Which Super Power Would You Choose?

Which superpower would you choose, if you could choose any one power? You could choose anything like super strength, the power to fly, instant invisibility, quick learning, irresistible charm or anything else.

For most people, the choice usually vacillates between the power to fly and the power to turn invisible.  Whichever superpower one ends up choosing ultimately says a lot about who that person is on the inside.

Flight is supposed to be our more altruistic outgoing self while invisibility is supposed to be  more introverted and darker.

How is understanding one's choice useful to a martial artist?  Our choices inform us about who we are by revealing our true inner nature.  With this information we get the opportunity to examine, accept or change ourselves.

When posed this question, I chose the power to be able to speak any language.  Hmm, I wonder what that says about me?

This question is a lot of fun and a great topic at parties but it is also a guide for change and the martial arts are all about change.  So, which superpower would you choose if you could only choose one?

I was inspired to write this post based on this audio program I found on This American Life about Superpowers.

Art by Herby Santana http://funky23.deviantart.com/art/Batman-V-Superman-Vector-476257164

Aikido training is not what you think...

In the beginning we think we are fighting someone else.

In the middle, we are sure we are fighting someone else.

In the end, we realize we are just fighting ourselves.

"Be kind for every person we meet is fighting a hard battle."

 

"Bravery is not the absence of fear but the forging ahead despite being afraid." - Robert liparulo

Facing each day takes a tremendous amount of courage.  No matter who we are, we all must get dressed and meet our day.  A hard fact of life is that every person struggles and nobody has it easy.  Understanding this, it would be nice if we all could all show each other a little bit more kindness, compassion and forgiveness.

Author Ian Maclaren said it best, "Be kind for every person we meet is fighting a hard battle."

If we could all remember this, the world would be a better place.  Have a great day and congratulations on meeting your day with courage.

Graphic source: http://jimmymcwicked.deviantart.com/art/the-hollow-of-the-harbour-wave-201072915?q=gallery:jimmymcwicked/2525386&qo=52

Be the kanabo

 

Oni ni kanabo (鬼に金棒) Give an ogre a kanabo. "To make someone strong, stronger."

Within Japanese folklore, a kanabo was the weapon primarily used by an oni which is a demon or ogre.  The oni is said to bring bad luck and evil spirits.  So, giving a kanabo to an ogre would make the already invincible demon even stronger.

The kanabo was commonly used during Japan's feudal period.  It is a club or staff adorned with spikes or knobby-like protrusions on its striking surface.  A kanabo is a smashing type weapon that would be used on the front lines of a battle where a samurai might meet up with enemy fortifications that were too strong for swords or spears.  It could be used to smash through an opponent's armor, break though their ramparts or simply break the legs of charging horses.  It was an effective but slow weapon and thus something typically not used in close quarters combat unless one was very strong.

In the martial arts, we only get better in relation to our partner's improvement.  In a sense, we are the kanabo.   In training when we give our bodies to our partners so that they can become stronger, we are like giving an ogre a kanabo.

No one has ever gotten good on their own.  We all need to work together as a community.  It may take village to raise a child but also an entire dojo to develop a student.  Please put your efforts into being your partner's kanabo and making them good first.  I promise you that it will pay dividends for not only you but the whole school too.

Are you ready for the teacher to appear?

https://youtu.be/G6FDts-erVw There is a Buddhist proverb, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."  I can't tell you how many times I have heard this quote and I also can't tell you how many times I have heard it explained (in my opinion) incorrectly.  The meaning behind this proverb is that when a student approaches their training with the proper attitude and perspective then everyone and everything can become their teacher and thus they can learn anything.

Learning something new is difficult, but certain programs have found a way to teach even the most difficult concepts.  One of those programs is Sesame Street.  Kids (and adults) have used Sesame Street to learn English, counting, the alphabet, and life lessons to name just a few.  But who knew that you could learn how to learn the martial arts from Sesame Street?

Some how the people at Sesame Street have found a way to boil down to exactly what a student would need to do to be a successful in the martial arts.

