tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29866983170603940722024-03-07T03:27:50.944-06:00kosshiMartial Arts and Ethics and StuffJames Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-7737521186936122302019-01-22T12:02:00.000-06:002019-01-22T12:07:39.105-06:00Thank you!It's been years since <i>Kosshi </i>was established as a form of training for myself. It was a way to craft my thoughts on Budo and set them out into the world. <br />
<br />
Now, I feel like it's done its part. And it's been a great ride - helpful and insightful for me and hopefully a few others. But it's now time to concentrate on other things. If you'd like to keep up with me, you can check out my first published book, <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Ethic-Morality-Virtue-Martial/dp/1594395586/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515018311&sr=8-1&keywords=the+protector+ethic">The Protector Ethic: Morality, Virtue, and Ethics in the Martial Way</a></b></i>. And you can also follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jamesvmorganelli/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesMorganelli">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jamesvmorganelli/?ref=bookmarks">Facebook</a>. You can also follow my dojo on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sgtidojo/">@sgtidojo</a>.<br />
<br />
I'll leave Kosshi right here just in case anyone wants a read.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, let's all "keep going!"<br />
<br />
Best,<br />
<br />
James<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-81329120612022847302018-01-03T10:44:00.001-06:002018-01-03T10:44:30.854-06:00Under the Blade 2018<i><b>Shinnen Omedeto Gozaimasu!</b></i><br />
<br />
2017 was a year of hard work and introspection for me personally. At the same time, the dojo and I trained diligently, gained some new students and friends, enjoyed our 18th annual Gasshuku, and had a rousing “forget the year” Bonenkai!<br />
<br />
2018 is shaping up to be one of my most significant years ever. And there are two big reasons why. The first is the anniversary of my dojo—in 1998, I returned from Japan and founded the Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo. What an auspicious time in that we just celebrated Hatsumi sensei’s 50th year anniversary of the founding of the Bujinkan Dojo Japan in 2017! It feels good to be in good company.<br />
<br />
When I came home after training in Japan for nearly three years, I had no students and no prospects of acquiring any. But I had a name; a phrase that Hatsumi sensei himself had talked about earlier that year.<br />
<br />
Shingitai-Ichi (心技体一致) is an embodiment of the moral-physical philosophy that is the martial way. More so, it’s a road map for training it. <b>SHIN </b>or “heart” refers to the moral essence of what makes martial arts relevant in this day and age—any day and age for that matter. <b>GI</b>, “technique,” refers to the refinement of strategic martial principles in constant flux. <b>TAI</b>, “body,” refers to reconciling our ethical bearing with martial tactics to keep one’s training and ability viable, or capable of preserving life. And <b>I CHI</b>, “harmonize,” refers to sustaining the anti-intuitive, almost paradoxical nature of martial arts with the equanimity one needs for life and times.<br />
<br />
It has been a fantastic twenty years! I've met such incredible people (some of whom have been with me nearly the whole time!). I even met my wife because of training! So, I can say in earnest, I'm really looking forward to the next twenty! The second act is always the most intriguing!<br />
<br />
The other reason I’m looking forward to 2018 is my first published work! <i><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Protector-Ethic-Morality-Virtue-Martial/dp/1594395586/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514569856&sr=8-1&keywords=the+protector+ethic">The Protector Ethic: Morality, Virtue, and Ethics in the Martial Way</a></b></i> releases on <b>May 1, </b>through YMAA Publication Center, and is <b>available now for pre-order </b>at Amazon.com!<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>The Protector Ethic</b><br />
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<i>The Protector Ethic</i> covers the moral-physical foundations of recognizing and embracing the “protector ethic”—the reason martial arts exist at all.<br />
<br />
As a student and teacher of martial arts going on forty years, with a master’s degree in ethics from Loyola University Chicago, and holding a master instructor license for this ancient Japanese martial tradition, it is my contention that our personal ethics are more strongly rooted and thereby actionable when we habit our virtues through the physicality of martial training. This is perennially important because the fear of human conflict can lead to ethical nihilism.<br />
<br />
People will tolerate dehumanizing cruelty, and as a general rule will give in and give up rather than defend themselves or others from attack, because the fear of conflict is a phobia.<br />
<br />
Human nature will often contort itself just to avoid contact with its darker half—even ignore suffering and then lie about it afterward. This reality leads to ethical befuddlement as the seductive forces of moral relativism and ambivalence toward time-honored cultural values transforms that fear into phony virtues, like political correctness and voluntary victimhood.<br />
<br />
But this kind of confused self-importance can cause us to shrink from the malevolence of this world, and in doing so we can actually appease evil by no longer prioritizing and protecting our universal values. Instead, we become willing to demean them through ignorance and dishonesty, which only coaches us toward the nihilistic ideals to hold contempt for the good and distrust for truth itself.<br />
<br />
To combat this, I submit we must unlock the universal moral values intrinsic to our humanity, like the “protector ethic,” to stand up and defend ourselves and others who might not or cannot defend themselves.<br />
<br />
It is developed by intuiting the principles of martial endeavor: honor, integrity, vigilance, and rectitude—nothing less than the immutable cardinal virtues backstopped by physical skills. Understanding the reciprocity of natural justice, temperance in our reasoning, and prudence in our judgment, provides, above all, the courage to act. This process begins when we ask ourselves a simple question: Why train? <br />
<br />
<b>Why Train? </b><br />
<br />
Excerpts from <i>The Protector Ethic:</i><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“People come to the martial way for all kinds of reasons, some of them good, most of them not good enough. Others have watched too many action movies. A select few seek the supernatural, working hard to sound just like the gongfu master’s master whenever they open their mouths, which is often, far too often. Deceit is at its worst when we believe our own lies, so avoid those who talk like Yoda and move like Jabba. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It took years for my own temperament to change, but that’s not just my story; it’s the life cycle of any serious martial artist. To break the mold of the form and enter the fray of the formless, where the real training takes place, you have to give up looking for answers. Only then can you do what must be done: ask better questions. You have to. Skills like exceptional punching and kicking only improves further once you understand and articulate an ethos for it. So you start with the question most avoid asking because they have a less-than-inspiring answer or, worse, none at all: Why? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Why am I doing this?<br />Why should I learn any of this stuff?<br />Why train? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Logic and reasoning can lead that inquiry. Other times a simple story convinces in a way argument cannot. Isn’t clarity the point? In fact, clear thinking on big questions begets bigger ones, like resolving right from wrong, deciding action from obligation, and facing up to the musts, oughts, and shoulds. If we’re going to use our bodies as weapons, and weapons as weapons, we’d better train our minds to discern wisdom from knowledge so we can act in the right way at the right time. Do this and avoid the worst possible fate, the one where we’re too late to make any difference.” </blockquote>
<br />
Why train? is the single most important question that we can ask ourselves whether we are new and naïve to training or an old, grizzled veteran because it speaks to the connected tissue of the martial way itself and all of the myriad good reasons that intertwine our lives that we can identify and even some we cannot.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Imagine training the chest-compression and breathing techniques of CPR but divorced from their purpose of saving lives. Without their purpose, why learn them? What’s the point of the skill if we’re training ourselves to be incapable of recognizing when it ought to be applied? In fact, without that “ought,” that sense of obligation, what makes it at all necessary? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Some years ago I traveled to the West Coast for training at a weekend event. During one of the segments, I was called to the front to physically defend a fellow who was to be attacked. Now, I was a highly adept martial artist who’d been training since I was a kid, and I’d even lived in Japan for several years, getting my butt kicked by the very best teachers of my art. I was little concerned about defending anybody from anybody because I knew something the attacker did not: I was about to attack the hell out of him. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The moment my protectee was threatened, I leaped into action with more than twenty years of expertise to thwart the assault. I remember feeling pretty satisfied as I loomed over the aggressor, now facedown in the dirt and dust, and twisted him into an airtight submission. I was proud of myself—I’d been called out before a crowd of my peers, so my aim was to impress, and I was pretty sure I had. I remember that moment as well as I remember the next: turning to confirm the safety of my protectee, only I couldn’t find him. He’d been silently nabbed by an unknown second attacker. Cue the laugh track for this fool. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A teacher, mentor, and friend, Jack Hoban, arranged the fiasco. He had nothing against me; he was simply taking advantage of the chance to teach a larger lesson. And I have never forgotten that lesson. It laid bare the one thing no professional ever wants to admit he possesses: a weakness he wasn’t even aware he had. My confidence to serve up skill lacked the one thing truly necessary for right action: clarity of what I ought to do. My job, my role, in that moment was not about attacking an attacker. It was about defending someone, about safeguarding his life. <i>It was about being a protector</i>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
After all my years of training and experience, you might think I should have already known this, that it would be second nature, a given. It was not. And it is not for many other professionals. In that crucial moment, I was convinced I was doing the right thing, but I was wrong. I was confused. And I failed. Instead of being a protector, I behaved like a thug. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
No one trains martial arts to get worse at martial arts. No one trains to gain less understanding and ability. Everyone trains to get better, gain comprehension, and enlighten themselves. Even weirdos dressed as Power Rangers who flood the net with claims of secret training from Master Cucamonga believe this through the fog of their own self-importance. In fact, it is this unanimous motivation to gain proficiency that’s translated into the variety of reasons folks train in martial arts. But real proficiency is contingent on a central truth: it must protect and defend a clear sense of obligation. It must know its ought.”</blockquote>
<br />
My hope is that I shed some light upon the trail of martial training that can sometimes become as unclear as the martial way itself. If you’d like some waypoints in figuring out your own sense of obligation, your own “ought,” pre-order a copy of <i>The Protector Ethic</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Theme for 2018</b><br />
<br />
The training theme of the Shingitai-Ichi Dojo will not only follow the themes laid out for us by Hatsumi sensei in 2018, but will also dive deeply into the “confront & subdue” context of taking the fight to those that would provide threat.<br />
<br />
I’m calling this theme, “Undo the enemy” since it deals with taking a fight to an enemy preemptively, and placing ourselves in harm’s way to “undo” threats and overcome them accordingly.<br />
<br />
Learning to do so is going to involve hard training, self-risk, and with that risk, the building of courage. And here is where I’ll end with another excerpt from <i>The Protector Ethic </i>that seems to say exactly what I mean here:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I have a saying: good people who want to be better people get trained. One of the best ways to become someone who can do more for oneself and others is to train to be more martially able, because there is no better metric for one’s improvement than the ability to mitigate both inward and outward conflict. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is why every individual ought to endure martial training for some period, if only to reveal the profound ability its skills and philosophy have to empower our sense of self-worth. The protector ethic, to stand up and defend ourselves and others who might not or cannot defend themselves, is a habit-formed behavior. Carrying out this ethic is the heart of any martial art. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Knowing we should do this, and knowing how to accomplish it, is the difference between accruing mere skill for reenactment and cultivating life-protecting habits. Should we learn the movements of CPR but devoid of their purpose? A sharper understanding of what is valuable affords acute mindfulness of what is moral—what we know we ought to protect. It provides recognition of and clarity regarding our obligations, and training becomes the direct action of our ethic. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But when we, as this time’s undaunted defenders, neoteric teachers, and persevering guardians of this path, supplant this truth, we get confused: <i>rather than training techniques to protect and defend life, we train a life to protect and defend techniques.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If we are to do right by those in conflict, including ourselves, we must know that which unlocks the universal. We must apprentice in honor, integrity, vigilance, and rectitude as the keys to steadfast warriorship. This is nothing less than recognizing the reciprocity of natural justice, instilling temperance in our reasoning, and exhibiting prudence in our judgment, so we can, above all, have the courage to act. These cardinal virtues, at least as old as the Greek Stoics, make for the best map to the protector ethic because if we define ethics as moral values in action, then martial ethics are moral protector values in action. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To pass on real knowledge and deliver it as wisdom, to teach the tactical and perceive the ethical, to be exposed to our naturally binding obligations and by them hold fidelity to their truth so that the next generation might protect and defend themselves and their families—I’d argue that’s nothing short of God’s work. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If we are to fulfill this role, we must hold firm to this certainty: the martial way only lives once we treat it as something that can die.”</blockquote>
<br />
Have an inspired 2018!<br />
<br />
<i>~James </i><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-31397630368273322752017-02-13T13:11:00.000-06:002017-02-13T13:11:45.426-06:00Under the Blade 2017<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Shinnen Omedeto Gozaimasu!</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Happy New Year! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Is it too late to say this? Perhaps. I’ve
been hard at work on the new book, so I haven’t had much time. But the draft is
in to the editor now, so I can take a break from writing that to write
this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2016 was a great year for the dojo! We got
new students, new digs, had great events, including our 17th annual Gasshuku
with a record turnout! And we went back to Japan with a crew in tow! Hell
of a time. The best part of the trip was our four new Godans! Great
stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2017 is shaping up nicely. The biggest
news is the impending book. It looks like by the end of this year, you’ll be
able to walk into your local bookstore and pick up a copy. I don’t have all the
details yet—I can’t even release the title—as there’s still a lot of work to be
done. Wish me luck. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Theme for 2017</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Last year’s training theme had to do with
basics from the outside inward. This included all the principles of
positioning, leverage, and initiative and how we could look at them through the
lens of fundamental movements. This year, the theme remains, only we’ll be
seeking the basics from the inside out. This will still include study of the
principles, but from the standpoint of alignment, posture, and kamae. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In our theme for internal basics, I’d also
like to make room for some internal ethics. I’d like to offer a starting place
for our ethical concerns that run tandem with our physical training – you can’t
have one without the other and think yourself successful at either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">My thoughts here for a basic ethic in 2017
is <b>be honorable</b>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Subjective Subjects</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It is an immeasurably polarized time. I
wish I could say it’s all due to a nasty Star Wars vs Star Trek debate America had
with itself after it got drunk and stayed up too late, but folks paying
attention know that isn’t true. It’s far more consequential than that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Growing up, I can’t remember when our
politics and values were so divided. The reason for the division is simple: subjectivity is
overwhelming universal values. That’s it. If you don’t know what “subjectivity”
is, don’t fret, actually you do, I’m just being fancy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It’s basically this: <i>folks are placing
their politics above their ethics</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Politics are completely subjective, like a
lunch you order on a Thursday. Who you voted for, if you voted at all, is your
business and not up for debate. Do citizens have a duty to vote? Nope. None at
all. And that’s a good thing in a country that ranks your liberty alongside
your pursuit of happiness. That’s the beauty of subjectivity – caring only as
much as you want to care. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But ethics are not subjective, they’re
objective - no one gets by without them. Literally everything you say and do,
how you say and do it, and who it all affects is manifest in everyone’s life.
