The best martial artists never react. How close would an attack have to get in order to incite you to react? Every person has a certain level of kanyo (寛容) or “tolerance” and once an attack crosses our threshold, we have to act. A normal person has low tolerance and is very thin-skinned and they react to the even slightest attack or insult. A person trained in the martial arts is supposed to have a higher level of tolerance. In training, we develop this tolerance by making ourselves impenetrable, indestructible, or impervious to an opponent’s physical attack. This is easy to accomplish by coming to class regularly. With time and effort, we will become stronger and with that strength comes a sense of fujimi (不死身) or “invulnerability.” However, outward or physical invulnerability is only skin deep. True impenetrableness is much deeper. When the Japanese, say, that something is “impenetrable” or okunofukai (奥の深い), they are also referring to it as having a “depth” or “profoundness” to it. Therefore, our true defenses are really more mental and emotional and much deeper than the skin’s surface or what we can do physically. From this understanding, what martial arts training is really trying to teach us is kyomutentan (虚無恬淡) or the ability “to remain calm and selfless and rise above the trivialness of life.” Trivial in a martial arts sense means attacks both physically and mentally. Thinking about it from the standpoint of being attacked, how close would an attack have to get or what word would our opponent have to say in order to get us to react? That depends on our training. In training, we learn to never react to our opponent’s advances because to react is mindless and this activates our fight-or-flight response. Instead, with training, we learn to act mindfully so that we can move from a place of equanimity and act rationally and appropriately. One of the highest teachings in swordsmanship is that of equanimity. In Japanese, there is no direct word translation for equanimity. Equanimity is the ability to have “mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.” With this understanding, we can use the old word shinshokujijaku (神色自若) which meant “perfect composure.” In class, with every attack, we become more and more desensitized to being attacked physically. This is what brings about the beginnings of self-confidence. A martial artist is supposed to have an air of self-confidence - they seem calm, cool, and composed. Up to a certain level, this air comes from letting go of the fear of being physically attacked. Later in our training, we gain a deeper sense of calmness as our defenses become more mental and emotional. In the old days, the teacher or senior students were supposed to be mean to us so that we would become desensitized to being attacked not only physically but mentally and emotionally too. Nowadays, dojos aren’t like this - not that I am advocating this. So the process of becoming completely composed is much longer. However, the internet and its trolls can help us with this. Thankfully, internet trolls can help us to gain a deeper and more profound sense of ourselves as they attack us with their BS. The fact of the matter is that no one is completely impervious, and everyone has a trigger. A strong punch should be no different than a terse word. In the mind of a trained martial artist, they are one and the same. The more we work at it, the more composed we become. Equanimity is a type of enlightenment for martial artists because they have the ability to act mindfully and not react mindlessly. Sadhguru said, “Enlightenment is not an attainment; it is a homecoming. It is extraordinary in the sense that you become utterly ordinary. Emptiness means that you are no longer filled with any of your own stuff, there is nothing of yours. If you become like this that everything is yours or nothing is yours, in that kind of state there is no compulsiveness.” Understanding this, that is why the best martial artists never react.
Today’s goal: Don’t react. Try and watch it go by. Then act.
Watch this video of David Ito Sensei discussing intuitive movement.