Learning Aikido is simple if you follow Mr. Mi-cookies teachings.

Please come to class and listen with your whole body - eyes watch, ears listen, voice quiet and body calm.

Are you ready for the teacher to appear?

Ready to steal?

 

The other day after class someone asked me, "Where did you learn that technique?"  To which I answered, "I stole it from Sensei."  With what was probably a huge grin, I elaborated, "He showed it one time and I stole it."

As a Westerner, I think he was surprised that I would admit to "stealing" something, but in the East this idea of stealing is called nusumi-geiko and thought of as the highest form of learning and that's why I proudly admitted to stealing it from Furuya Sensei.

In the past, the teachings were supposed to be closely guarded secrets that were passed down from generation to generation.  Outsiders were always met with a certain amount of suspicion and even more so if they had any amount of talent. Teachers were always afraid that someone might come in and learn their secrets and abscond off with them which might lead to attack or the closing of the school.

To safeguard these teachings, teachers often left crucial and often subtle things out that only a truly dedicated student could figure out with time and diligence.  Sensei even once told us a story about a Chinese martial arts teacher who purposefully taught the form backwards to safeguard it.  Only after he fully trusted the student would he then reverse the direction.

Teachers of old believed that anyone could learn their arts up to a certain level, but only a truly gifted student could master them.  To determine the wheat from the chaff the teacher needed a method to determine the inner character of the student.  Hiding the technique was one of those ways.  If a student could pick it up on their own i.e. by stealing it, then they were probably someone of merit.  It forced the student to not only be diligent but to be resourceful enough to "purposefully" steal the technique from the teacher.

An average student can learn anything, but only a great student can learn everything.

Nothing goes as you like

 

Some days, life just feels like this...

Sometimes no matter what we do, things don't go our way.  Furuya Sensei's Zen teacher, Bishop Yamashita once said to him, "Nothing goes the way we think it will."  Profound words indeed.

We often trap ourselves with this idea that if we are happier, skinnier, wealthier or more skillful that our lives will some how better.  The truth is as the Bishop stated and that by accepting this hard truth we can some how liberate ourselves from this trap.

The truth behind the Bishop's admonishment is that today we must celebrate what is and not wait for what will be.

"Even monkeys fall out of trees" was one of my mom's favorite Japanese proverbs.  Things happen, situations change and we grow older.  Tomorrow never comes because it is always today.

Mingyur Rinpoche said, "Whatever passes through your mind, don't focus on it and don't try to suppress it.  Just observe it as it comes and goes."

Some days feel just like a kick to the face.  It happens.  Don't hold on to it and just let it go.

Furin Kazan

 

Furin Kazan Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain "Be swift like the wind, silent as the forest, devastating as fire and immovable as a mountain."

This saying was a favorite of Takeda Shingen, the famous Japanese general, who allegedly flew these characters on his nobori or battle banners.

This particular saying comes from Sun Tzu's Art of War and has become a favorite for martial artists.

Words to live by!

These guys are working hard. Are you?

https://vimeo.com/161511617 There is an old saying, "People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."  Here is a great video of a bunch of people who are living their passions.

It is not really my cup of tea, but it was inspiring to see their dedication and determination.  Every person looked like they were having a good time.  Isn't that all that really matters?

No matter what we find ourselves doing, we should do it like these people.

Are warriors sensitive?

 

Are real warriors sensitive?

One might think that people engaged in the military arts would not or could not be sensitive by the shear nature of their business.

I would argue that a warrior or martial artist at their highest is and has to be sensitive.

Sensitivity is commonly, and erroneously, thought of as vulnerability and vulnerability is death.  At first glance, this is true, but only to warriors of the lowest levels.

To be a great warrior one needs the ability to be able read their opponents in a split second.  This "read" has to be done with the sub-conscious mind because it happens so fast that one only realizes that it is happening when they are already moving.  This sub-conscious action requires a master's amount of training.  It is so fast and without conscious thought that most begin to call it "intuitive" movement.