How you treat yourself and others is a direct result of you as MVP of your
ethical game. And if you’re alive, you’re playing that game with the rest of
us, whether you like it or not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">America’s Congressional votes over the
last 50 years is a telling reminder that this subjective vs objective game is
nothing new, it’s been played for years. <i>The Washington Post</i> published visual
diagrams of the votes from 1949 through today and they’re stunning. Flipping through them
quickly gives the appearance of mitosis cell division, when one whole becomes
two distinct halves of red and blue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Part
of the problem is we all used to believe in the big stuff that bound us and
squabbled over the details. We believed that despite its faults, America was
fundamentally good, and its founding values of life, liberty, and the pursuit
of your own happiness, held the potential for prosperity no matter who you
were. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But those beliefs are now too often challenged when so many make their
mark by directly undermining that cultural narrative, whether that’s through
extreme examples of collectivism or individualism. And unfortunately, this subjectivity
is rearing itself all over the damn place like a friend who needed a place to crash
for a few days and now its four months later. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Our
media, social and otherwise, is now delivered to us as crafted outrage, like
any potter shapes clay. Our righteousness is stoked from being told that
justice is upside down in the world. But the world is now so interconnected
we’re actually over-connected, as everyone is in everyone else’s business,
which seems to beg our opinion about what everyone else is doing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Unfashionable
actions taken by regular folks are now caught on video to explode around the
world and ruin lives. A lesson learned can no longer be a personal experience –
it’s the end of you. Now that online clicks have been monetized, the world
becomes a stage for documenting and inciting indignation and folks can
literally strike it rich off the golden veins of others’ misery. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Contrarian
protest is now a goddamn sacrament, even when its aims are aimless or
contradictory, like those squelching free speech <i>to protect free speech</i>. To
listen to some of these folks explain themselves comes off like kids explaining stuff in their patented un-punctuated, rambling incoherence. I can barely </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">gather from them that if
you’re not protesting then you don’t #care, and if you don’t #care then you #don’tmatter. O</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">r something.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">There
is a palpable sense that our private lives are under siege, especially when
what we intimately believe is smugly proclaimed to be unpopular and
old-fashioned by nihilists, who have proudly proclaimed to have given up
unpopular and old-fashioned beliefs like good and bad, and right and wrong. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Perhaps the only thing to be done is
abandon social media entirely, leaving loudmouths loudmouthing to empty seats.
Surely this will become more popular as outrage tires us physically, drains us
psychically, and leaves us spiritually hollow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Ethics
Before Politics<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">On Jon Stewart’s <i>Daily Show</i>, just days
after two armed, militant, and murderous Islamists were killed by Sheriffs when
they stormed a “Draw the Prophet Mohammed” contest in Texas, the comedian said
one of the few things that I have ever agreed with him on: </span></blockquote>
<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It is not okay to shoot other people
because you are offended by what they draw. Even if they drew it to offend you.
No shooting of them. Never okay … You cannot shoot people because you don’t
share their opinions. You cannot shoot people even if they offend you … Not
even if those people specifically set out to provoke you. Responding to
cartoons, or words, or ideas with violence is wrong … The violence just
perpetuates the fear.</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I especially liked his opener, “I can’t
believe we have to reiterate this.” Indeed. I can’t believe it either. But here
we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To this end, if you’re someone who’s
easily offended by what others have to say politically, to the point where you
take physical action to stop them from saying it, like protesting to destroy people
or property, you are placing politics above ethics – you’re placing your
feelings above the lives of others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It’s a shitty thing to do and indicates
that you are a lousy person, who clearly doesn’t get it. My advice is to cut it
out before someone, bigger and stronger than you, places their ethic above your
politic. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Stop placing politics above ethics. Here’s how: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">1. Be honest. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2. Seek truth. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">3. Clarify and Resolve</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">4. Hold yourself accountable. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">5. Stop dehumanizing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Be
Honest:</b> Stop ignoring what is obviously the case, and worse, stop lying to
others about it. Willful ignorance and worse, intellectual dishonesty, turn you
into a fool or a fraud. Don’t be either. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Seek
Truth:</b> Once you decide to be honest, it becomes easier to seek truth, which is
usually somewhere in the middle. Do you trust your side to be honest with you?
You shouldn’t. Their talking points are scripted to keep you glued to them,
which generally means keeping you outraged. In our dojo we have a saying, “When
in doubt, make it harder.” If you’re a true believer in your agenda, because
you think it better, righter, and truer, then you should challenge your agenda
to make sure it really is. Listen to the best arguments from the other side. Do
not trust your side to give the best of the other, be a big boy and go over
there and hear and read it from them. It’s called making up your own damn mind
and it’s a great habit. You may just learn something about yourself. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Clarify and Resolve: </b>give your opinion only when and if it helps to clarify and resolve
conflict. For some perspective on this, leave social media for a time – a day,
a week, a month. You’ll be glad you did and be surprised upon return with the
vitriol after cutting it from your diet. Then, if piping up in conversation,
online or in real life, helps clarify a perspective or point, great. Pipe away.
But if you’re someone who just spits gas on a garbage fire because you like the
taste of gas and the smell of burning garbage, because you’re a garbage troll
who lives under a bridge in a dump full of garbage with plenty of gas, you
should quit training because you’re a shitty person and shitty people don’t
deserve to train. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Hold
Yourself Accountable: </b>if you’ve been consistently lied to by some media outlet,
you should stop listening to them. If you’ve made things worse by your words,
or your actions, you should apologize and then think twice, thrice, or frice,
if you plan on doing it again. If you take part in a peaceful protest and it
gets un-peaceful and blocks traffic to illegally detain people, or devolves
into a riot, you should leave. You should not support financially or morally threats
of violence, which is exactly what illegally detaining people implies, or any violence
whatever against property or people, even if you think you’re really, really
right. You aren’t. Cops have enough to deal with in a peaceful protest, let
alone an un-peaceful one. And with you sticking around Instrgramming, you are
endangering their lives because they have no idea if you mean them harm or not,
so you become just one more element in a host of others elements they have to
account for to protect themselves and others. Stop putting your politics above your
ethics because this is exactly what you believe others are doing to you. Want
to make the world a better place today? Start with yourself. </span><br />
<b style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Stop
Dehumanizing: </b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">this is easily first, but I thought I’d end on it. Stop
demonizing the other side. Stop calling them evil. Stop calling them sub-human.
Stop calling them Nazis, racists, or fascists if they are clearly not those
things and here’s a hint: most of the time they are not. They are folks, just
like you, who are impassioned about what they believe, even if you think that what
they believe is fundamentally flawed (it may be). Our emotions can get the best
of us, though the best of us do not let their emotions do that – and you
shouldn’t either.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The Ties That Bind Us</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Recently, I was counseling a friend,
troubled because he felt some of his students were not clear thinking, holding
beliefs and propagating values that he felt were antithetical to training
itself. I reminded him to not be so sincere. No teacher should endeavor to make
certain that every student sees the world like they do. Or that everyone is as
comprehensive in their views as we might believe we are. Good people regularly
live with contradictions in their beliefs. But this isn’t something we should
be overly concerned about and there’s a good reason why: as martial artists we
share far more together than we may think we do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To some extent he was on to something
because martial training takes certain things for granted. For instance: life
has value and meaning. And that value and meaning is unequivocal - it is the
normative source of all the concerns we might have in navigating the world,
including decisions regarding morals and ethics. And when that compass needle
deviates, even one degree, from that magnetic North, everything gets fucked up
and confusing. All people who train and endeavor to train must understand at
least on some basic level that life is worth protecting. If they did not think
this, why train physically to protect it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The concern here is that there is no
shortage of subjectivity because when these relative concerns supersede
universal ones we’re left with contradictions that stoke conflict. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Take freedom and equality - two mutually
exclusive concepts that protect each other, as our founders discovered. Equality
means our lives are of equal value and demand and deserve respect. This universal
value means no one has the right to take advantage, harm, or kill us for their
own subjective beliefs, like someone who tramples you to get their lunch order
in first. Freedom is the liberty to pursue whichever subjective beliefs, like
lunch orders or politics, we find valuable,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>provided<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>they do not violate our equality.
These concepts complement each other and make America, America, and not North
Korea. They share a nice balance because their purpose is contingent upon such
balance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">But re-define equality from life, to
"outcome," a subjective economic concern in which everyone must
receive the same results, no matter what they want, who they want it from, or
what values they conflict with, we wind up out of balance and lose our
freedom. Re-define equality from an objective to a subjective value and it is
no longer compatible with freedom. It causes conflict because economically
defined equality infringes on liberty - folks cannot side with their values
when they conflict with other people’s values. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">If you think a devout Christian should be
coerced by force of law to disregard their beliefs to take part in events
antithetical to their value system, I hope you’re consistent enough to agree
that a devout atheist, or a devout humanist, or a devout Muslim should be
coerced by that same law to take part in events that are antithetical to their
beliefs. Equality of outcome means uniform results, which means tossing that First
Amendment right to free association (or dis-association) because our freedom to
value and believe as we see fit is now outlawed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Without equality defined objectively, we
cannot enjoy our subjective freedom. And when a state sponsored entity compels us
through force to do something antithetical to our values—values that are not in
violation of our equality—then we are being taken advantage of. And if we are
being taken advantage of, we are not being treated as equal human beings. This
is where justice is flipped on its head to serve the “just-us” subjectivists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Honor the Honorable</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Actual justice, applied virtuously and
impartially, begets the righteousness that aspires toward a moral resolution
because it preserves the universal values for all involved, not just the few
under conflict. When Republican president Abraham Lincoln signed the
Emancipation Proclamation, legally freeing slaves held in the Confederate
states at the height of America’s Civil War, it was a long overdue act of
righteous justice precisely because it reaffirmed dignity for their lives—and
dignity for life itself—overruling any slave’s institutionalized dehumanizing
station, one that had for generations been societally established as moral and
just. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Recognition of worth for the
innocents/innocence among us, resolves any question of worth for all of us. In
this way authentic justice stands in direct opposition to subjectivity and its
claims to morality, which only drains justice of its force. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The voracious nature of human need for
morality, equity, and righteousness, exposed by our miserable misfires at them,
doubles down on the importance for martial artists, warriors, and protectors,
and anyone who deals with conflict, to know natural justice as a virtue, so as
to best understand the essence of the moral-physical philosophies that both
guide and bind us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">All the questions we might have about
whether people are equal to each other, whether we should treat each other
fairly, how we should understand each other, come down to the warrant of our
argument – does it respect life? If so, then we can articulate the right
reasons, enact the right policies, invoke the right rights, value the right
morals, and act on the right ethics, all because we’re dialed in to true
justice. Everything hinges on it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The martial way is simply a physical
extension of our Natural Law, that sense that life ought to be protected. No
matter where you stand politically, or what your beliefs are, if you embrace this
“protector ethic,” then you embrace the idea that your life is worth protecting,
and if it’s worth protecting, it’s worth defending physically, if
necessary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">So no matter how far you believe a person
with the opposite set of beliefs or politics stands from you, if you both agree
on the protector ethic, then you are not as far away from them, or they from
you, as you might think. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Celebrate this. Revel in it - universals always
dispel the small-minded. We can squabble over the details, but the big stuff
that binds us should always come first. Strengthen your ties to others by treating
them by what you know is the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">When we recognize this, we are better able
to feel where honor comes from. Constancy in acting upon this makes one
honorable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Here’s to a prosperous 2017!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">~James </span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-43224798526946931852016-07-17T17:19:00.000-05:002016-07-17T17:26:57.589-05:00A Tomato in Fruit Salad?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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This piece is in regards to a Facebook post of mine that this gentleman responded to. His response is highlighted here, and mine below. The video we are touching on can be found here:</div>
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https://www.facebook.com/james.morganelli.7/posts/10154349514554771 </div>
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<i>This is reenactment. I do not believe there are many, if not all bujinkan practioners, who wouldn't walk away from an actual warrior training session in the SCA, bruised and shaking their heads. European martial arts are alive and well, through the SCA, the difference is, these warriors put their martial skills to the test on a regular basis. There is also something wrong with them, they like to get hit with 1 1/4" rattan, once you get hit by it a couple of times, you become desensitized to confrontation. Its funny you posted this. I was just thinking, I need to take the martial skills I've learned in the bujinkan and put them to the test in the SCA. I can think of no better way to test the legitimacy of what I've learned in the bujinkan, but I'm scared to be truthful. Thes guys are savages, when it comes to trying to one up them with martial skills learned somewhere else! I have no doubt, I would leave bruised and bleeding, for some time. And, I'm gettin' old, I bruise and bleed to easy. Hope you are well James. Thanks for the article, if anything else, it provoked a lingering thought in me!</i></div>
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Hi Sean,</div>
