approach and solution. And while a “normal” car is called to perform well on a track, the “rally oriented approach” is better suited in order to “build” an SUV.
 
Brace yourselves, hilarious example follows:
If a horse is a normal car and a donkey is a classical 4X4, we are on the look for a… mule. But please, let the Dinos die! 

Carman’s travel tips
*There are no good or bad times in taking a tour. Neither there are good or bad conditions. Feeling the urge of exploring the unknown has been within us since the dawn of time. From all primitive instincts, this one is and remains the most noble of all. This is the one we don’t need to control, to “civilize” suppress or get rid off. There is a horizon somewhere calling you. Yield to it! 
*It is said that in the Arts that are called “esoteric” travel is of no importance. One is called to take an inner journey with vehicle his own Art. So, (innuendo included) I practice… wherever I go.
*Fold your map, unplug your navigator! Find your orientation by looking where the sun is, or the northern star lies. Smell the distant sea or ocean, keep an eye on “that” mountain peak. Awaken your inner compass!
*On a cross section of your journey, if you feel doubt, throw a coin in the air, to decide the mystery of your destination.
Remember than in “Yojimbo” the drifter Samurai does the same thing by throwing a stick in the air. By repeating the act yourself, you will ensure that this was the…Martial thing to do.
*The “whom to take along” tip. This advice is worth a million bucks. Please transfer your money into my account immediately! But since the stock-market is to its knees at this point we can do this another time, but remember that you owe me this one…
I was just about to say, take nobody with you along the tour, but “Nobody” is my official nickname by now and I don’t want you to think that I am looking for a free ride. Just remember that long journeys by car, bring out the best and worst in any relationship. A tour is one of the strongest test-drive of… characters. Children are excluded to the rule, since they are by nature adventure beings. 
*Treat your car like you would treat your horse (or mule?!). Would you leave your horse unattended? Make sure that you always have it in your eye-site or leave it in a controlled facility.
*Being attentive is the first line of defense. When on a tour you will be everywhere a stranger, thus, you will have to be twice the warrior. You never know what the road will bring, always be ready to… hit the road.
*Taking a tour is a different concept than taking a drive. Exploring your driving skills on a tour is far from intelligent. Contain yourself.  
*What are you still doing here? Are you packed yet?…

                                                                                For the dedicated voyager
                                                                the final destination of his journeys
                                                                           will always be someplace else

October 14, 2008

Essence above rank II-No Admiral

They did not see in time the black flag with the dead-head approaching, and when they finally did, it was already too late. The pirate ship hooked them up and armed to the teeth men went on board … leaving nothing.
After the furious attack they did set the ship on fire, which sunk in no time. He found himself alone among the breakage, as his captain and comrades fled with every possible means early on, he was helplessly left to die in the open sea…
Looking for more loot, which would float among the debris, the pirate ship collected him from the sea.
The crew dragged him on the deck, binding him on the main mast with thick rope, while pushing, kicking and yelling at him. This seemed to last forever, but suddenly silence fell as the pirates quieted down and all of them looked into the direction, which was beyond his stare. Tight up as he was on the mast, he could only see the scare in the men’s eyes, hearing the approach of  that terrible sound that a wooden leg does, when pounding against the deck. And then he appeared before him, the captain of this vessel. Mean, ugly, one-eyed with a hook for a hand and a wicked smile. He wore a black bandana that would match his eye-cover, a worn-out Spaniards silk shirt, and above it an English long coat, which once belonged to an Admiral, now stained with blood…
This looked even worse than a nightmare that one sees after a gone-bad bedtime story. But it was all for real. With a grunt the captain pirate drew his Damascus sword, probably one of his spoils, and placed it on his throat with such pressure that he could feel the skin going apart already. Then the pirate leaned his white bearded face towards him, and slowly whispered “Well, well, what have we here? A stowaway! What are you doing in my seas? Speak up, or I’ll run you through”. Wet, cold, beaten, and with that blade as close as it could get, shaking with fear, he opened his mouth in order to plead for his life “Please Admiral…”  
The roar of laughter from the crew was pure hell, but it did not go above the captain’s loud as thunder voice “Admiral?! Ha ha ha… I like this one! We will not hang him…” he then turned to address his crew “let him walk the board instead, and feed the sharks”…

Admiral! From all the things in the world you came up with this? How the hell could you call a captain of a pirate ship… Admiral? He thought to himself…

“…of course, we are one big happy fleet”- Khan Noonien Singh
A captain of a ship has always the option of becoming a pirate if he wants to, even if he holds a rank as high as an Admiral. Now that I remember, an Admiral would be more easily tempted to do so (and history stands as proof that they do) because he knows that he will be followed… In time, and through negotiations, the rebel Admiral often became “recognized” (again) and thus retained the same status among legal fleets.