To develop this intuitive movement requires that one venture to a place within themselves seldom seen by the outside world but only after the physical art has been mastered.  It is the place where we hide all of our secrets and fears which we call our "weaknesses."  To be able to defeat a foe greater than ourselves we must venture deep within ourselves and confront these dark places.  The most well-known movie scene illustrating this was in the Empire Strikes Back when Luke ventures into the Dark Cave of Evil where he strikes down Vader only to reveal himself which suggests he is his own worst enemy.  When we become aware our weaknesses and deal with them then they become the source of our true inner strength.

We then use this sensitivity, which is rooted in the awareness of our own weaknesses, to find the weaknesses in our own opponents.  Looking for the weakness in Japanese it is called "Benki no naki dokoro" which means Benkei's weak spot (Musashibo Benki was a legendary warrior in 12th century in Japan).

Can we be strong and sensitive?  Sure, true strength is found at the juncture of what we can do physically and where we are mentally.  To gain true victory is what O Sensei calls Masakatsu Agatsu or the true victory is the one gained over one's self.

Does a real warrior cry?  I would argue that they do, but not for the same reasons that we might think.

Flashback Friday

 

Flashback Friday.

Furuya Sensei posted this to his Daily Message on March 4, 2004.  I found it inspirational.  I hope that others might too.  I would like to have a mindset like the hishaku where nothing is special and live my life with the "everyday mind."

Hei-Jo-Shin: Everyday Mind

Calligraphy by Shibayama Zenkei, Zen priest.

This is a very popular phrase in Zen and the Japanese arts and is what is aspired to as the epitome or ideal mental state. "Everyday mind" implies to our modern minds as "nothing special," but in Zen, nothing special means "everything is special." As everything is special, everything becomes equal in value and position and therefore, once again, nothing is special.

In this respect, it is not to pick and choose or take this and that in our lives and make it something what we deem of lesser value or importance, but to take the total whole of our lives, leaving nothing behind, and taking it one more step to a higher level. . . . .

As in the tea ceremony - the ideal is the water ladle called "hishaku" which can be used freely between hot and cold water without discriminating between the two. . . its "universal" state makes it universally important and useful. . . . . this is what is known in Zen as "freedom."

In Zen, discrimination is not particularly wrong or condemned, it is only in our discriminating mind that we are so restricted and limited as we swing back and forth from one side of the scale to the other. . . . .

What is the lesson?

Onkochishin - to learn from the past.  What does it mean to learn from the past?  We read books or attend lectures about famous people and their histories, but sometimes that doesn't sink in deep enough to create any meaningful change.  Onkochishin is to learn from not only from the history of others, but from our own history too.  It is said that experience is the best teacher and I agree, but one needs to be "smart" enough to learn from not only the victories but the blunders too.  For the most part, there is no such thing as good or bad or right or wrong - the only thing that matter is if one learns something from one's experiences.  Learning by direct experience is the way to become successful.  Furuya Sensei once said, "Success is built on many failures" and the Dalai Lama supposedly said, "When you lose, don't lose the lesson" so one can see that the path to victory is in learning from the past.

The iris is more than just a nice plant with beautiful flowers

 

The iris plant or shoubu (菖蒲) is a popular motif in Japanese art.  The word for iris is shoubu but when the same word is written with different kanji it can mean victory (勝負) or militarism or martial spirit (尚武).  The Japanese like this kind of play on words called  goro awase.

This tsuba above was created by Choshu Hagi no ju Inoue Michitaka saku 長州萩住井上通高作 in the mid 18th century.

The iris plant known in Japan as kakitsubata is supposed to represent strength and health and is said to ward off evil spirits so it was a often used motif in samurai accouterments like tsubas and armor.   Kakitsubata is also a name of a famous Noh play based on a passage from the Tale of Ise.  The plant itself is a nice symbol with a lot of hidden meaning other than the clever word-play.