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Thanks for your thoughts. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinb5E-a5_6Ufv6oD6wJX6OHlZpi6rhPrmQaWPy4TJHKBxSn-yx4xkvZvd7k7NqcRHQh1p6CNqiEmcb7UrkcZIMSnRxFY45tf5hiiCTdtWmy0T5OAyQUKyEqeh4Cr9-CA1Hj6YBTYCn5J9Y/s1600/knowledge-is-knowing-that-a-tomato-is-a-fruit-wisdom-is-not-putting-it-in-a-fruit-salad-quote-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinb5E-a5_6Ufv6oD6wJX6OHlZpi6rhPrmQaWPy4TJHKBxSn-yx4xkvZvd7k7NqcRHQh1p6CNqiEmcb7UrkcZIMSnRxFY45tf5hiiCTdtWmy0T5OAyQUKyEqeh4Cr9-CA1Hj6YBTYCn5J9Y/s320/knowledge-is-knowing-that-a-tomato-is-a-fruit-wisdom-is-not-putting-it-in-a-fruit-salad-quote-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I had actually meant to post this in a private group and must have hit one button over another and here we are - I was tired last night. I don't normally post my thoughts publicly – there’s too much that is lost in translation making it difficult to provide and gain clarity on social media. Most of the time, it seems to me, everybody simply winds up more confused and outraged because we’re too busy making sure we’re heard, instead of wondering if posts or responses are actually merited in the first place, and if they are, thoughtfully so. If everybody really cared about the nature of what they wrote, there’d be a lot less of it.</div>
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Take this post, for instance. I didn’t mean for it to be public. I normally have discussions only with people that I know and train with regularly. In doing so, it changes the manner and gravity of one’s thinking and responses for the better, because I never post anything I would not be willing to say face-to-face or stand up for after the fact. Since I don’t know you, train with you regularly, or have any understanding of your relative ability and experience, I’m simply going to post my thoughts and leave it at that.</div>
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Nowadays (my editor hates when I use this word, but I’ll use it anyway because it really is true), in our world, and our nation at the moment, but especially in martial arts, it is becoming more and more difficult to identify wisdom from knowledge. In other words, people confuse the one for the other – they confuse the knowing of something for the wisdom it may impart, as if mere existence is the only evidence necessary for its efficacy. This is to suggest that all knowledge is wise, but is actually a devaluation of wisdom. Why this is happening is certainly attributable to the connectivity and speed with with we can know stuff, all kinds of stuff, which can lead to a superficial understanding of it.</div>
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However, as anyone who knows the difference between the fact that a tomato is technically a fruit and its actual usage as a food, they avoid placing it into a fruit salad. In the devaluing of wisdom, today’s thinking would have us throw Heirloom tomatoes into a bowel with the various berries, pineapple, oranges, and slices of kiwi because of “knowing” it is a fruit. History and experience (and taste) notwithstanding.</div>
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We arrive at wisdom in the martial way when we can apply knowledge, whatever it may be, ethically. That’s how we know the difference. If you are really serious in training the martial way, and for the reasons I suspect you train it, you have to be honest about the answer to this question: are you training techniques to protect and defend life or are training a life to protect and defend techniques? In other words, are you training as a means to an end - the survival/sustainment of life - or as an end in itself - to be “good” at “martial arts”? Context matters. One is not the other. One is wise. The other is knowledgeable. And much like we might marvel at the size of the rising moon and its seeming proximity, the difference between these points is so vast it is often overlooked.</div>
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I watched this clip and thought it was interesting and funny. You seem to think it is a manner to best test martial skills. Which skills exactly, I can’t imagine. It’s a game. A roughhousing one played on a field that uses rattan with a crazy amount of flex, padded swords, and plastic armor. Under those conditions, none of that stuff moves or is used in any manner even remotely close to what it is intended to model. But it has to be that way because it’s a game – if any of those tools were even tenuously accurate, people would die.</div>
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If you buy into the notion that rough training here equals best training practices, then carry it to its logical conclusion. But crash-up derby does not provide the best training to test one’s defensive driving skills for everyday life any more than slicing open an artery best tests the dexterity of one’s medical and tourniquet skills under stress. There’s a martial arts group that dedicates a good portion of their training time to kicking each other in the nuts, to, you know, toughen them up, or something. Seems backward to me. Perhaps that time would be better spent habit-forming the avoidance of such an attack. And why? Because when you sack your sack, lump your junk, and Bronson your Johnson, it has nothing to do with best practices intended to acclimate and habituate one to viable and sustainable outcomes in life and death conflict. It’s just weird.</div>
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There are folks who think that BJJ is the best way to test groundfighting, Judo the best way to test throwing, and Kendo the best way to test swordfighting. But to what end? For viability in the martial way to protect and defend life (an imminently ethical concern), I disagree on all counts. Again, knowledge itself is not wisdom.</div>
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BJJ is best for tournament groundfighting, Judo best for tournament throwing, and Kendo best for tournament Kendo because the manner of their training habituates them to perceive and utilize their techniques under those ideal, tournament, conditions. That’s because Judoka don’t have to worry about getting stabbed by a used needle from a methhead in regular training, BJJitsuka don’t have to worry about multiple attackers beating their skull in with a bat in regular training, and Kendoka don’t have to worry about their sword bending or breaking when they clash in regular training. If they did, if every iteration of their training concerned these aspects, if the very notion of their training was embedded and infused with such possibilities, their training as we know it today could not be their training because the idealism with which it is carried out cannot exist in a world with methheads and their needles, multiple opponents and their bats, and swords that bend and break on impact.</div>
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None of their training would exist, because none if it could exist under the context of surviving and sustaining, protecting and defending life. It only ever exists under idyllic conditions - variable threats of the world be damned. Imagine a baseball player training to hit a fast pitch, and then trying to do the same while concerning himself with the potentiality that the umpire, or the catcher, or both will set upon him with stabbing weapons until he dies. If that possibility were an actual part of baseball proper, you wouldn’t see baseball anymore, as it would morph into a life-protecting endeavor completely different from the original.</div>
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking down any of these arts. I have great respect for them and the level of skill and athleticism they require. All these arts and even the gamesmanship above can be fun and exciting and provide worthwhile time spent with likeminded others for a plethora of good reasons. But one of those reasons is not reliance upon them for the betterment of warrior arts - the context is different. And when we assume the context is the same, because some of the techniques are, we wind up confused. We wind up with a bunch of shit. There’s a reason Michael Jordan didn’t cut it as a baseball player after he retired from basketball. As wise as he was in the one case, he was not equally wise in the other. Why not? Because the ball playing was from a completely different context.</div>
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If the touchstone of the folks in the clip was truly survival/sustainment, then the manner of usage would not be what it is. As it is, human crash-up derby is not more sound, or thorough, or rigorous for viable martial concerns, it is less so, because of the context: it’s an idealistic game, and the game dictates the manner of its usage, just like the arts above. It’s not about defending your life or the lives of others, it’s about playing the game. As such, it is not “more real,” or “realistic” because it is rougher. In fact, I would argue there is and can be no such training that is “realistic” at all. None. It does not exist, and for a simple reason: it’s contradictory.</div>
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For something to actually be of training use, it must be amenable to the human mind – it has to “make sense” or else no one can try or accomplish it. But the reality of the world and the capricious and variable means by which the violent bring violence has usually little to do with how understandable it is to us, with how much it “makes sense” to us. In fact, psychologically, interpersonal violence often confounds us, which is why most people want no part of it. If it did make sense, training would be a hell of a lot easier than it is. But in the world as it actually is, not the one we want or wish for, the only thing realistic is reality. Only real is real. Period. All our training, everyone’s training, is a well-crafted fiction, and must be for us to gain any understanding of extemporaneous viable change under variable conditions. That’s a lot to take in because training to be competent and ethically so, is really, really hard.</div>
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If you want to be better at what you do, try stripping your training down to its component parts: put a wooden knife in the hand of a partner and have them come after you. If you can resist and escape, or at higher levels confront and subdue them, you’re onto something. Techniques must then “fit” into the intervals necessary for any of these opportune moments to be viable. Better yet, have that partner go after someone else with the knife and intervene and defend them from the attack. There is no better means to understand and “test” martial ethics and its tactics than to provide for the safety and security of another.</div>
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Context matters. It calibrates, directs, and helps us navigate untenable waters and thus permeates martial endeavor. And it matters so much, it is such an enormous part of what we do and how we are able to do it, that we often overlook it without thinking twice. Like any necessary aspect of our daily existence, like stability before an earthquake, or breathable air, we only appreciate it after it’s become short in supply.</div>
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Best to you, and best to you in your training.</div>
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James</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-85826731297960301982016-06-13T10:48:00.000-05:002016-06-13T10:48:54.668-05:00In the Wake of Tragedy, Train<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>This post was originally written and posted 12/17/12 after the Sandy Hook massacre, but it is apropos after what happened in Orlando this past weekend. </i></div>
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How do I deal with gut-wrenching tragedies? Like the horrors of a Sandy Hook? I train.</div>
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I drag my questions, my doubts, and fears - specific and non - into the dojo and compound them, let them gang up on me, and even sometimes, let them win. Because in dissecting their victory, I can best plot a trajectory for their defeat.</div>
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Last Friday night, the echo of the massacre still loud, we addressed it, talked about it, trained about it. We broke out the Red Guns and worked through various scenarios using the Sanshin, the Kihon, and henka in our armed and unarmed answers. Most importantly, we group-trained to protect and defend others. </div>
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Placing partners in seemingly no-win situations, we crafted viable options for their escape and defense. Bear in mind, when attempting to save someone else, do not count on them to assist - chances are they'll be too traumatized to do much. They may even unwittingly give you away in the process, so in the approach to disarm, one may need to conceal themselves not just from aggressor, but also the victim.</div>
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Could we reconcile the crime? Of course not. Some evil cannot be resolved as any tailored answer presupposes the initial question is somehow reasonably answerable. But this highlights the paradox of training itself: memorizing specific answers to questions, like techniques, is not useful when the nature of the question is to continually change. We must instead learn to shape the questions themselves to apply the answers our ability is most able to provide.</div>
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So, don't just contemplate horror; that brutal stripping of life often leaves us confounded and inert.</div>
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<em>Do something. </em></div>
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<em>G</em>ive your thoughts to the physical: train and teach others to train to protect and defend life.</div>
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<em>~James</em></div>
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The post below is non-political and contains no direct solutions, but grants the gift of perspective on such an awful topic:</div>
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<a href="http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/12/making-sense-newtown/">Making Sense of the Sandy Hook School Shootings as a Criminologist</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-31102733508284144542016-02-15T12:13:00.001-06:002016-02-17T01:10:25.261-06:00Defending Knife Defense<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year, in the city of Caloocan, Philippines, north of Manila, a security guard battled a knife wielding former employee in a ninety-second murdermatch. There’s video of it online. Watch it if you want nightmares. To see the guard flail for his life, dying in the very office he was protecting, is like suffocating in fresh air.</div>
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A large predator stalking us in the wild is bad enough, but a coworker taking advantage of surprise and fear with a melee weapon until we are dead throws even the battle-hardened into despair. We can only wish swift justice for his killer, who as of this writing is still on the loose. The horror show is grim reminder of the finality to decisions and actions under the stupefying stresses of violence.</div>
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This kind of savagery contributes to the ongoing debate of the defense against knives. The camps in argument, combatists and artists. Think of their difference in terms of driving. Artists provide well known, traditional techniques to acclimate drivers to good habits. Combatists concentrate on dangerous potentials, like accidents and emergency maneuvers. They focus on inoculating participants to these possibilities and designing ways to aggressively overcome them in kind.</div>
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At least some combatists make a popular claim: there is no dependable way to deal effectively with a knife-wielding opponent and to even try is foolhardy. It’s better to escape than fight. In evidence they point to training scenarios dubbed “traditional” and “real.” They accuse artists of outlandish techniques in the safety of the dojo, when they are clearly overwhelmed by a “real” blitz-type attack. To make their point they screen CCTV of knife attacks, such as Caloocan. Combatists warn that artists are fooling themselves, living in a dream world, and by training unrealistically they’ll only wind up wounded or dead.</div>
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There’s several challenges to the combatists’ claim. If knife defense is irresolvable, then why is it part of the DNA of martial training? And for as long as there has been training? How do combatists reconcile a thousand years of martial refinement in which knives and techniques for their defense have held prominent roles is various schools? Why did warriors of old make it a staple in their defensive study? Are we to believe this is a hollow tradition? And why such focus upon the knife? Firearms are far more dangerous. They kill at distance and disproportionately deliver lethal results even when wielded by the untrained. And yet, combatists are not making the same arguments against gun disarming and defense. </div>
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Three obvious issues also complicate an escape-only policy in martial concerns: context, tactical options, and viability. Escaping is always a great idea, until it isn’t, like when we can’t escape, like when we must protect someone else. This issue of context is game changing. We may also lose the tactical option to escape if constrained by area or environment, again forcing us to fight. And viability is challenged when escaping actually provides a tactical advantage to an opponent to use the timing of our decisions and actions against us. There are going to be certain cases where we will have to fight no matter what, knife or no knife. Every combatist and artist shares responsibility to recognize this.</div>
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But combatists are onto something. Too many artists are afflicted by a common malady known variously as the inflammation of dojo-itus, the code of bullshido, or non-jutsu the ancient and secret art of the nincompoop. They’re all the same thing: the denial and stripping of honesty to idealize training for the purposes of performance.</div>
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These standards are not operative in the real world, they exist only in the dojo, where artists can shield themselves behind cultural and traditional affectation. Under these conditions, cooperative training between willing participants can metastasize into reckless enabling to foster confidence in counterfeit skills. In reality, the odds are pretty good these same folks will never use their ability for real-world defense, remaining ever ignorant their skills are lacking. That is, unless they discover, most likely under threat, they are a reenactor rather than a leader. It will be a terrifying moment of clarity.</div>
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Truth be told, there’s no controversy regarding knife defense, but there is confusion. Both camps have it wrong and for the same reason: techniques are treated as answers to an opponent’s questions. But questions of conflict should always be answered with even better questions no opponent can answer in time.</div>
