I don’t know about your social media feeds, but mine focus on two things: martial arts and faith. I’m not a renaissance man when it comes to downtime. I came across a “breaking” video some time ago. There are karate and taekwondo schools out there that specialize in breaking things: boards, bricks, cement blocks and occasionally, sweat. (Sorry, that was rude. You smiled though, didn’t ya?) I watched a very large man in what looked like a sleeveless, Cobra Kai uniform, attempt to break a number of cement slabs with his elbow. During these demonstrations, there is almost always three to five “warm up” passes over the doomed objects…much of this is done for effect, by the way…and finally, the committed strike. The man tried to break eight cement slabs and was successful with four.
I wasn’t bothered by the demonstration. I’ve written about this practice - tameshwari, in the past. I understand the goal and value, though it’s not my cup of sake. I wasn’t disappointed by the fact that he couldn’t break all the slabs. What bothered me was the physical condition of the man performing it; he was grossly overweight and out of shape. It wasn’t as much his obesity as the symbolism. You see, he had several tabs on his thick black belt, indicating the degrees of his advanced rank. This is where a lot of westerners misunderstand budo (the martial way). The intension of any modern practice, e.g. karate, aikido, judo, kendo, taekwondo, etc., is self-perfection. You never reach it, but you strive to achieve it in all aspects of your life. This is one of the reasons we wear uniforms and have rank. The higher the rank, the further you are (supposedly) on your path of personal growth. It doesn't matter what shape you're in mentally or physically when you start, but we strive for change and perfection.
Personal and spiritual growth does happen without hard work. All the time. Let me give you an example. Aikido is probably one of the most difficult martial arts to learn and master because the ultimate goal is not self-defense. (Sorry to all of my friends in the art, but read O’Sensei’s writings on this). Aikido is about self-perfection through harmony with all things, including an opponent. True aikido masters would say, “there is no opponent.” So, despite the ill intensions of an attacker, the aikidoka learns to blend rather than crash, to move rather than root. His or her mind is calm and open, but resolute. This only happens with years…like, a lot of years of dedicated, hard practice. Not just once a week. And when you’re not in the dojo, you are seeking other ways to practice discipline, such as diet, exercise, training by yourself. You are mindful of what you take into your body and brain. You’re putting in the work and that work will show, not only in your technique but in our physical and mental state.
Christians could learn a lot from the philosophy of budo. I said “philosophy,” not spiritual practice. Don’t get your panties in a wad. My faith journey has mirrored my martial arts journey in many ways. However…I have an incredible amount of work to do on the latter. Like, insurmountable. I don’t pray enough, I don’t commune with other Christians enough. I don’t work hard enough on myself to be the expression of the faith I claim. Just because I show up to a dojo and “train,” doesn’t mean I’m an expert. And, just because I include God and Christ in blogs and conversations doesn’t mean I’m faithful. In fact, I struggle all time. And just like the karate practitioner who can’t break all the slabs because he hasn’t done the work, I often struggle to break through fear, doubt, anger, anguish, selfishness, and of course, sin.
Here’s the good news; I will never reach perfection in faith or martial arts. Never. I will never do enough reps. There is no magic number of times to perform kata, no amount of makiwara training or randori that will suffice. But I'll keep trying. And there is no amount of prayer, fasting, good works, church attendance or bible studies that will guarantee salvation; Jesus has already done that for all of us. But it's up to us to open the door. (Revelation 3:20 MSG) In much the same way as my physical skill and condition should express my martial discipline, my daily actions, seen and unseen, should be an outward expression and a consequence of my faith.
We have a lot of work to do.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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