From the photo of an ikebana arrangement, we can see that the leaves stand up and are long, straight and pointed which look like swords. Within one plant it looks like many swords standing up, but with many rows of plants (see painting above) it looks like an army staging before a big battle hence this idea of militarism.  Another nice symbolism is that the flower or true inner beauty only comes out once the leaves have grown tall which gives us this idea that growth and experience can bring out one's true inner beauty.

The 20-second rule

 

Want to get better at something?  All you need is 20-seconds.

In order to get what we want, we need to create change.  Ostensibly we think that change requires willpower.  Willpower is necessary, but according to author Shawn Achor, "Willpower is a finite resource and can’t be relied on."  In his book The Happiness Advantage, he discusses the 20-second rule, "I like to refer to this as the 20-Second Rule, because lowering the barrier to change by just 20 seconds was all it took to help me form a new life habit. In truth, it often takes more than 20 seconds to make a difference-and sometimes it can take much less-but the strategy itself is universally applicable: Lower the activation energy for habits you want to adopt, and raise it for habits you want to avoid. The more we can lower or even eliminate the activation energy for our desired actions, the more we enhance our ability to jump-start positive change."

What he is talking about is being deliberate in order to create a habit.  Understanding that change is a function of motivation, willpower and action, we can use the 20-second rule to create deliberate action in order to become better martial artists.

Momentum is the mother of change.  The 20-second rule is just a way of using this idea of "low activation" to kick start momentum.  In order to use it, just add a small deliberate step in the beginning to activate you.  Then once you've started it is easier to keep going and thus success is easier to achieve.

I use the 20-second rule all the time.  When I get off work, the last thing I want to do is go to Yoga class.  So I trick myself by saying, "I will just drive by and if there is a parking spot, I will stop."  When I get there, regardless if there is a spot or not, I think, "Well I am here" and end up just going in.

Do you have fighting spirit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0D_pug7RJw Do you have kioi ( 気負い) or fighting spirit?

A warrior has fighting spirit.  Fighting spirit is not something physical or external.  To have fighting spirit is to have a mindset where anything is achievable regardless of the odds or obstacles.

Check out Josh Womack's bat skills.  Anyone can do these insane tricks, but sadly most won't.  The average person looks at something seemingly insurmountable and silently says to themselves, "I can't do that."  They are partially correct.  They can't "do" that right now, but with time and effort they could.  I believe that everything in this world can be accomplished.  I am not naive, I am a martial artist.   I firmly believe that if it can be done by someone then I can do it too.   Most martial artists see the world the same way.  This is what it means to have fighting spirit.

As a warrior, we are never supposed to look at the obstacles and think, "I'm done" or "I'm gonna lose."  As a martial artist we are supposed to have konjo or the willpower to see things through to the end.  We are supposed to use our superior attitude and mindset and find way so that we can be successful.

Because of this "can do" mindset, the only thing holding us back then is our beliefs.  Can you or will you?  Can implies ability or skillfulness - so yes anyone can acquire a skill.  Will suggests attitude, drive or determination - so yes, but one has to have the right mindset.

I believe that with time, effort and hard work that everything and anything can be achieved.  I am not being braggadocious when I think this way - its just the way I think when it comes to achieving something.  It is something deep seated in me that makes me think that if I put in the time and set my mind to it that I will eventually be successful.  I'm not trying to be better than anyone else, I am just trying to be the best that I can be.

A true martial artists is someone who is imbued this indomitable spirit or fighting spirit where if they put their minds and efforts to something then it will become so.  Do you have fighting spirit?

Happy Friday the 13th!

 

I wish you good luck today and a happy Friday the 13th!  Today is supposed to be bad luck so I send you this Maneki Neko in hopes that it bring you good luck.

The Maneki Neko or "Beckoning Cat" is a symbol of good luck in Japan.  The waving cat is everywhere in Japan, but did you know one of its origins is samurai related?  Here is one famous story about the samurai origin of the Maneki Neko.