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<b>Perception is Reality</b></div>
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Every martial endeavor exists to some extent in a dream world. In fact, we must use a dream world of sorts in order to incorporate truths as we understand them into the fictions we design and utilize as training scenarios. Everyone does this, from the hardest hard-charging military special operator to your local taekwondo kids class. Drills, sparring, tactical exercises, even kata, are all accomplished through the use of fiction, as fiction is amenable to the human mind and can make sense to us.</div>
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But whereas fiction is a matter of “might be,” truth does not have to be believable, it simply “is.” Facing and enduring the “moment of truth” has more to do with adapting to its pace of change rather than apprehending the exceptionally bizarre or banal examples the human mind can concoct to wage conflict. These examples can literally dumbfound, rendering the moment unintelligible, and protract, even immobilize, any response. Confronted by a knife or gun-wielding opponent is a dumbfounding moment - most folks will simply not believe it’s happening to them. In 2014, Mutahir Rauf, an exchange student from Pakistan attending Loyola University, reached for what he thought was a toy gun when he was mugged here in Chicago mere blocks from campus. He was murdered for it. </div>
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This is one of the inherent issues with so-called “realistic” training - it’s paradoxical: scenarios have to make sense or else no one might actually accomplish them. But in making scenarios sensible they defy the validity of the actual, the authenticity of dumbfounding truth, by the very fact they make sense. Thus “realistic” training is as fictional as any made for TV movie because only real is real.</div>
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Better to construct training to push students to adapt practiced skills and tactics to the stresses of constant change so as to learn how to make new and better decisions. And it’s only with use of the dream world that we can gain this further comprehension and enrich ourselves deeper to the complexities of our given endeavors. Questions we formulate and ask in training not only enlighten to new answers, they do something even more valuable: provide us the analogical insight to forge better questions. This is parallelism at work and is the underlying strength of the parable, the analogy, of training by context.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-5294048011650605182016-01-30T01:13:00.001-06:002016-01-30T11:17:08.228-06:00The Way of the Gun<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Recently someone asked for my stance on gun control. It’s the Weaver. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Jeff Cooper, the father of modern pistolcraft said, “If only one method of shooting is to be learned, it should be the Weaver stance.” I’ll take Pop at his word. My stance on gun control isn’t facetious. It’s the only answer that makes sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;"><b>The Right Tool for the Right Right</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">You won’t find stats or studies here. I won’t focus on bad guys killed or good guys saved. We’ve reached a “post-political” moment, a time when stats and studies have lost their impact, where truth is bendy, and well-funded orgs can conjure up stacks of data from stacks of experts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">The clickbait, tragi-comedy outrage of social media is the most popular means to stomp for political and social concern. Feelings are now outside the reach of logic and facts. And the zeitgeist informs that because we partake, opinions have gravitas though woefully misinformed. In this void, only philosophy and its inquiry finds purchase. And to reveal the truth about guns we need only state the philosophically obvious. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">First among the obvious: gun “control” is a metaphor for gun prohibition, the complete disarmament of the populace. This is the true aim of control concerns, where these arguments are rooted, and their logical conclusion. Prohibitors, though perhaps well intentioned, truly believe fewer guns make us safer. They don’t.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">A people cannot vanquish their life-protecting tools to the ether and fully embrace their right to life. They cannot do this for a simple reason: any right we cannot defend is not a right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Close the courts, retire the judges, fire the lawyers, and strip the laws and see how much freedom is left in the freedom of speech. Schools, universities, businesses, corporations, and governments would scribble rule after rule on speech conduct and unfurl lists of punishments for thought considered unruly. It’s already happening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">California and New York are prosecuting <i>heresy</i> against companies they believe have lied about the theory of climate change. University speech codes shush students, students shush each other in “safe spaces,” the IRS bullies conservatives, and civil and federal intimidation against the “intolerant” and religious is rampant. Or do you support a $135,000 fine levied by an Oregon “civil rights commission” because Christian bakers refused to partake in an event antithetical to their values? If you do, you’re swinging sledges against the halls of justice. Let's hope those halls are made of tougher stuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">There can be no freedom in the freedom of speech if there are no defenses written into law, or courts, or judges, or decisions, or their enforcement—each one of these an exceptional tool—to do the actual defending. And then there is the personal free exercise of speech that must occur to challenge draconian offensives to shut us up. We’re seeing this in action against political correctness as folks denounce the fictions the PC Police are enforcing as truth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Under gun controls the right to life is restricted once subject to the policy whims of elites, well protected by an army of guns. These folks actively support the denial of options for personal security to others, such as the less fortunate, that they can often afford for themselves by position, location, and means. In doing so, they restrict the rights of those folks. Chicago has mandated a maddening set of requirements for a concealed carry license that people on the city’s south and west sides—where the violence is worst—cannot reasonably fulfill. Talk about institutional racism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">If there is no personal right by individual means to defend life or the lives of loved ones with the only capable and dependable technology available today, then there is no right to life itself. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;"><b>From Disgruntled Max to Mad Max </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Philosophically, restricting the right to life is to demean the value of life as not worthy of defense. But the value of life is a natural law, actually <i>the</i> Natural Law: the universal sense of obligation to protect and defend one’s life that each and every person experiences naturally, that is, without formal training. To argue against this first inclination as Aquinas put it, or demote its priority, is to argue against the intrinsic dignity humans have for life and its value. Not to be dramatic, but this is to argue against the absolute. It’s to say gravity doesn’t exist or humans don’t breathe air. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Folks who reject this self-evidence assume wrongly no one will attack them. It’s delusional, like this: </span><br />
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<i style="font-size: 18px;">We should teach men not to rape, instead of teaching women to defend themselves. </i></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">Placing the responsibility for personal safety on everyone else, including authorities, is reasoning as adorable as any "Precious Moments" statuette, but it isn’t serious. Much like the storms of an unpredictable Mother Nature, we must withstand the inevitable storms of human nature, like rape, robbery, and murder. No one living in Flood Grove or Blizzardtown thinks it unthinkable to prepare for such natural disasters. But that’s precisely what many folks have duped themselves into believing about conflict. </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">The inequities of need and the corruptions of desire plague this world. But with </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">enough social justice fingers wagging we can suppress the depravities of the human condition? After that, maybe we’ll change the weather by shaking our fists at the sky. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Politeness is good manners and etiquette. A practical veneer, we act polite as we want the same courtesy. But polite society is only polite until it isn’t. And in this twenty-first century with all our shiny technology and open-minded thought—so open on certain issues our brains have fallen out—we are just as reliant upon the gun as any crude tool since the dawn of our beginnings, since the wheel, the lever, the heavy rock, the pointy stick. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Guns are everywhere, even in countries that deny them to their own citizens. Businesses and corporations employ guns. Governments pack heat. Hollywood hires armed bodyguards to protect fragile snowflakes. And yes, even criminals carry to be more efficient in their crimes. And it’s against the law. The nerve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">I agree: there ought to be certain provisions regarding responsible ownership of guns. But this is academic. Blind folks do not get issued driver's licenses. However, to arbitrarily deny, confiscate, outlaw—to nick and stab at the very instruments that best protect a human right—is to diminish and remove access to the right itself. Justice delayed is justice denied. It places life in greater jeopardy under the guise of protecting it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">The kicker is that prohibitionists are not truly against the ownership of guns. They simply cede sole ownership to the government, where complete control of anything is always the best and brightest way to elevate the status of humanity. This was no more apparent than in our last century—the bloodiest on record—where gardens like the Soviet Union, Mao’s China, Nazi controlled Europe, tribal Africa, and communist Korea and Southeast Asia all displayed the maturity and wisdom of the ancients in collectively removing continents of people from their status among the living. And the first act in the morality play of all these locales was to disarm the populace. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">So, let’s disarm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Say a well-meaning lad snaps into a Slim Jim and wishes Greg the genie to do away with every gun on the planet (and our collected projectile weapon knowhow too, for good measure). Would a gun free world be better off or not? Safer or not? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Right now, chaos is sweeping the Middle East by a JV team called ISIS. I’m guessing the loss of gun technology might slow them down, but only long enough to sharpen knives, or machetes, or a jagged, rusty hubcap they could pick up and swing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">As guns and their memory vaporize, pandemonium would erupt across the planet. We are thrust back into the ancient world where the most aggressive and power mad among us—a small number to be sure—plows communities asunder with nothing to oppose them except the Mad Max gizmos of any defender. Whole peoples would join the aggressor’s reign rather than stand opposed and their ranks would grow exponentially. Here in Chicago, fear programs a “code of silence” in gang-infested neighborhoods where “snitches get stitches” and nine-year-olds are executed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Within a month of said wish, good folks across America hide in their basements, hammering spikes through bats as the bravest among us scavenge local 7-11s for any sign of a Slim Jim to recall the genie and wish the nightmare away. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">This hypothetical is a macrocosm of </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">interpersonal violence </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">between those who harm and who are harmed. The truth is that the ruthless, dehumanizing madness of the ancient world has not been stopped, committed, and locked away, it’s loose, running rampant, displayed any time innocent life is threatened, harmed, or murdered for the capricious and disturbing wants of ferocious and sadistic people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Every rape, robbery, and murder is in affect and effect the Visigoth sack of Rome, the Mongol siege of Baghdad, the fall of Constantinople, a return to the </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">medieval </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">pall of the Dark Ages. Philosophy, religion, and education, the tempering of values toward human rights and the rule of law, eventually pulled us from that abyss. Science and technology have held the line against our going back. Only now, gun controllers want to toss the prescriptive rights and specified tech that so much blood was spilled over generations to acquire, that have safeguarded prosperity so it could prosper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">A group hug didn’t end World War II. Bombs did. And for better or worse, at least they put an end to the appalling loss of life from a war instigated for appalling reasons. Perhaps anti-gunners know a way, heretofore unknown, of controlling human viciousness. But even in prison, where needs for food, shelter, healthcare, recreation, and safety are all carried out in a 100-percent gun-free environment, the violent still control the violence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">There isn’t a decent person alive who does not wish to live in a disease-free world. But we can’t aspire to that by denying reality, like refusing to be vaccinated, or propagandizing vaccines as proliferating disease, instead of recognizing them as the only viable personal defense in an unpredictable and brutal world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;">Want to minimize risk? Live inside a bubble. But don’t think you’ve removed the threat. You and yours still live in the world. And in this world, the world as it is, not the world we imagine or wish it to be, it’s not an option to protect ourselves without the way of the gun. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><b>Kill It! Kill It with Fire!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">Part of the confusion regarding guns is the glut of information we now live with that makes it spectacularly easy to discover and embrace knowledge, even fraudulent or debunked, as original and wise. This contributes to the march of this little thing called <i>nihilism</i> as a popular way to perceive the world, because when anything can be a priority, nothing—no one thing—is expected to be. Not even the stuff that’s actually important. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">Gun control is just the kind of knowledge so many embrace as wise. But wisdom comes when we can properly recognize, reason, and judge how to act upon knowledge ethically. Nihilism morally equivocates in entirety, it devalues values, stating there are no good or better concerns to be concerned about. Prices are slashed on every belief to their cheapest: mere opinion. This faith in anythingness would have us believe there’s no difference between the living and the dead; that this fundamental dichotomy is just a matter of perspective, at least, amongst the living.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">This is ethical ambivalence. In our selfie-satisfied culture it’s mistaken for the virtue of grace or some sort of noble thoughtfulness, rather than what it rightfully is, utter confusion. And in that confusion we cede rights and liberty, ultimately ceding even the value of life as evidence to the contrary. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">So like a sparkly vampire that keeps rising from the dead, moral relativism, political correctness, or post modernism is all disorientation from truth. Stake it through its black heart, festoon it with garlic, coffinate, and rebury it in consecrated earth. Because eventually the wooden stakes will rot and the garlic will weaken. And these seductive forces will reconstitute under some new banner of “progress” for the “greater good.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">And note: gun controllers are fully aware they’ve lost this debate and are repackaging arguments under the banner of “gun safety” as in, “Let’s save and protect more lives.” Ever an appeal to the Natural Law. You remember the Natural Law </span><span style="font-size: 18px;">as that which indicates we <i>require</i> protection and defense in the first place. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 18px;">So when you next articulate your stance on gun control, remember … the shooting side leg shifts to the rear when drawing in the Weaver, but not so far back as to lose your balance.</span><br />
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</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-54643770104387590342016-01-06T12:13:00.000-06:002016-01-06T12:31:24.853-06:00Under the Blade 2016<b><i>Shinnen Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!</i></b><br />
<br />
Much gratitude to all those who made 2015 a fantastic year!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZ2mZrxyUP2UOPqfc4q2WHvb7mFXa_EHO0hUp_fr7IioTBLzAi_H9C21tx9VfhZ9IxMcjlugI84H0jV75b-1OnIfOdypUE2ZWi7MwX-KSLC0bahA5Hx9IOifwwSkIGX7jhSX_s8SXf4B6/s1600/Gasshuku+2015_11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZ2mZrxyUP2UOPqfc4q2WHvb7mFXa_EHO0hUp_fr7IioTBLzAi_H9C21tx9VfhZ9IxMcjlugI84H0jV75b-1OnIfOdypUE2ZWi7MwX-KSLC0bahA5Hx9IOifwwSkIGX7jhSX_s8SXf4B6/s400/Gasshuku+2015_11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 Gasshuku</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We had terrific training, a great Gasshuku, and memorable Bonenkai. And our dojo is growing! We have new students, new digs, and new locations. We now have affiliates in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and as far away as Santa Fe, New Mexico, run by Shidoshi-ho <a href="http://www.sgti-transfer.ed-webs.com/shidoshi-ho-jason-cather/">Jason Cather</a> and <a href="http://www.sgti-transfer.ed-webs.com/shidoshi-ho-edan-dalsheim-kahane/">Edan Dalsheim-Kahane</a>, respectively.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.sgti-transfer.ed-webs.com/">Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</a> is now located across northern Illinois: in Chicago at several different locations, Downers Grove, Palatine, and Rockford. We are also additionally out of state in Caledonia, Wisconsin, Los Angeles, California, and even across the pond in London, England!<br />