The sea of Aikido was always great, but there where not so many ships on it, as it started to spread outside Japan at the end of the 60s and early 70s. In the beginning the entire “fleet” belonged to a single command.
But very soon, like almost from the start, the fleet broke down and was divided into different “organizations” “associations” and so on and so forth. As time moved on, many of those “rebel forces” moved back under the rule of the “original” fleet…
Aikido continues to grow stronger and bigger, even to this day and the separations, divisions and… happy reunions, continue along with it… For some reason, many reunions look to me even worse than the most hostile of separations…
So, flags on ships are changing all the time… It became easy, you put down your old one and you raise another, it is a piece of cloth isn’t it?
From all this back and forth, there are a number of “independent” ships gathering, that grew tired of this… Are they true “pirates” or is their situation just a result of circumstance?  (By the way I should have claimed the term “independent” as a copyright, back in 1989 when I sailed my own boat. It seems that now too many are using the term and I want to distant myself once more…)  

All this was/is supposed to be no problem or concern for an Aikido student, since techniques are timeless and, as “Admirals” have it: “There is only one Aikido”.
But… a new student joining innocently an Aikido dojo, is unable to detect, notice or recognize the differences in the flag that is flattering above him.
And much later on, he will “feel” that difference, when for any reason he would like to move on to another ship, and even more if he will come to sail his own, because he will carry the name of the flag he was under, like a tattoo mark on his skin.

The instinct to leadership and command, or the need to follow command, lies strong within us. Just as strong lies the instinct to question and rebel against authority and rules…

A pirate that started out being one right from the beginning (for any reason) could never become an “Admiral” of any kind.
Why should he trade his freedom for obedience to a chain of command that will only care to bind him?
Why should he share his “loots” and findings, outside his own crew?
Why should he be “faithful” to those who can’t even be true to themselves?
Why should he tolerate the colors and signs of a flag that bears nothing from his own sketch?

The title and authority of an “Admiral” is tempting and much desired… If one claims that he’s not after it, if one claims that he doesn’t want it, then according to most he must be a lunatic of some sort, or he must be a hypocrite and a liar in his statement.     
But still so, some few men will never feel comfortable in an Admiral’s clothing… They would be… too scratchy for them.

Well… maybe with the exception of those stained with blood...

Equal shares for all men
The lonely “stowaway” crewman was finally walking the board, which the pirates did set up for him with the greatest enthusiasm. “Encouraged” by a sword, that was piercing his back, they drove him to his fall into the deep waters. The crew, a mob of screamers, seemed to have a lot of fun that afternoon, especially with the sight of… dolphins in the area, which the pure crewman mistook for sharks and almost lost his mind from fear, begging to be picked out of the water…
Care to know about his fate?
The deal was, that in order to fish him back, he would have to be sworn into… piracy and as far as I know of, he is still to this day washing  dishes and cleans up the mess for the rest of them.
Oh... I almost forgot! They nicknamed him… Admiral!   

November 14, 2008  

Global “whatever” day

Those who are really close to me, and I call friends, know only too well that I celebrate my birthday according to… mood. Let’s just say that I consider this as my prime birthday present to myself, to do as I please, on this particular day, having none to tell me how I should spend it, feel, or think…
It is quite refreshing to know that I might prepare a big table with just about everything, and eat, dance, laugh, talk, scream and do what one does when among loved ones on a celebration. As it is refreshing to know that I might decide to do the opposite of this, by “killing” my cell phone and let the answering machine do overtime, while I simply turn in early to bed… Between those two options, even those who at the beginning found my behavior “odd” now enjoy themselves behind the anticipation of what surprise my upcoming birthday will bring. “…what will he pull this year? Jump out from a cake or disappear for a trip?...”
From time to time some try to surprise me, but this does not go well for them, for obvious reasons…
I admit there was an exception last year, when a student of mine (perhaps I train them… too well) along with some friends, worked together for weeks, literally, in order to… nail me. And when I fell for it, they just could not believe, that I was not on them right from the start… They were so anxious into not being blown, it looked as I was the only one to enjoy the joke played on me in the end! And why not, I was the birthday boy, wasn’t I?

A man’s birth is not something he determines himself, and if you come to think about it, our precious birthday is something that we remember nothing of… but still we do celebrate it.
Maybe that is one more reason for me, to enjoy even better my “birthday” in the Aikido Art and to celebrate each year my very first lesson. In the contrary to my natural birth, I remember this one only too well… the feelings, the impression it had on me, and the thoughts that accompanied it. As years summed up I realized with each… rotation that this was the decisive day that took my life into the direction I wanted to… No wonder that it takes first place in my own personal calendar. But still so, with the exception of lighting a candle to… Hachiman, I do not celebrate this day with others, because there is simply no point in doing so.
Does this make it less important?

One day free of dedications
The global day of this, the global day of that… Give me a break. To be more specific, give me a day off from dedications… I only ask for one!
  
If we put our days in line, we will add 365 of them (plus a little something) to a year’s calendar. They look plenty, but they aren’t. There are so many days dedicated to something, that we are in danger of… running out of days.
In the beginning of this there was religion, any religion, well… all religions. They all made sure to fill up the calendar tightly with… close relatives, representatives, prophets, martyrs and saints… of the one who holds all patents.
But from the beginning of religions there always were, are and will be, a considerable number of people suffering from… doubt. These people never had a single day that would be theirs, and now that I think about it, they have no saint to guard them either (well, maybe with the exception of The Saint also known as… Simon Templar!).
And just about, when religions were on the path of conquering all days “global dedication days” came along and cleaned up the rest. And their representations to celebrate are awful, to say the least. At least religions have genuine classic personalities in their repertoire, like Kali-Ma or Santa Claus!