In 1615 during the Edo period there was a temple in Tokyo called Gotokuji that had fallen on hard times.  The priest there loved cats and, although poor, he saved his meals to feed this stray cat.  As the cat ate, he would say, “Please bring me good luck and prosperity.”  The story goes that the famous samurai Naotaka Ii who was the feudal lord of Hikone happened to be walking by the temple on his way home from falconry one afternoon.  As he looked over at the temple gates, he noticed that the stray cat seemed to be beckoning him to come in.  Naotaka became curious and entered the temple just as a severe thunderstorm passed over soaking the entire area with heavy rain.  The famous samurai from Hikone spent the rest of the afternoon drinking tea and listening to the priest's sermon on Sanzeinga no ho (三世因果) or the reasoning for the past, present and future.  Grateful to the cat for keeping him dry Naotaka Ii donated a large sum of money to re-build the temple and designated it the official temple of his clan.

I wish you the best of luck today.

Training in Budo is about change

 

Training in the martial arts is about change.  We begin training as one person and we begin to see another person emerge as we put more time in to our training.  A while back I read this article about the original Karate Kid movie that kind of stayed with me and I thought I'd share it with you.

I think by now most of us have seen the original Karate Kid movie with Ralph Macchio and, like most, think of it as a "coming of age" story about how Daniel-san found his teacher, gained courage and found himself.  On face value for 99% of this movie that is true.  But, this article deftly illustrates that most of us, me included, missed an important and the underlying story line of the villains journey of realization and redemption.

Throughout the movie Johnny and his friends terrorize Daniel-san, but if we look closely we see them start to soften and realize their wrong path as their teacher becomes more and more radical.  In the last 10 to 15 minutes or so if we look past Mr. Miyagi and Daniel-san we see the redemption in some of the Cobra-kai students.  We see Bobby follow through with his teacher's terrible command to attack Daniel's leg only to beg for forgiveness and Johnny's look of horror as the sensei tells him to "Sweep the leg."  Johnny's full redemption is shown as he displays true sportsmanship by demanding to give Daniel-san the trophy and saying, "You're alright Laruso."

The martial arts are all about change.  Daniel-san found himself and changed.  Mr. Miyagi found the love of teaching again and changed.  Bobby and Johnny realized they were following the wrong master and were acting unscrupulously and changed.  A more developed ending that displayed this idea of realization, change and redemption would have seen Daniel-san, Johnny and the other students from the Cobra-kai training in Mr. Miyagi's backyard as the movie faded black to the credits.

In the martial arts, everyone seemingly good and bad has the opportunity to change.  There is no time limit or statue of limitations.  Change is a function of realization and action, but most of all it requires some level of sacrifice.  We must let go of something in order to grab hold of something else.  Every person is capable of change.  If Johnny can do it and Darth Vader can too at the end of Return of the Jedi then we can too.

Learn from your mistakes

I recently read an article on how one's mind responds to mistakes.  In a traditional martial arts there is no such thing as right or wrong, but only what can be learned.  For the teacher, every mistake is a teaching moment.  For the student it is a chance to understand themselves as they see mistakes as an opportunity to learn about themselves and change.  This is the best case scenario, but sometimes students and teachers only see the defeat in the mistake.  I know that I have from both sides.  This is wholeheartedly wrong and will only cause more unhappiness and problems.  When we make mistakes, the only thing any of us can do is forgive and try and find the lesson there. How your brain reacts to mistakes depends on your mindset

“Whether you think you can or think you can't -- you're right,” said Henry Ford. A new study, to be published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that people who think they can learn from their mistakes have a different brain reaction to mistakes than people who think intelligence is fixed.

“One big difference between people who think intelligence is malleable and those who think intelligence is fixed is how they respond to mistakes,” says Jason S. Moser, of Michigan State University, who collaborated on the new study with Hans S. Schroder, Carrie Heeter, Tim P. Moran, and Yu-Hao Lee. Studies have found that people who think intelligence is malleable say things like, “When the going gets tough, I put in more effort” or “If I make a mistake, I try to learn and figure it out.” On the other hand, people who think that they can’t get smarter will not take opportunities to learn from their mistakes. This can be a problem in school, for example; a student who thinks her intelligence is fixed will think it’s not worth bothering to try harder after she fails a test.