<br />
Let’s keep going, everybody—we’ll make it!<br />
<br />
<b>KOSSHI</b><br />
<br />
Some of you may have noticed my blog KOSSHI has been oddly quiet. There’s been no recent posts or musings, no smarmy anecdotes concerning life on the martial trail or otherwise.<br />
<br />
A-Ha! James has run his trap so much he’s out of things to say!<br />
<br />
Right.<br />
<br />
Those that know me, know. Don’t get me started on the government, or our nonsensical social trends, or even the new Star Wars, for the matter of that (a decent outing, but a little too safe for this fanboy).<br />
<br />
The silence is by design. I’ve been developing a book with the folks at YMAA for publication. You know YMAA as the publisher of such works as “Meditations on Violence,” by Rory Miller, whose same editor I have been assigned, and “Fight Like a Physicist,” by Dr. Jason Thalken, number one on Amazon.com recently in the subject of martial arts.<br />
<br />
I can’t say much more than this—even the title’s a secret—but I am very excited about this next chapter.<br />
<br />
<b>Theme for 2015</b><br />
<br />
This past year our dojo’s training focused on the Shugoshin, a concept embodying the “Protector Ethic” to shape ourselves toward the virtues of the protector and train across a hierarchy of outcomes, from escaping to confronting and subduing opponents.<br />
<br />
This perspective shifted the importance of training from a technique orientation to one of context, a far clearer way to activate and understand our own ability. We also concentrated on bojutsu and its inherent structure to extrapolate higher teachings regarding Taijutsu in general.<br />
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It was a heady year, but I think the work did us good. I have a far better take on these ideas than when I first introduced them a year ago. In fact, what I learned is set to be our focus for the coming year. <br />
<br />
<b>Theme for 2016 </b><br />
<br />
The “basics” will be our training theme for 2016. Great! Everybody studies the basics, right? Sure, but what or which basics are we exactly talking about? There’s a larger concept here: is there a way, a manner to discern <i>true </i>basics?<br />
<br />
Most folks speak of the basics as given sets of techniques and tactics. But this is a debatable, vast, and varied lot depending on how one might quantify and categorize it. Even the use of the term “basics” seems out of place as it’s more likely to describe requisite elemental techniques of the art that uniquely define it as what it is.<br />
<br />
However I’m reaching for the spirit of the word derived from “base,” and has come to mean “foundation.” I’m talking <i>actual </i>basics here, not simply the vehicle’s nuts and bolts, but its principles of combustion. This is the stuff that we absolutely cannot do without, where anything less than a firm grip precludes us from understanding anything more. Is there a particular set of basics that we must, ought, and should know first and foremost before we know anything else? I think there is.<br />
<br />
The material basics I have in mind are what I consider to be formally necessary as a set of first steps to knowing and exploring Taijutsu, or the martial way in general, and its Protector Ethic. I have several ideas that I will detail throughout the year, four specifically, regarding health and physicality.<br />
<br />
And as last year, we’ll be using Bojutsu as a catalyst for deeper study, so sand and oil up those rokushakubo, jo, and hanbo for some graduate level training. If you need a little refresher on the concepts, check out “<a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2015/05/taijutsu-truth-taijutsu-is-bojutsu-is.html">Taijutsu is Bojutsu is Taijutsu</a>.”<br />
<br />
<b>Lastly …</b><br />
<br />
Technology and social media has changed the way we see ourselves. And due to the human condition’s failing for ravenous curiosity that too often flaunts the temperate and prudential cautions that are meant to keep it from harming itself, tech has become the MacGuffin so many seek to control.<br />
<br />
In doing so, tech has spiraled exactly out of our control, so rapid has been its advance, leaving many ignorant to its impact and Pollyanna in cyber actions. We roam, speak, and do online that which we would never visit, say, or act in real life. It’s making us all weird. <br />
<br />
Worse, this immaturity is getting the best of us, estranging and hardening hearts in forums and conversation threads in tech’s use as a caustic sword and a shield that lures toward anonymous activity. And make no mistake, anonymity is a perversion of the self, for when we believe we've a shield from the consequences of behavior, we are numbed to any responsibility for the sword. <br />
<br />
As this occurs we can expect greater introversion and social awkwardness, less tolerance and compassion between even like peoples, and less patience to deal with a given day’s obstacles be they manmade or natural, since the real world moves at the pace of the real world, not an iMac.<br />
<br />
In due time, the sickest among us will have even their sense of personal autonomy diminished as their living reality inverts for their online one. And then we’ll encounter yet another “marginalized” group seeking victimhood status and special treatment for their own willful behavior when they can no longer function outside the confines of a virtual experience.<br />
<br />
In short, we can expect more conflict.<br />
<br />
Conflict is inevitable between groups of people, even friends. When values clash, conflict ensues. This can occur when folks hold different values or when differing experiences lead to understanding similar values in differing ways.<br />
<br />
To mitigate conflict and resolve values in dispute requires sober effect. It requires people to take responsibility for themselves and others. At the highest levels of that ability, it requires us to have sympathy, kindness, and even forgiveness for the carelessness of others. <br />
<br />
Typing words on the net is to fling them into an abyss, much like shooting a gun. Trying to retract those words after the fact is like trying to rescind the bullet shot. There’s no safety in a keyboard, it’s but a blunt instrument that refines or debases, a pallet of creative force that appeals or repulses with every creation. Each of us must choose which.<br />
<br />
Yelling from the shadows of the virtual divide only causes confusion. Perhaps that awesome retort to your peer’s misinformed and misguided post or comment is better left unsaid or said better when in their company. I never “Share,” “Like,” or write anything online I am unwilling to stand behind and articulate as I grip and shake the hand of the person I believe needs to listen to it. Meeting and speaking directly with others calms us and elevates our prose as we understand and are understood—you know, communicate—in real time. Tech is fast making this person-to-person-ness as rare as any superpower, much like martial ability itself.<br />
<br />
We have trained, sweat, and bled together and have always shook hands before and afterward. We have shared our stories and our experiences over drinks to talk shop. In training and under stress, we lay hands on others and deal with hands laid on us—a diminishing skill among a withdrawn and alienated populace. Thus, we should not be as susceptible to such online seductions. Petty squabbles turn us small. And the smallness of character is often the root of that which is petty.<br />
<br />
Reclaim words like “gentleman” and “honorable” as we deal with one another off the mat. If you have issues with someone, don’t raise them online, take it up with them. Meet with them. Say it face-to-face. Grip their shoulder, shake their hand, and remember the kind of person they are in training (or at least the kind of person you are). Then say your piece if you truly believe it needs to be said. Careful and meaningful choice of words civilizes conversation for clarity, which creates the opportunity to change one’s mind. If clarity is not what you’re seeking, re-examine your motives.<br />
<br />
If you cannot refrain from or cannot forgive invective because <i><b>feelings</b></i>, perhaps you shouldn’t be training. Perhaps the level-heading, fair-mindedness training imparts is lost upon you because you have misunderstood its greatest lesson: Being human is to have values, but valuing human being is to know what is essential to feeling, thinking, and acting upon them ethically.<br />
<br />
This is the message of martial training. Let us all make certain we're receiving it. <br />
<br />
<b><i>Prodesse Quam Conspici</i></b><br />
<br />
We are part of an extraordinarily small group of like-minded individuals—there are certainly not enough of us. We train physically to change the way we feel, think, and act. We train because good people who want to be better people, get trained. Training oneself in the ways of human conflict, arguably the most phobic aspect of human existence, is the best way to improve as a person.<br />
<br />
In Old English, to “improve” something was to “emprofit” it. Old French meant it obliquely as “proud,” “brave,” and “valiant.” This came from the Latin, <i>prodesse</i>, “to be useful” in one’s essence beforehand. <i>Esse </i>is more Latin, where “essential,” ingredients of character, comes from. <i>Prodesse Quam Conspici</i>: Be known by one's achievement, not by one's claim.<br />
<br />
To improve is to strengthen one’s character through feeling, thinking, and acting by what training informs us is inescapably, universally, and unquestioningly valuable to the human experience.<br />
<br />
Share it, mentor it, and teach it as a protector of self and others.<br />
<br />
Make 2016 your best year yet!<br />
<br />
<i>~James</i><br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-46656500705569902932015-08-29T14:10:00.002-05:002015-09-27T23:49:49.461-05:00SHUGOSHINUPDATED 9/27/2015<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwwNfqOe69W2pM77zmgwRtO3vme0-se1CMZGsfqf6ek7jDLV5bw8r7s5f46ChnLkur9wzPNIThSamrEL8DmdIW7-syhho0gp5FRdHjFoIZXUMOCUj7ZZUhqbrsivlx-aHlCmRsKjw8JKE/s1600/shugoshin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwwNfqOe69W2pM77zmgwRtO3vme0-se1CMZGsfqf6ek7jDLV5bw8r7s5f46ChnLkur9wzPNIThSamrEL8DmdIW7-syhho0gp5FRdHjFoIZXUMOCUj7ZZUhqbrsivlx-aHlCmRsKjw8JKE/s320/shugoshin2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>SHUGOSHIN</i> (Japanese for “protector ethic”) is a high-intensity course in martial arts fundamentals geared to training the essential mindset and physical habits for conflict defense of self and others.<br />
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Shugoshin training identifies itself as “PROTECTIVES” and empowers practitioners through heightened awareness and intense physical training twice a week, for an hour each time, during its four-week run.<br />
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Popular and commercialized martial arts often attempt to mold student reactions to fit a stylized set of predetermined movements, an approach that has little to do with realistic application across variable threats. Protectives are trained in the opposite manner, using threat contexts for “escape, resist, extract, and intercede” to naturalize counters for defensive movements.<br />
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As a fundamentals course it will concentrate on vital mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of the martial way:<br />
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">PHYSICAL<o:p></o:p></li>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Body flexibility and
resiliency <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.5in; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -1.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span>i.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Warm
ups and stretching<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>ii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Tumbling
and breaking falls <o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>iii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Striking
and kicking<o:p></o:p></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Maneuvering drills and principle-based
responses<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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</span>i.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Punching<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>ii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Kicking<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>iii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Grabbing<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>iv.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Throwing<o:p></o:p></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Counter-maneuvering<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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</span>i.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Escape
<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>ii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Resistance
and escape <o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>iii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Extraction
of others<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span>iv.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Interceding
for others<o:p></o:p></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Scenario-based training<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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</span>i.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Defense
of self<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span>ii.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Defense
of others<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">MENTAL<o:p></o:p></li>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Recognizing and
clarifying universal values<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Empowering oneself as a
“protector” <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Critical thinking for
ethical problem solving <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">SPIRITUAL<o:p></o:p></li>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="a">
<li class="MsoNormal">Ethical value stories<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Ethical use of martial
ability<o:p></o:p></li>
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Protectives cultivates one’s resolve to persevere, where instinct supersedes technique and is sharpened with a set of principles outside the realm of pure physical might. By cultivating natural responses during initial training, larger, stronger, even multiple opponents can be defeated without reliance on brute force, speed, or strength. Instead, the student’s instincts of positioning, leverage, and initiative are sharpened as tools capable of outwitting even the largest adversary at a time of their greatest disadvantage. </div>
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Protectives replaces static, imitation of techniques – a hallmark of commercial martial arts - with a direct connection to the ebb and flow of martial principles in constant flux. This acuity fosters tactical awareness and creative adaptability, the necessary skills to claim ownership of one's ability to “be” skilled today, instead of always training to “become” skilled. <br />
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If you're interested or know someone who might be, please check it out at the <a href="http://www.japaneseculturecenter.com/">Japanese Culture Center</a>, and on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/442689795916537/">SHUGOSHIN Protectives Course</a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Introductory course: Fundamentals I<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Time: Two 60-minute long classes twice a week<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Length: Four weeks<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Cost: $190.00<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">($20.00 per session/8 sessions & $30.00 sign-up fee
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">includes a detailed training handbook/journal.) <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Dates:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tuesday November
3, from 6:00-7:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday November
6, from 7:00-8:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tuesday November
10, from 6:00-7:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday November
13, from 7:00-8:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tuesday November
17, from 6:00-7:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday November
20, from 7:00-8:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tuesday November
24, from 6:00-7:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left: 1.5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Friday November
27, from 7:00-8:00pm<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Japanese Culture Center<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">1016 W Belmont<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Chicago, Illinois 60657 <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If you would like to participate, please contact the instructor
directly:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoPlainText">
<b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">James V. Morganelli: james@sgtidojo.org<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-17718315056110959292015-07-10T17:15:00.000-05:002015-07-14T01:33:18.297-05:00To Die or Not to Die?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8i46zgzMH1bT7CKGPSNTKWQEZbCwiMMa0VhWy5c1tKRP60n4T3Sb-LpPVDHqUWK3EJvZM4UmihMahNQE1Wsb_dL_KDbpk_plbP9mYRzH6OJdSVrDpjydlPXklQ-xb754ZMizPVe8uhPWL/s1600/6130370844_795edd802c_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8i46zgzMH1bT7CKGPSNTKWQEZbCwiMMa0VhWy5c1tKRP60n4T3Sb-LpPVDHqUWK3EJvZM4UmihMahNQE1Wsb_dL_KDbpk_plbP9mYRzH6OJdSVrDpjydlPXklQ-xb754ZMizPVe8uhPWL/s320/6130370844_795edd802c_b.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The internet blew up over last weekend’s brutal murder of 24-year-old Kevin Sutherland aboard a DC Metro train by Jasper Spires. Sutherland was on his way to July Fourth celebrations when Spires attempted to rob him and instead stabbed him 40 times or so with a pocketknife.<br />