Please enhance your attention for the next line.
Global “whatever” days are a “product” that is fed by the media worldwide… and is supported from all those who make a profitable business out of it (see advertisement).
If one pays attention to what is said, on a global “whatever day”, he will feel that a lot of effort is being made (I wonder why?) in explaining why these days are a necessity. And it usually sums up in the following two excuses…

1. To make people aware of the issue that is advert… celebrated I mean.
2. To make sure that this day will work as a reminder.

Both objectives fail their task, and it is obvious why…
In the first case (of becoming aware of a situation that we need to be aware of) I think that the last time I checked, schools were still running…
Becoming aware of anything should remain at the places where teaching, learning and books, are in business. Add to that, if you like, the rest of the countless educational institutions, which exist for this purpose.
“Awareness” as given on a global “whatever day” is highly commercialized and has become pure advertisement time, for journalists and “experts” to talk about all day, rather than act on the given issue!

In the second case, if you have every day one reminder (at least one for each religion and one for a global “whatever” day) in the end you won’t remember anything… Or even worse, you become indifferent hearing the same spoken stuff over and over again, year in year out, blah… blah… blah.

Take AIDS for example…
This disease was not always around. It knocked mankind’s door in the 80s and, as scientists say, there is a good possibility in driving it to extinction…
But why dedicate a day to a… disease in the first place?!
If you ask (have you?) a person who has the disease, you will see that he/she does not give a cent if the rest of us “celebrate” become “aware” or “remember” his/her burden… He just wants to get rid of it, get back to normal, never talk or think about it again.
And what if we do actually win AIDS one day? What do we do with AIDS day? Replace it with a brand new one? Stick to it a new sign and color?

Take “environment day” for instance. Yes, it figures! We become aware of it, we remember it, and we hold our breath to pollution until next year same day…
The environment is something that we are in it, our entire lives. How can we have “a day” for it? Is being naïve our second nature?!

Do I have to put down 365.4 examples on a global whatever day in order to make my point? Well I hope not…

But I know what will happen in the end… that will be the end of me…
They will put up on the menu the “Global Dedication-less Day”.
They will frame it, name it, advertise it, sell it, talk it to death, and freeze it on a spot of the calendar with no place for it to go. Some free day!

Another of my birthdays is around the corner… Did someone say I was odd in how I celebrate it?

November 30, 2008

Hush! The movie is on…

Scene 1: Actor narrating.

They say Japan was made by a sword.
They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean
and when they pulled it out, four perfect drops fell back into the sea
and those drops became the islands of Japan.

I say Japan was made by a handful of brave men
warriors willing to give their lives
for what seems to have become a forgotten word:
Honor!

When I exited the movie, back in 2004, there was one sentence that got stuck in my head. And I spoke it out to those students that accompanied me in watching the film…
“There is one thing only that this movie misses, in order to be perfect. It needs the help of time, in order to be appreciated, it needs to be… old”
In my view (and opinion if you like) this film was a classic already, from the moment it was aired. And I was enjoying myself further more, with the idea that my movie collection would be richer by one more masterpiece, of the kind that one can watch over and over again. 
 
Today, about five years later, the question…
-Can you tell me one good Samurai film in order to watch?
…has found its standard answer.
-But of course! You can see “The Last Samurai”

Scene 15: Actor narrating.

I continue to live among these unusual people.
Everyone is polite. Everyone smiles and bows.
But beneath their courtesy, I detect a deep reservoir of feeling.
They are an intriguing people.
From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection
 of whatever they pursue.
I have never seen such discipline.
I am surprised to learn that the word “Samurai” means “to serve”…

Scene 28: Two Samurai talk to each other around camp fire, while facing death, defeat and the end of their time.

-The way of the Samurai is not necessary anymore.
-Necessary?! What could be more… necessary?!

Scene 39: At the end, the Emperor speaks his mind.

I have dreamed of a unified Japan
of a country strong and independent and modern.
And now we have railroads and cannon, Western clothing.
But…
…we cannot forget who we are or where we come from.

From same scene: The Emperor kneels, in recognition, while holding his “enemy’s” sword and asks the survived Samurai…

-Tell me how he died.
-I will tell you how he lived…

A beautiful death
One should note that the story of the film is “loosely”, but brilliantly nevertheless, based on the life of Saigo Takamori and also, historical fact, is not absent from this movie.
By following the spirit of the film, one must take into consideration that the Samurai could have not asked for a better death (of their time) than this… a shift, quick confrontation, in a last desperate fierce fight, sword against gun.
The moral here is not about the hero that “wins” at the end, maybe as we would like to. This movie is about how to deal with endings and defeat… which is as important in life as any other challenge.

At the end of each movie, it is a normal thing to be in search of a consonance, a conclusion that somehow involves the viewer himself.  But in this case it looks like that there is none.
The only “way out” is the promise in striving to be a worthy Martial Artist of your own time…

December 19, 2008

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