For this study, Moser and his colleagues gave participants a task that is easy to make a mistake on. They were supposed to identify the middle letter of a five-letter series like “MMMMM” or “NNMNN.” Sometimes the middle letter was the same as the other four, and sometimes it was different. “It’s pretty simple, doing the same thing over and over, but the mind can’t help it; it just kind of zones out from time to time,” Moser says. That’s when people make mistakes—and they notice it immediately, and feel stupid.

While doing the task, the participant wore a cap on his or her head that records electrical activity in the brain. When someone makes a mistake, their brain makes two quick signals: an initial response that indicates something has gone awry—Moser calls it the “’oh crap’ response”—and a second that indicates the person is consciously aware of the mistake and is trying to right the wrong. Both signals occur within a quarter of a second of the mistake. After the experiment, the researchers found out whether people believed they could learn from their mistakes or not.

People who think they can learn from their mistakes did better after making a mistake – in other words, they successfully bounced back after an error. Their brains also reacted differently, producing a bigger second signal, the one that says “I see that I’ve made a mistake, so I should pay more attention” Moser says.

The research shows that these people are different on a fundamental level, Moser says. “This might help us understand why exactly the two types of individuals show different behaviors after mistakes.” People who think they can learn from their mistakes have brains that are tuned to pay more attention to mistakes, he says. This research could help in training people to believe that they can work harder and learn more, by showing how their brain is reacting to mistakes.

Source: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-brain-reacts-mindset.html?ref_src=email

Shoki the Demon Queller

Warriors would sometimes adorn themselves with symbols that acted like talismans to protect themselves from harm or prayer for victory.  The tsuba or sword guard was a favorite item for the samurai to personalize with these symbols. One such symbol of protection was Shoki or "Demon Queller."  Shoki (鍾馗) is a Taoist deity who was a popular art motif around the Edo period and is supposed to protect against evil.

As the story goes, Shoki was a promising young physician who dreamed of being a physician at the imperial palace.  He took the government service examination and scored 1st place.  When he was presented to the court to receive his award, the Emperor rejected him because of his extreme ugliness.  After being cast out, Shoki committed suicide.  Upon hearing about Shoki taking his own life, the Emperor overcome with guilt posthumously awarded him the title of Doctor of Zhongnanshan which is supposed to be the birthplace of Taosim and ordered him buried in imperial green.  Shoki's spirit, in appreciation, vowed to protect the Emperor from evil and thus became canonized as Shoki the Great Spiritual Chaser of Demons.  He is usually depicted wearing boots, a large scholars hat, wearing a green robe and carrying a sword while he is either stabbing or trampling on demons.

In Japan, Shoki is usually associated with Boys day and is supposed to watch over children and protect them from evil and illness.  Shoki is also a very popular symbol in Kyoto where he is used to protect buildings, temples and even protect against fire.

Be good rather than right

Do you think you know?  Having the attitude that one knows "everything" is one of the greatest barriers to learning.  "You think you know everything" was one of the admonishments that Furuya Sensei often said to me.  Then I thought it was some sort of pseudo compliment.  Today as a teacher, I can understand why it wasn't.  Having this type of self-righteousness can lead us down a path toward a slippery slope.  The slippery slope arrives when one would rather choke on their pride than admit they don't know.  With this pride comes a fall shortly thereafter Sometimes when we don't want to admit that we are wrong and we try and cover up our miss step.  I recently read an article where this phenomenon is called "overclaiming."

From Science Daily: New research reveals that the more people think they know about a topic in general, the more likely they are to allege knowledge of completely made-up information and false facts, a phenomenon known as "overclaiming." The findings are published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

In today's society, a teacher or a "master" should know all.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The term for teacher in Japanese is sensei (先生).  The word itself translates to mean "one who comes first."  Therefore a teacher isn't the teacher because they know it all.  It is merely because they have been where you have been shortly before you.

Original story: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150720092303.htm