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Everyone else on the train car, about 10 other souls, did not physically intervene to save him. This has, predictably, led some to denounce or applaud the inaction. Aside from the mass opinions on Reddit, there were two notable accounts on each side of the issue and both got it wrong.<br />
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John Daniel Davidson wrote a scathing attack <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2015/07/09/behold-the-beta-males-who-feel-good-about-watching-a-man-die/">in the Federalist</a> on “Beta Males” and Petula Dvorak questioned the merit of defending others <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/witnesses-to-a-stabbing-didnt-confront-killer-do-they-deserve-condemnation/2015/07/08/bc0c2f8e-25a4-11e5-b77f-eb13a215f593_story.html">for the Washington Post</a>. As an expert on conflict resolution, a trained ethicist, and a martial artist of 35 years, here’s me weighing in.<br />
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The central question in debate is this: is it morally wrong not to intervene to save another’s life under brutal attack?<br />
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Answer: It depends.<br />
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It depends on (at the very least) two allied factors: one’s physical capacity for such action and the circumstantial context.<br />
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First, one’s intervention must be fairly weighed against one’s own physical capacity for such action. If someone falls overboard in turbulent waters and you know that leaping in to save them from drowning is a likely death sentence, it is not morally wrong not to leap in. Instead, do something else (and others on the train did) like throw a life preserver and alert authorities. As the alarm raiser, their life is in your hands.<br />
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Now, if one is a professional swimmer or a lifeguard, the answer might be different. I say “might” because individuals must still fairly weigh their chances to help strangers against condemning themselves. But let’s face it: if Superman is witness to this attack and he chooses not to intervene, it is most certainly immoral. The second aspect deals with the circumstantial context: those turbulent waters might not seem so turbulent if it’s <i>your </i>baby that’s drowning.<br />
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I like the fire of Davidson’s piece, but he goes messily off course. He should cut the “beta male” name calling and misplaced analogies to Flight 93, in which every single person was inescapably at the mercy of murderers. And as a technical matter, I can assure that his assertion, “Any two adult men in that subway car could have stopped (Spires), no matter how crazy or strong he was, and saved Sutherland’s life,” is demonstrably false, and if he’s serious, dangerously naive. Subduing a crazed murderer, weapon in hand – and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/victim-in-metro-slaying-stabbed-repeatedly-during-robbery-on-train/2015/07/07/8dd09132-249b-11e5-b72c-2b7d516e1e0e_story.html">possibly on synthetic drugs</a> - is terribly tricky business, let alone one covered in sweat and gore, occupying the middle of a train car’s narrow walkway. Not only can a stab to an eye from a simple pocketknife permanently blind, the victim blood on its blade threatens blood borne pathogens to the next victim and their family. Fun stuff, reality. <br />
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There are innumerable times when Police Officers have ganged up on (unarmed) perpetrators and still been unable to reasonably control them (and they at least have some training). This is not to say Davidson's “stopping” scenario is not possible, it is to acknowledge it is most likely not probable. I don’t know if Davidson trains martially. If he does, I urge him to keep training. If he does not, he ought to, as well as write a clarion call for the broader study of warriorship.<br />
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Where Davidson is Aristotelian foolhardy, Dvorak is just sad. Not only does she openly ridicule any idea for intervention, she builds a case against it. Readers are led to conclude that any physical defense is somehow unjustified, even to the extent of re-examining a spur-of-the-moment, successful life-saving action and end her piece with the unspoken question, “Is it worth it?” <br />
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The answer, Ms. Dvorak, is a throaty “YES!” especially to the person (and their loved ones) whose life was actually saved. Dvorak’s intellectual dishonesty (or willful ignorance, take your pick) on the merit of Concealed Carry boggles. As Leftists enjoy saying, “the debate is over” and in this case it most certainly is. For had there been a “good guy with a gun” (CCW or a Police Officer) on the train who took action, Sutherland would have had the very best chance of surviving his attacker. <br />
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I get that even thinking about dealing with this kind of horror leaves good folks inert – an utterly normal response. But that is no excuse to tonally poo-poo any defensive action, which always favors inertness. Dvorak even softens the blow of her relativism by empathizing, “It makes a lot of us uncomfortable to think we would have cowered instead of confronting Sutherland’s killer.” Of course it’s uncomfortable, since this part is where it gets ethically sticky – we are all perfectly capable of intervening, we choose not to.<br />
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See, universal common sense informs that each of us, which is to say, all of us, does have the mental, spiritual, and physical capacity to intervene on behalf of another who needs our protection <i>when the victim is a loved one</i>. In the case of say, a child or sibling or spouse being brutally attacked, there is not a single person that loves them who would be unable to at least throw themselves in front of or upon their body to shield them from further violence. Everyone who is mobile, is capable of doing this, from grandma to junior, and they have. No one has to be Batman to intervene because doing violence to the aggressor is not the point, protecting the victim is.<br />
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This is why for the majority of untrained people it can feel so difficult to answer this ethical issue. That’s because they are most probably asking themselves the wrong question. It isn't “should I intervene or not?” But rather “am I willing to die or not?” The untrained must ask themselves who it is they are willing to die for. (Trained folks have already answered this.) If you are unwilling to die to protect a complete stranger, that doesn't make you weird, it makes you human. Is it moral then, for normal folks to <i>not </i>intervene? No. The decision to not intervene is not moral. But it is also not immoral. Thus the bland call of inertness. However, if you <i>are </i>willing to die to protect a stranger, that makes you <i>super </i>human and we call those people "heroes." (And just so we’re clear, if one is willing to physically confront the aggressor and subdue or kill them to protect the life of that stranger, this makes you a warrior.)<br />
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The untrained majority has a far higher chance of succumbing to violence when intervening, which is why they generally choose not to. Had Spires not had a knife and only been beating Sutherland to death, the odds increase that others might have stepped up. But the melee weapon was a game changer. <br />
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Some time ago I wrote a piece called <a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2011/11/sam-harris-sensei-obvious_29.html">Sensei Obvious</a> when atheist-at-large Sam Harris, himself I believe a proponent of “jiujitsu,” wrote a rather simple-headed piece on his blog called the “Truth About Violence,” and unfortunately propagated the idea that regular folks will fight back. But the wrenching “truth” is that most folks will not fight back, or help others under attack. If they cannot escape they are more than likely to give in and give up. Nobody wants to get hurt and die. Fighting back, like any cultivated personality trait, is a practiced response. And this is where I stand with Davidson: <i>we ought to physically protect others as best we can</i>.<br />
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My advice? Get trained. The best thing martial training can do to prepare anyone for conflict is not provide the necessary skills to respond to it - that's a matter of long term personal integrity. But rather calibrate ourselves morally to know that we <i>ought </i>to respond to it. It is this thinking that presents a clear and present danger to the ambivalent inaction of moral relativism for it disarms and de-legitimizes it.<br />
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What options do the untrained have when they choose to intervene? Here’s just a few ideas:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Suit up. Zip up any jackets and even layer them if you must confront a knife. Put a bookbag on backwards covering your chest. It won’t be any kind of replacement for actual body armor, but it’ll be better than nothing.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Folks were headed to July Fourth festivities. Did anyone have a field blanket? Used like a net it could envelop the attacker and control him. Holding a jacket like a two-handed shield in front of oneself could do some good.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When it comes to confronting weapons the best choice is always another weapon. Period. Strike the attacker to separate and distract him while others pull the victim away from the attack. </blockquote>
Of course, all these options and more are predicated on the notion that one has already consented to intervene. And this is truly the scariest issue because human conflict is by far the number one phobia of the species. Why is it that moral relativism in action (as Dvorak wields it) and political correctness in language have become so mightily attractive? Simple: obfuscating truth blurs the sharp divides that often dictate battle lines and their decisive actions. Those who espouse these views honestly believe they are doing the “right” and “moral” thing, even though clouding truth obscures the matter of “rightness” itself. And of course there can never be escape from history’s cruel tutelage that disorientation from truth always places lives into greater, not lesser, jeopardy. <br />
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It is not immoral not to wish to sacrifice oneself for strangers. But it is moral should we choose to do so in order to defend their life.<br />
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Knowing this, we ought not revel in selfish protectionism. And should certainly not finger-wag others into dispassionate inaction simply to justify ourselves. This is how moral relativism propagates itself.<br />
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We ought to protect and defend others to escape violence.<br />
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And we ought to want to.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-89820655279413619222015-07-03T00:34:00.001-05:002015-07-03T11:13:41.198-05:00CalifortitudeWe had a great time in California this past week seeing and training with old friends and getting a tan in the process.<br />
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On Friday, we shared an awesome visit with Shureido, makers of superior-quality training gear from Okinawa, Japan, and even got to move with a <i>kokutan </i>(ebony) bokken, the only one I've ever laid hands on.<br />
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That evening Tomoko took us through a very informative and enjoyable Makko Ho class with our group and their significant others. Saturday we did some bojutsu in historic Griffith Park, home to the Griffith Observatory, and had a surprise visit from Shihan Michael Glenn of the Santa Monica Bujinkan Dojo. Sunday we rested. Monday we hit Disneyland to see Walt; lots of fun. <br />
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Los Angeles can be a tough gig to play and it feels good to know that our West coast friends are in good hands with Shidoshi Mike Govier who "keeps going!" no matter what. My great thanks to him and his wonderful wife Eliza for hosting us.<br />
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Until next time!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s3OUDmPGGvXT6XGvCz1YdO38q6POXvWYZEV5WoC52OWC3HBRqA7AlN894YPSR4evysoZcdqcVwvHnN08CnytBLv0YVRn3Owi3jQtZA98B-5u-psylieMbWuOn2g2Go5HVQ40I0GIwRI6/s1600/jamesanderic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5s3OUDmPGGvXT6XGvCz1YdO38q6POXvWYZEV5WoC52OWC3HBRqA7AlN894YPSR4evysoZcdqcVwvHnN08CnytBLv0YVRn3Owi3jQtZA98B-5u-psylieMbWuOn2g2Go5HVQ40I0GIwRI6/s320/jamesanderic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks Eric!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aXVJI8VlA6B0BPOaTGhyCZdVTj-5eMfUpSOiLMX8o_qGfRV1js2RsUYFUSzdk4wDE9EpZEufrM_wZNlvRgIm9yIQOHDSL5Z5u3JLUUVJMQb5l4g6TNEltvHm4gk8v-gWUzdWlTlvW3lT/s1600/carvingbyFDemura.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aXVJI8VlA6B0BPOaTGhyCZdVTj-5eMfUpSOiLMX8o_qGfRV1js2RsUYFUSzdk4wDE9EpZEufrM_wZNlvRgIm9yIQOHDSL5Z5u3JLUUVJMQb5l4g6TNEltvHm4gk8v-gWUzdWlTlvW3lT/s320/carvingbyFDemura.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Shureido" - handmade artwork by legendary Karate Shihan Fumio Demura. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVZ0EQXoA6AR_3xt620kz0jr3TKf0pj6_aXx8pI2SOzidGMpGqCiWWrO7_S0okcp2H7r029dM8YKNtbXVey2fv0y6t3DpaYMUGr6A16ixb1N4-zTqpHCJtteDXv_6xNSjpp_5Tykq2_bX/s1600/mglenn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVZ0EQXoA6AR_3xt620kz0jr3TKf0pj6_aXx8pI2SOzidGMpGqCiWWrO7_S0okcp2H7r029dM8YKNtbXVey2fv0y6t3DpaYMUGr6A16ixb1N4-zTqpHCJtteDXv_6xNSjpp_5Tykq2_bX/s320/mglenn.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great to finally meet Shihan Michael Glenn.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPS5APQTNOshwzqkjpO-aPnq1ADNKXZmjgG3jw89fVAIm8F88rJoD0cxo3_zzTB7Cs1lVXxclcDhILDonjxpfD5IDrsJGRHlZLfnxPA4BQGItWTntL3r2Qjk6mQTXXKLzJSvAWw-d9JgF/s1600/bo3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPS5APQTNOshwzqkjpO-aPnq1ADNKXZmjgG3jw89fVAIm8F88rJoD0cxo3_zzTB7Cs1lVXxclcDhILDonjxpfD5IDrsJGRHlZLfnxPA4BQGItWTntL3r2Qjk6mQTXXKLzJSvAWw-d9JgF/s320/bo3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bojutsu in the park.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little Gyokko Ryu.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proud of these folks! Let's Keep Going!</td></tr>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-85785701839612267912015-06-18T11:51:00.000-05:002015-06-18T11:51:43.869-05:00REMINDER: Los Angeles Workshop, June 26th & 27th<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikezEqFr56tdUA7IpTAr3BFNkxE0P8QFhMofSzmhCdK9t5Pix_PUsnuI76ggZDmLi1L-n06CIOwk7Mm20GOlk9ZO-8t4Uxlwqf0UzOcJVcVX4_MLwv66ayT2VjgkockPmZP4LwUSf8eDeb/s1600/tomopositionone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikezEqFr56tdUA7IpTAr3BFNkxE0P8QFhMofSzmhCdK9t5Pix_PUsnuI76ggZDmLi1L-n06CIOwk7Mm20GOlk9ZO-8t4Uxlwqf0UzOcJVcVX4_MLwv66ayT2VjgkockPmZP4LwUSf8eDeb/s320/tomopositionone.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Makko Ho's Position One</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Just a reminder about next week's workshop Tomoko and I will have, hosted by our good friends at the Los Angeles Shingitai-Ichi Dojo. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Friday, June 26th, Tomoko and I will make our way to LA and join Shidoshi Michael Govier (</span><a href="http://www.sgtidojo.org/locations/los-angeles-california/" style="font-family: inherit;">SGTI Dojo LA</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">) for a two-day Makko Ho and Taijutsu seminar - a rare trip for us to teach in sunny California.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've long considered Makko Ho to be the flipside of training in which we learn to use Taijutsu to heal and keep ourselves and others healthy. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a remarkable method, complex in its simplicity, much like Taijutsu. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hatsumi sensei even studied Makko Ho </span>at one point <span style="font-family: inherit;">and the Bujinkan knows its basic movements as the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Ryutai Undo</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomoko happens to be one of only two licensed </span>Makko Ho <span style="font-family: inherit;">instructors here in the United States. On Friday evening </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">she'll take everyone through this esoteric Japanese stretching art, including the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Hodo Taiso</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - partner bodywork that teaches practitioners to use positioning and alignment for healing purposes. Check out the interview I did with her: <a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2014/02/to-look-straight-forward-pt1.html">To Look Straight Forward</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then on Saturday, June 27th, I'll engage everyone with my perspective on Taijutsu and conflict ethics, specifically the "protector ethic." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll be in two separate, but close, locations: a city park and the same studio from the night before - the outdoor/indoor difference should be highly informative. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll be covering unarmed movement, specifically how to make the tactical "viable," or capable of sustaining and protecting life, and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">any and all weapons available and the overlapping universality of their use. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Makko Ho Workshop with Tomoko Morganelli</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Friday, June 26th</b></span><br />
<b>8:00-10:00pm</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Location:</b><br />
<b>DanceGarden LA in Atwater Village</b><br />
<b>3191 Casitas Ave, Suite 112</b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, CA 90039</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.dancegardenla.com/">DanceGardenLA.com</a></b><br />
<b>A large, free parking lot is available</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Taijutsu Workshop with James Morganelli</b></div>
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<div>
<b>Saturday, June 27th</b><br />
<b>12:00-6:00pm</b></div>
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<b><u>2 Locations:</u></b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Part I: 12-3pm </b><br />
