Martial artists are always supposed to be diligent or “monogokoro.” Monogokoro (物心) means “to be aware of things around oneself.” The old Japanese name for the month of October was kaminashizuki (神無月) which literally translates to “the month when there are no gods.” It is thought that all 8 million Shinto gods go to one shrine during this month. With all the gods leaving, it creates a vacuum leaving us without our shugorei (守護霊) or “guardian spirits” to look over us or protect us. Miyamoto Musashi said, “Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.” What he means is that warriors are supposed to be respectful but rely more on their skill and training than the support from the gods when deciding victory. However, many samurai had temples that they often prayed at before battle and many samurai decorated their armor and accoutrements with religious symbols. The reason is probably more practical because nobody really knows for sure if one’s gods are helpful or hurtful or if they even exist and because the margin for death is so slight then one might as well cover their bases. Because the margin between two equal opponents is so slight and without having any spiritual support, this theoretically levels the playing field and could tempt our opponents to attack us. Whether we believe in spirits, deities or gods or not, a martial artist is always supposed to be diligent. Being diligent means not being open or creating an opening for an attack. In the dojo, we learn diligence by observing the etiquette. The decorum in a dojo is not in place to oppress the student but rather it is supposed to keep the student safe. For instance, if a person bows to us, we bow back to them. If we don’t reciprocate, the other person could think that we have a problem which could create animosity over a mere oversight. This diligence transfers into our daily lives as well and we usually refer to it as situational awareness. Situational awareness means knowing what is going on around us at all times. As we celebrate Halloween, we should not rely solely on gods or others to keep us safe. As a martial artist, we rely on ourselves to decide the outcome and thus diligence is always our best weapon.
Today’s goal: Be aware of what is going on around you. Stay safe this weekend.
Watch this video which illustrates situational awareness