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Martial Arts Explorer - V3 P12
Exploring practical self defense technique
as found in classical martial arts of all styles
Muay Thai CERTIFICATION Camp!!
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Martial Arts Explorer - V3 P11
Exploring practical self defense technique
as found in classical martial arts of all styles
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Exploring practical self defense technique
as found in classical martial arts of all styles
Martial Arts Explorer - V3 P8
Exploring practical self defense technique
as found in classical martial arts of all styles
indomitable spirit: are we invincible, or what?
In the world of martial arts there is frequent mention of the spirit/mind/body triangle; lots of talk but precious little clarity. If pressed,most of us could come up with adequate definitions for the mind and body portions of the equation, but I believe we’d be hard pressed to define the roleof ‘spirit’ – particularly ‘indomitable spirit’ – in our arts.
The obvious question to askhere is …”Why?” Why bother to delvebeyond the sport or self-defense applications of our arts? Why go deeper than technique takes us? Like many other activities martial arts canbe seen as a small representation of life. Many times we discover that the best stuff isn’t where we expected tofind it when we began.
For instance, I knew I wouldlove my kids when they were born. It’s anatural response to the arrival of a new life. What I didn’t expect was to find out how much I liked my kids. Just being intheir presence, witnessing their small and large successes or failures; to takeand active part in mentoring them is a burden so light and full of joy that Ican’t begin to convey how privileged I feel to be a part of it.
Similarly, when I begantraining it was all about me. What Iwanted to know, what I wanted to learn, how good I could be. Now that I’ve been an instructor for sometime it’s all about providing our students with everything they need. That change in perspective is why I believeit is imperative to move beyond ego to something that transcends mere technique. I believe the study of martial artsultimately brings us face to face with ourselves and our place in theuniverse. If we approach the internalart with the same focus and determination as we bring to the external art howcan we not become better people, better teachers, better friends, parents,communities?
This thesis is an attempt tobegin the discussion of how we might define indomitable spirit. It is merely a jumping off point, not adestination. Each martial artist mustexamine and weigh how the definition of indomitable spirit might affectthem. It is an internal workout that canyield positive results if one is so inclined.
It is true that some of thegreat masters have attached the spirit side of the triangle to Zen. The word spirit is often attached to religiousbelief or conviction. This type ofspirit could be referred to as ‘eternal spirit’. While I believe that the sincere martialartist will eventually be led to eternal questions, I don’t think this is thekind of spirit referred to by the masters when they use the term indomitablespirit. It seems they are referring to astate of mind or attitude that can be described in terms other than religious.
Some have interpretedindomitable spirit – fudo shin inJapanese – as a property that allows us to accurately see what must be done andgives us the persistence to see the task through no matter what. Fudo shin is seen as the key that unlocks ourunlimited potential. This is the pointat which I think the interpretation hangs a left and veers off course. From here indomitable spirit becomes therough equivalent of invincible warrior and I am not convinced they are the samething.
Some of the great problemswe face in interpretation are language barriers between east and west. Translations between these languages aren’tas simple as one might assume. Thelanguages are so different that direct, literal translations are nearlyunintelligible. It’s like trying to readan Apple computer’s hard drive with a Windows based PC. Translators are stuck with the job ofinterpreting the central meaning of a given text often without the luxury ofinterviewing the original author. Overthe years they have met with greater and lesser successes. Often times, a number of translations are requiredbefore the rendered text begins to accurately convey the essential message inits new language.
Language barriers oftenreveal themselves as terms that a people with shared experience interpret thesame way. But imagine how the Americanterm “hang a left” might sound to someone with no knowledge of colloquialEnglish. Two questions come to mind;what did this left do to justify capital punishment and exactly what kind ofrope might one hang the aforementioned left with? We have a similar problem with conceptscoming from east to west. Often we don’tunderstand the deeper meaning in the turn of a phrase and are, therefore,denied the essential intent.
Then we have the problem ofinterpreting the interpretation. This islike playing the ‘Telephone Game’ where one person whispers a sentence into thenext person’s ear. By the time thesentence moves through a room full of people it often doesn’t even mean thesame thing anymore.