<b>Griffith Park</b><br />
<b>4730 Crystal Springs Drive</b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, CA 90027</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk/gp_info.htm">laparks.org/GriffithPark</a></b><br />
<b>Merry-Go-Round parking lot </b><br />
<b>Training will be behind the tennis courts </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Part II: 3-6pm</b><br />
<b>DanceGarden LA in Atwater Village</b><br />
<b>3191 Casitas Ave, Suite 112, </b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, 90039</b><br />
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<b>Cost: </b><br />
<b>$25 for Tomoko's Workshop </b><br />
<b>$60 for James' Workshop</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Join us on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/512851648863627/">Facebook </a>page and show your support!</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Questions? </b></span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Contact </b><b style="font-family: inherit;">Shidoshi Govier at: </b><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;">mike@sgtidojo.org </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>We look forward to meeting new folks and sharing some great training!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span><b><i>Tomoko and James</i></b></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-90951705322426606442015-06-11T10:32:00.003-05:002015-06-11T10:32:53.087-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Tactical to Viable<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This word "tactical" gets thrown around in martial arts nowadays. I've seen "tactical combat," "tactical martial arts" even "tactical name-your-art" - it’s overused and for the wrong reasons because it doesn't describe what folks are actually trying to say.<br />
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“Tactical” is an adjective that describes “tactics, especially military” and is “characterized by adroit procedure” and related to “a maneuver or plan of action designed as an expedient toward gaining a desired end or temporary advantage.”<br />
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By this definition <i>everything </i>in martial arts or combatives is already “tactical”: every strategy, tactic, technique ever devised has been refined toward its aim of “expedient” (read "efficient") utilization through “adroit procedure.”<br />
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Thus saying your martial art is “tactical” is like saying you’re drinking “wet” water. “Wetness” is an inherent feature of the water, just like “tactical” is of any martial art. And even though buzzwords can better marketing, it still puts us back at our beginnings because “when everything is tactical, nothing is,” and we still have not articulated what we’re really trying to say. So what <i>are </i>we trying to say?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This may actually be true.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
“Tactical” describes a thing’s functionality, i.e. a tactical vehicle, or tactical maneuver, indicating a thing’s purposeful adroit proceduring or tactical-ness. It seems we could ascribe nearly any thing or action as tactical merely by purposing its inherent procedure adroitly. One dictionary example: “They gained a tactical advantage by joining with one of their competitors” – pretty broad usage. And this still doesn't indicate, especially for training, what we’re actually searching for: <i>how best to keep from dying.</i><br />
<br />
Too often, martial technique is devised, understood, or trained outside of conditional use. A technique may look efficient, since it has no rough edges, but when trained against an honest partner trying to keep us honest, is ineffective because we've not accounted for it. So, if we think being tactical will keep us from dying, guess again, it’s only the first act of a three act play - the second and third acts involve identifying openings and closing them off. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAecOi0wvAGIpO5DYNVTd0Kd16KcD-4J9mZfwyulsatR6aQwAntP7GlReXRcWJMRlBXxLmoiCrBtrOVia07HiFJxReYHXyLOu_HBD_VgbPKsJNnEpEqVqVGIl6IrsVrj_JOL4ILpTrn_je/s1600/1252435800_tactical-bacon_1020616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAecOi0wvAGIpO5DYNVTd0Kd16KcD-4J9mZfwyulsatR6aQwAntP7GlReXRcWJMRlBXxLmoiCrBtrOVia07HiFJxReYHXyLOu_HBD_VgbPKsJNnEpEqVqVGIl6IrsVrj_JOL4ILpTrn_je/s320/1252435800_tactical-bacon_1020616.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm, tactical bacon ...<br />
Seriously, where can I get this? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
“How ought I train to habituate protecting life?” <i>This </i>is the optimal question for training because it relates to the shaping of actual use. It goes beyond mere procedure to ask for <a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-athlete-and-protector.html">“manner,” “degree,” and to what end or “outcome”</a> it is to be used for - important stuff, in fact, the most important for training. <br />
<br />
And so I stopped saying tactical to mean “life protecting,” since something done tactically may simply be the most efficient way to gain one’s end, even at the expense of one’s life.<br />
<br />
Out of frustration for clarity, I turned to the word "viable" to mean "in a way that protects life." “Via” comes from the Latin “vita” meaning “life” and describes that which is “life-enabling” (I like "life-able" myself). I now use “viable” to describe just how to apply our manner of usage, degree of that usage, and <a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2014/05/to-train-warrior-art-part-ii.html">contextual outcome</a> in training under various conditions, to perceive how best to protect life – our own, others’, and even the enemy’s - as we employ whatever tactic or technique we deem necessary.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3raJa4ar1od_0HJ8OMp89N0OnVKrQEVfT7ZlZ9HaLahXqqy6zaWoRO47RThaTJ0L4h1MNaVbu1gJSnOEHbof5aDK9Jt5Ph_BQlm5CcCcR4YH7TLUQGEFuAteFk4eqtXhmqDpLjegov-FK/s1600/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3raJa4ar1od_0HJ8OMp89N0OnVKrQEVfT7ZlZ9HaLahXqqy6zaWoRO47RThaTJ0L4h1MNaVbu1gJSnOEHbof5aDK9Jt5Ph_BQlm5CcCcR4YH7TLUQGEFuAteFk4eqtXhmqDpLjegov-FK/s320/image001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Really? </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Since there is no such thing as a technique that “works” in and of itself (they must all be applied), sharpening our instincts and perception of how best to protect life is the furthest we can reach or even hope for in training. At its core, effective training is about better decision making, so the finer our instincts regarding viability, the better chances we give ourselves.<br />
<br />
That being said I can think of least five aspects regarding the "how" of viability, presented hierarchically. And since these are to be considered the parameters or restrictions of how we ought to habituate ourselves physically under conditions, they are chronicled in the negative, but explained in the affirmative.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Do not be a danger to oneself.</i><br />
Know self-awareness. Be a protector of yourself from threats or danger you might impose through actions and behavior. Listen to common sense when it speaks and heed its message. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Do not endanger those who need protection.</i><br />
Be a protector of others, including the enemy, if possible. Calibrate what one ought to do by context. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Do not allow conditions to prevent viability.</i><br />
Know initiative. Be ahead and lead according to context. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Do not allow the opponent to be a danger. </i><br />
Know positioning, leverage, and proportionality to outwit and outmaneuver. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Do not allow the opponent to prevent their own endangerment.</i><br />
Deny vulnerabilities to those who would use them against us.</blockquote>
How we might apply the "tactical" to make it “viable” is for me the dividing line that separates knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the minutiae of martial arts and its information comes in the form of strategy, tactics, and techniques. But what’s far more important is the wise (read prudent or judicious) application of whatever knowledge one does have.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, all martial arts are thousands of years of refined physicality in order to embody our visceral sense of "ought" - the mental, willful, emotional drive that compels personal obligation. So this concept of viability, while reaching toward the physical, as it is trained and carried out that way, is rooted in our ethical bearing, since "action to protect life," whether our own, others’, or the enemy’s, is an inherently moral consideration.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-34920504426514491792015-06-09T13:26:00.003-05:002015-06-09T13:30:54.926-05:00To Capture the SpiritA good video piece on training is hard to come by. It's like any bit of writing that aims to make a solid point and inspire others by message - they're out there, but can be hard to find. Capturing the spirit of something, especially a something like martial arts is tricky. But this piece does it well. <br />
<br />
When I was first contacted by Brenda Mak, a young student journalist here in Chicago, I was skeptical that anything of long-term merit would be produced. So I resolved to simply help her out by granting her the access she needed.<br />
<br />
She would focus her attention on my student Amaris, a smart, lovely young lady, who's been training with me nearly a year. Please bear in mind, nothing Amaris says was scripted or coached. Her thoughts are her own and I could not be more pleased. My thanks to Brenda - she can look forward to a bright future.<br />
<br />
There was a great deal of footage captured in the two days Brenda spent with us, all of it spontaneous and unscripted, a lot like our training sessions. Moving forward, perhaps we'll roll more of that footage out.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qvuaOOVhSiQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qvuaOOVhSiQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-73963595190425648392015-06-04T10:55:00.001-05:002015-06-04T11:04:19.136-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Train the Metaphysical with the Physical<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This actually came out of a question from a young student of
mine saying she stunk at using weapons. Now, I had no problem with her actual
ability – she’s relatively new - but I did take issue with her decision to identify
herself as “stinky.” It’s an easy trap to find oneself in because we’re just calling
reality as we see it. But we must learn to see these kinds of things a little clearer.
</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj5JSNmHCNuLMVY_EH96S70o_q36UGX0dt5wZpDiBDFNWBszqbQcI4XP-TT4GrBv4oP-UXP_6arZvmefwpUZmYaF2i9Or8S4wVs4hFwMOZzspHREU7ogACF4vfMbPLpQQ6oNGVRFOJVwO/s1600/applmetaphysics.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj5JSNmHCNuLMVY_EH96S70o_q36UGX0dt5wZpDiBDFNWBszqbQcI4XP-TT4GrBv4oP-UXP_6arZvmefwpUZmYaF2i9Or8S4wVs4hFwMOZzspHREU7ogACF4vfMbPLpQQ6oNGVRFOJVwO/s1600/applmetaphysics.gif" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This piece is not about “believing in yourself” – read <i>Charlotte’s Web</i> or something for that. No,
this is about the metaphysics we engage in whenever we train and how we ought
not take them for granted. Believing you stink may be reflective of actuality -
maybe you do stink – but it is a metaphysic to believe so. As well, <i>believing you don't stink</i> is also a
metaphysic. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Metaphysics are outside of objective reality, and includes our
beliefs and values, even our emotions and feelings. Morality, ethics, our sense
of justice and human rights, even numbers, are all metaphysical. This goes
to show two things: one, metaphysics are really, really important. And two, we totally take them for granted. Here's how.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a saying, “You will fight the way you train.” And it's true. If our
training relies on intense, high stress, fear-inducing conflict, if we don’t
look forward to training - maybe we’re even nauseated by its idea - and afterward
we are emotionally spent and physically relieved, then we are most probably training
ourselves to re-enact all of these same experiences during an actual confrontation.
We may think we’re arming ourselves by engaging with these experiences regularly to "inoculate" us to their impact, when in actuality they might just be blunting our effectiveness. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Training does not have to be some perpetual roller coaster of stress inoculation. Learning to become a good defensive driver does not entail constantly smashing into other cars to inoculate us to “take an accident." It means habituating one’s driving habits and awareness so as to have the time and space to respond effectively to emergency changes regardless of the conditions. This is not a perfect analogy, but I think it a far tastier recipe than brutalizing ourselves and others in regular training just to gain what we think is some modicum of advantage.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For dangerous jobs, like serving LE warrants and military operations, consistent, high-stress training can be beneficial for those specific high-stress moments because it trains known operational tactics reflexively, so they can become second nature. But in those cases, those moments of conflict are generally well known in advance to operators as well as who their enemy is. And success in those operations is most often shaped by operators' pro-activeness. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvDBo9GUjnKPXCIGj5vN10zpuNnclfPJLE4k2rA1C6BHcdPThUFbM7DP2xlU0xX9rle-vLwAMHovMDnKBe-SmyOACIa1dClC4Dv822KRQEMMsdW2ylNId8Za54nQcS_Tknxr2nj4SOToT/s1600/The_Octagon_1980_0019-MasterNorris_com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvDBo9GUjnKPXCIGj5vN10zpuNnclfPJLE4k2rA1C6BHcdPThUFbM7DP2xlU0xX9rle-vLwAMHovMDnKBe-SmyOACIa1dClC4Dv822KRQEMMsdW2ylNId8Za54nQcS_Tknxr2nj4SOToT/s320/The_Octagon_1980_0019-MasterNorris_com.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But civilians do not have the luxury of prescient intel to know what kind of spontaneous conflict and/or violence they may face in the daily course of their lives, let alone from exactly who. Most folks train martial arts simply because they like it. And maybe they want to learn how to make a better way in their little part of the world and deal with life's difficulties and confrontations, which may – God forbid - include life or death struggle.<br />
<br />
Thus training does not require us to <i>rely</i> on exposure<i> </i>to the X-men's “danger room” or put ourselves though the gauntlet of Sakura's ninja Octagon. (I say “rely” here because <i>some</i> “danger rooming” and “Octagoning” is a good idea and often a lot of fun in context.) </div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Look, life is difficult, stressful, and scary enough on its own to
provide us with all the itinerant changes and variable conditions that we can
possibly handle. These conditions will be such that we’ll be forced to deal
with them in ways that’ll make our responses far more difficult than we could
possibly imagine or anticipate in any regular training sessions.<br />
<br />
And this is why I often say there is no such thing as "realistic" training. Only real is real. Training is a educated fiction we produce for ourselves in order to account for the fundamental aspects that are always present in reality - change and its variables. There is no training scenario that anyone could ever craft to account for reality, there are simply too many impossibly strange variables and conditions to account for. Oh sure, some try by incorporating more variables, or raising the stress level, or crafting re-enactments of true-life situations. But this can only ever be a high-stress production; a tactical play put on by willing performers. Only real is real:<i> no one tries to kill you in training, and if they did, it would not be training, it would be real and training ideals like learning to habituate new and better tactics, applications, awareness, and overall behavior,</i> <i>would not apply. </i><br />
<br />
And with this in mind, we must choose: how
would we wish to respond ideally to conflict? With pent up anxiety and stress?
Or cool and collected? I'm not saying that just by believing ourselves to be
calm and cool we <i>will be</i>, under
conditions. It isn't that simple – we have to train and habituate ourselves physically
and <i>metaphysically</i> until we actually
are. This is a far better idea than marinating ourselves in invented stress, anxiety, and
fear that will only multiply with actual conditions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whenever we train or pick up a weapon we should
have the confidence our common sense is telling us to have: mentally place ourselves in any kind of violent scenario. Would we want a weapon? Of course we would. A weapon means advantage in a way we might not have on our own. So we should be confident that
we are in a better position, more capable, stronger, better prepared, than
without the weapon or the training. The only reason one might feel less capable or empowered is
because we are instead seeing it through a bias (another metaphysic), as in waiting
for the instructor to teach us the "proper" way. And a little advice here: don't wait for permission to get better.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
There is nothing to suggest that a “well-rounded training” ideal
and the “highly competent martialist” ideal are mutually exclusive. In my world
they are not, in fact, the more competent and higher ability one has, the more they
can gain the confidence to reach goals regarding character and virtue. We
should train ourselves to fight the way we <i>wish</i>
to fight – calm and collected. That means <i>enjoying </i>training, laughing, having a
good time, protecting your partners, telling a joke. Be inspired and look
forward to training. And when finished, we should feel <i>better</i> (and <i>better</i> in
ability) for having done it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Simply learning to fight or defend yourself on its own are selfish, immature perspectives in the long run. The better way is to see training as a
conduit to becoming the kind of person we wish ourselves to be - a protector, teacher, leader
- the kind of person who is in control and command when there is conflict,
even violence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Training isn't just about learning to use martial arts more
effectively. It's also about recognizing that we are more effective through training.