While context gives us someidea as to what indomitable means, it is instructive to see what the dictionarysays ”…Incapable of being overcome, subdued, orvanquished; unconquerable.” Many haveinterpreted this definition to mean that one who possesses indomitable spiritis unconquerable. Does having indomitablespirit really mean one is incapable of being defeated? Probably not. As I mentioned before, having an indomitable spirit isn’t the same thingas being an invincible warrior. Ibelieve the concept of the invincible warrior has been superimposed over theterm Indomitable Spirit giving us a muddled interpretation.
Movies and TV aswell as stories passed down from teacher to student regale us with tales of theinvincible warrior. The incantation thatpropels our hero goes something like this: “…fight with honor, and you will win”. Let’s take a closer look at this idea. One can assume at least someJapanese soldiers during WWII were imbued with indomitable spirit. Despite the aims of their militarydictatorship they fought with honor yet
For that matter,we’ve all known great fighters who lost matches despite having indomitablespirit. I think, sadly, of the time afew years ago when a young Tae Kwon Do champion was killed by someone whohijacked his car and stabbed him with a screwdriver on Franklin Avenue inMinneapolis, Minnesota. It’s easy to see that great skill and/or supremeconfidence doesn’t always amount to invincibility. Moving from the battlefield to business, wecan all find examples of honorable business people who have failed.
The key toclearing up our thinking is in the term itself; Indomitable Spirit; there is nomention of invincible warrior. I believesuperimposing invincible warrior over indomitable spirit does a great disservice. For clarity’s sake another term must be foundto more clearly define what we mean when we say indomitable spirit in order toseparate it from invincible warrior.
As an aside, itis important to remember victory and success can be defined in a number ofdifferent ways. There are such things assmall victories, moral victories and ethical victories which may be revealed ininverse proportion to winning or losing in a contest be it school, sport orbusiness. Internal victories may not bemeasured by the same standards as external victories.
For instance,one student cheats to come out ahead in a contest while another refuses tocheat and loses. Who really won? The person who uses fraudulent means toensure external victory may gain another “W” for their win column, prizes,accolades and/or money, but by sacrificing virtue for an external victory thecheater has diminished their spirit. Inessence, the act of taking a short cut to victory has rendered the cheat lesscapable of negotiating life at large. Manypersonal and societal ills could be traced to taking a short cut instead offollowing the true path. By not seekingthe true good, the entire person is diminished. The reverse is true for thehonorable student.
Also, therelative values of internal and external victories change as the circumstancesof the contests change. In aself-defense situation, where someone is applying unlawful force to another,the external victory for the defender is paramount. That being said; I would suggest that if wehave done our internal work properly we give ourselves a better opportunity torecognize trouble before it becomes a physical contest and are more able totake early steps to prevent a violent confrontation altogether.
So, what are theattributes of this internal indomitable spirit? It seems to me the indomitable spirit never gives up on itself; it knowsthere is always more to learn and better ways to apply knowledge. Another way to say it might be ‘UnquenchableSpirit’. This is the spirit that alwaysstrives for virtue – no matter the won/loss record.
The obvious nextquestion is how can we acquire indomitable spirit? One way is via ”…the ecstasy of sweating in the dojo” asShoshin Nagamine, the great Shorin Ryu sensei, put it; by committing ourselvesto excellence, self-discipline and thoughtful consideration of all aspects ofmartial arts training.
This requires usto go beyond simple technical training. We must dig deeper to consider the mindsets of attacker anddefender. We must commit ourselves toresearching techniques that will function in the real world and not give upuntil we have. Moreover, we mustconsider the telltale signs that warn us of trouble and take action that willprevent a violent encounter.
The indomitablespirit may not result in an invincible warrior. But it can be a catalyst for positive change in us, our friends, family,and society at large. It can help us seewhat needs doing and give us the fortitude to finish what we start. The indomitable spirit, the unquenchablespirit expects the best, works for the best and never gives in tohopelessness. Perhaps the indomitablespirit; the unquenchable spirit is the spirit of hope.
Thoughts? I’d love to hear them.