It is this thought that must come first. For if it does not, then waiting to be
instructed is all about training to "become" good at some point in
the future, instead of "being" good today, at one's respective level
- an entirely metaphysical difference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-5266963283974394872015-05-29T12:50:00.002-05:002015-05-29T12:53:46.634-05:00California Trainin'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJGG93ldj1BxDapk_FDvKnS1jo-Wi_RNYq8szQw94Ym1DYlH9WOWlxr4tXN0KXC-L6kUhj46rpphh6nJiCNWQIoysyknPGcAH0UL_MFQdkxUCi445jJPx8J2o6XfaYzMQycL0CN_Nvbxm/s1600/jimtomo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFJGG93ldj1BxDapk_FDvKnS1jo-Wi_RNYq8szQw94Ym1DYlH9WOWlxr4tXN0KXC-L6kUhj46rpphh6nJiCNWQIoysyknPGcAH0UL_MFQdkxUCi445jJPx8J2o6XfaYzMQycL0CN_Nvbxm/s320/jimtomo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Cali here we come!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On Friday, June 26th, Tomoko and I will make our way to <b>Los Angeles </b>and join my close friend and Buyu, Shidoshi Michael Govier (</span><a href="http://www.sgtidojo.org/locations/los-angeles-california/" style="font-family: inherit;">SGTI Dojo LA</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">), as host for a two-day Makko Ho and Taijutsu seminar. This is a rare trip for us to teach in the beautiful state of California.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Makko Ho is like the flipside of training, where we can learn to use our Taijutsu to help heal ourselves and others. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a remarkable method, complex in its simplicity, much like Taijutsu. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hatsumi sensei even studied Makko Ho </span>at one point <span style="font-family: inherit;">and the Bujinkan knows its basic movements as the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Ryutai Undo</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomoko is one of only two licensed </span>Makko Ho <span style="font-family: inherit;">instructors here in the United States, and on Friday evening </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">she'll take everyone through this esoteric Japanese stretching art, including the </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Hodo Taiso</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - partner bodywork that teaches practitioners to use positioning and alignment for healing purposes. Check out the interview I did with her: <a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2014/02/to-look-straight-forward-pt1.html">To Look Straight Forward</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then on Saturday, June 27th, I'll engage everyone with my perspective on Taijutsu and conflict ethics, specifically the "protector ethic." We'll be in two separate, but close, locations: a city park and the same studio from the night before - the outdoor/indoor difference should be highly informative. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll be covering unarmed movement, specifically how to make tactics and techniques "viable," or capable of sustaining and protecting life, and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">any and all weapons available and the overlapping universality of their use. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Makko Ho Workshop with Tomoko Morganelli</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Friday, June 26th</b></span><br />
<b>8:00-10:00pm</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Location:</b><br />
<b>DanceGarden LA in Atwater Village</b><br />
<b>3191 Casitas Ave, Suite 112</b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, CA 90039</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.dancegardenla.com/">DanceGardenLA.com</a></b><br />
<b>A large, free parking lot is available</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<b>Taijutsu Workshop with James Morganelli</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div>
<b>Saturday, June 27th</b><br />
<b>12:00-6:00pm</b></div>
<br />
<b><u>2 Locations:</u></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Part I: 12-3pm </b><br />
<b>Griffith Park</b><br />
<b>4730 Crystal Springs Drive</b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, CA 90027</b><br />
<b><a href="http://www.laparks.org/dos/parks/griffithpk/gp_info.htm">laparks.org/GriffithPark</a></b><br />
<b>Merry-Go-Round parking lot </b><br />
<b>Training will be behind the tennis courts </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Part II: 3-6pm</b><br />
<b>DanceGarden LA in Atwater Village</b><br />
<b>3191 Casitas Ave, Suite 112, </b><br />
<b>Los Angeles, 90039</b><br />
<br />
<b>Cost: </b><br />
<b>$25 for Tomoko's Workshop </b><br />
<b>$60 for James' Workshop</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Join us on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/512851648863627/">Facebook </a>page and show your support!</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Questions? </b></span><b style="font-family: inherit;">Contact </b><b style="font-family: inherit;">Shidoshi Govier at: </b><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;">mike@sgtidojo.org </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>We look forward to meeting new folks and sharing some great training!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomoko and James</span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-3798248574260958572015-05-21T17:00:00.000-05:002015-05-21T17:00:29.010-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Proportionality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We buy clothes that exemplify our fashion style and personality. We don't (normally) wear them undersized or oversized and we often designate them for particular use, like work or recreation. This is proportionality in action and it's operative in martial training as well.<br />
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In a previous post, "<a href="http://sgtidojo.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-athlete-and-protector.html">The Athlete and the Protector</a>," I outlined three differences in the use of martial principles. Those differences of manner, degree, and outcome are also present for proportionality, or the prudential (see prudent/prudence) use of techniques, the extent to which we use them, and why we are using them at all. <br />
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<b>Manner </b><br />
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Much like a fashion sense, martial artists should have a "technique sense" - a manner that sensibly pulls us toward techniques we have a greater chance of mastering and repels us from those that may give us more obvious trouble. Those hipster skinny jeans? You may think they look great with your sweet beard, but you may just want to start dressing like an adult, you over-40 so-and-so. Same goes for martial technique. Upside down spinning Capoeira kicks look great on that new <i>Daredevil </i>TV series, but they may not be the wisest choice for self-defense and/or use for law enforcement. This isn't to say we should only engage with the stuff we find easy to use, but rather toward that which best represents ourselves, our level, and the context of our intended use.<br />
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Our manner of technique use is dictated by a variety of personal concerns: ability and level, athleticism, health, acumen - they all impact the physical particularities we may choose and will speak to how effective and efficient we can make those choices.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7uGM_blevj3VmiqEGWPLXzmI7owy38-km4UgExB8iHtsRn17dtHBeUN6MK_38mAqq9IqSrMVAlcLjzZA2ioinmemmgZSbi6n6oU4W-cHbtxvJykXZQKuaCKcjUZnSicOmWQiHX-I_kkU/s1600/shvtpphnp6gfsdjj0hfr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7uGM_blevj3VmiqEGWPLXzmI7owy38-km4UgExB8iHtsRn17dtHBeUN6MK_38mAqq9IqSrMVAlcLjzZA2ioinmemmgZSbi6n6oU4W-cHbtxvJykXZQKuaCKcjUZnSicOmWQiHX-I_kkU/s320/shvtpphnp6gfsdjj0hfr.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Not photoshopped. </span><br style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><a href="http://uk.complex.com/sports/2014/10/world-champion-arm-wrestling" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Matthias Schlitte</a><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> "has a rare genetic defect, </span><br style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">which made his right forearm bone 33% larger than his left."</span></td></tr>
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<b>Degree</b><br />
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The know-how to shape technique under conditions characterizes the degree to which we understand them. This notion is akin to wearing clothes that "fit" us rather than squeezing into shoes that are too tight (ladies) or wearing baggy/saggy clothes that may be some kind of rebellious fashion statement, just an uninspired and dumb one.<br />
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Martial training requires us to shape techniques to "fit" us as well, so in practical use they do not represent a liability. Rather than "trying on" various techniques, degree involves knowing how best to embody and maximize the technical based on our individual dynamic. Are you fat, strong, skinny, or short? Very mobile or not so much? Being honest with ourselves in regards to strengths and vulnerabilities can indicate our direction in training as well as calibrate us to deal with obvious realities. One of my students wears a bushel of hair on his head - an obvious target for grabs in a violent encounter - so he's got to train for that eventuality. <br />
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This is especially true if one is working from a position of handicap, whether temporary or permanent, that must characterize the technical in broader ways than the standard method. Knowing the standard is fine, and is often the way for most. But knowing how to broaden use so as to exemplify the standard under various conditions, well, that's always way better than fine. <br />
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<b>Outcome</b><br />
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Outcome, or purpose, drives the overall ethics and justness of our usage. Outcome is the meat and potatoes of training as it speaks to the "viability" (a truth in itself) of how well one is able to invulnerably utilize techniques by manner and degree, which must include not being denied their use by the counters of an opponent.<br />
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We should seek to throw without being, say, stabbed in the process, strike without being struck, and of course use weapons of any size and shape, whether they are considered standard or have been augmented to fit our body types appropriately. All these aspects speak to ethics since we ought never unnecessarily risk ourselves or others due to poor training habits, or worse, misinformation or misunderstanding regarding the actuality of use.<br />
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Staff weapons in particular are a great example of proportionality. A <i>rokushakubo </i>is about six feet long, because at some point these tools were standardized to this length by the entities teaching their usage, which might account for their greater ubiquity. But even this standard length in Japan was most probably taller than any of its users and raises the question of correct use and whether we are today invoking this same proportional comprehension in our own training.<br />
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If one is naturally six feet tall, then a staff to grant us proportional understanding is one that is naturally taller than its user, perhaps about seven feet. In my Shingitai-Ichi Dojo we generally try to use staves that are at least one foot taller than the user, as this exaggeration teaches in ways far clearer than any standard length how best to maximize it.<br />
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Slipping into the trap of standardization may in fact train us to use our positioning and leverage at inopportune times within the interval of conditional use - a constant threat that all martial artists should train hard to avoid.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-51136774205962614142015-05-14T14:21:00.000-05:002015-05-14T20:05:12.894-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Taijutsu is Bojutsu is Taijutsu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently I had a question from a relatively new student, who's been training almost a year. She was lamenting as to how awkward she felt using the Bo, whether it was a hanbo, or jo, or whatever. The Truth here is that if one is un-confident with the Bo, one cannot gain broader ability in Taijutsu. It's that simple.<br />
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The essence of this truth lies in the fact that Taijutsu, in its broad usage of tactical space and interval, is in reality a physical metaphor for the broad usage of tactical space and interval within Bojutsu, since anthropologically, weapons came first. At the dawn of man, Grog didn't wallop Gorg with a "Judo chop!" and then figured he could do it even better with a stick. No, sticks came first. The descendants of Grog would later discover how to deliver said wallop without said stick. This would lead to our larger understanding of the martial means and ways, which always returns us in some form to the Bo. Thus, "Bojutsu" here does not just mean art of the "six-foot staff," it means to use the Bo, the stick, in all its forms and lengths. <br />
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Yamamoto Kansuke (1501-1561) was a retainer of Takeda Shingen (1521-1573), who was one of the most successful and feared warlords in Japan. Kansuke developed a school of strategy called the "art of certain victory," which was adopted by the notable Miyamoto Musashi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would ultimately pacify the country's warring ways.<br />
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In his seminal work, "Secrets of the Arts of Warfare," Kansuke writes about the Bo in a section called the "Chief of the Arts":<br />
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<i>The pole is the chief of the arts. The explanation for this is that, for the spear and the halberd techniques, you cannot do without the pole too. So those who would acquire the techniques of long weapons first make this art the basis, learning the ways of using the body, hands, and feet, so they might attain the expert use of all the weapons in a warrior's arsenal. </i></blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kansuke killing a giant boar. </td></tr>
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It's quite a statement to say that learning the Bo is to learn "all the weapons." And it's true. The fact is nearly all weapons and martial tools were either refined from the Bo or relate to it directly in some way. Swordsmanship is directly related to Bojutsu. And Bojutsu was the initial stage of understanding for <i>sojutsu</i>, the art of spear, and all halberd arts. Even the bow and arrow was derived from the Bo - a stick configured with a taut string to propel other sticks with pointy ends. Hell, one could ever argue that the rifle is a Bo with a barrel mounted to it. Kansuke goes on to say that the pole is "approximately eight to eight and a half feet long" - a little longer than the standard "Bo staff" six-footer one picks up in a Chinatown gift shop.<br />
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If weapons and tools represent a conundrum for the practitioner, and a gap one is not likely to bridge, then something is truly wrong. Wrong because a firm understanding of Bojutsu in all its various forms - hanbo, jo, rokushakubo, yawara, tanbo, sutekki, and every other iteration (and length) one can think of - is required if we are to make the kind of wise decisions it takes to use Taijutsu successfully under conditions of conflict and stress.<br />
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Without the studied use and familiarity of Bojutsu we can wind up learning a false sense of positioning and leverage within the interval of conflict. Without the <i>proportionality </i>Bojutsu affords, (Another Truth: how does an average man of maybe five feet in feudal Japan command an eight and half foot Bo? Proportionality.) we cannot learn to habituate our observations, decisions, and actions on a naturally earlier continuum than that of our opponent. As a result, our unarmed Taijutsu is late instead of early, reactive instead of adaptive, and reliant upon physical might to force, rather than use of the body as a shielded fulcrum to compel compliance and deny the opponent's countermeasures. <br />
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Bojutsu should not be thought of as simply a "good idea," but a necessary ideal. Recognizing that "Taijutsu is Bojutsu is Taijutsu" is to make a poignant discovery about the reality and use of Taijutsu because the Bo has played such a vast role in its design and our internal comprehension of that applicability. <br />
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Intuiting this truth means familiarizing oneself consistently with Bojutsu in all its iterations. Make it a daily habit to move with the Bo and integrate it often into training proper. <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-11409322696966715642015-05-11T13:09:00.001-05:002015-05-11T13:09:13.636-05:00The Athlete and the Protector<i>This is my response to an old friend and his point made on a Facebook thread for my last piece, "Taijutsu Truth: Heart and Sole." It's in regard to how martial sports and warrior arts can use the same principles in very different ways.</i><br />
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<i>You can view the conversation <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bujinkan-Shingitai-Ichi-Dojo/186597157249">here</a>.</i><br />
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<i>James</i><br />
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I really appreciate your point here, that the difference between winning and losing at advanced levels in martial sport come down to the very same alternative principles I listed as being reliant for warrior arts. And this could of course, be true. Initiative, leverage, and positioning can all play favored roles in favorable outcomes for competition.<br />
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I have great respect for those who train competitive martial sports. The training is difficult and all consuming. But it would be whole cloth to say these principles of mindful initiative, technical leverage, and body positioning were used <i>equivocally </i>in manner, degree, and outcome. Or we could say the <i>way </i>in which it's done, the <i>extent </i>to which it's done, and <i>why </i>it's done at all.<br />
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<b>Manner</b><br />
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Though there will always be some overlap between all martial endeavor, there can be no true equivalency between martial sport and warrior arts - the two are mutually exclusive and must be. If martial sport adopted the manner necessary for great ability in warrior arts, competition of said sport would stifle and by all measure become impractical as practitioners tried in vain to lure each other into un-counterable, devastating, possibly career-ending outcomes, not to mention death.<br />
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This manner would never allow any purely refined form or technique to take shape and flourish like it can and does under the highly controlled and regulated conditions of competition. One of the tremendous aspects of involvement with sports is simply this: it’s a lot of fun. But the above conditions are not fun, they would be dark and oppressive.<br />
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And if warrior arts adopted the manner of sport, practitioners would not learn foremost to close off any and all openings and vulnerabilities, since performance of technique would be all consuming no matter the circumstances of their use. Just page through any book of Judo or competition Jujutsu - its basic techniques have all been chosen, designed even, specifically for use in the strict two-person contest model.<br />
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But this model fails instantly when taking into account outside variables that make technical performance impractical and dangerous to the user when makeshift weapons, multiple opponents, and attack by ambush are considered. All of which are but a few of the most prominent issues in normal warrior art training.<br />
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<b>Degree</b><br />
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Warriorship apprentices are trying to attain not simply a “tactical” perspective, but a “viable” one that engenders an advantageous life-protecting ethic for self, others, and all others, including the enemy if at all possible. It is this “viability” in training that directly shapes the habituation of these alternative principles into a broad, creative, asymmetrical, and technically <i>unconventional </i>arsenal of extreme use in extreme conditions to protect life - points and winning, notwithstanding.<br />
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Violence of tactics and method is also mirrored by situational awareness, clever use of the environment, and cunning manipulation of the moment for the purposes of escape, intervention for the defense of others, or most dangerously, confronting enemies (and possibly subduing them for arrest or confinement) to be killed to save or protect life.<br />
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<b>Outcome</b><br />
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Martial sports are not defined, do not inherently train for, intrinsically deal with, nor are expected to deal with, the range of variable threats under conditions of life or death. Martial competition is played between willing participants, who normally share similar value for tests of will, camaraderie, and fraternity in humanity’s long-standing warrior traditions. Even the Greeks and Spartans had team games they played involving moving a rock across a field (although death sometimes occurred and might have even been encouraged in doing so).<br />
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But getting home to one’s family or protecting them or yourself through violent struggle is not and cannot be considered any game. There is no voluntary participation for a test of will here, or camaraderie, or fraternity. There is only dealing with the violence of aggression and how well one survives it. Getting out ahead of such violence through awareness and avoidance, or adapting effectively to the least necessary outcome based upon one's conditions and context, this alone marks such a major difference between training methods and perception of those methods that in itself is enough to settle the stark difference.<br />
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It becomes quite difficult to equivocate martial sport and warrior art in these aspects of manner, degree, and outcome even for their overlapping principles. Take competitive shooting here in the United States. Targeting contests vary in the extreme for manner, degree, and outcome when compared to personal-protection training for concealed carry of a firearm and for the most basic of reasons: no one ever expects the target to shoot back in a contest. Even the practice of primitive skills survival differs tremendously from its life-protecting, defending role of the Scout, which in manner, degree, and outcome must still survive, flourish even, through the lens of stealth and invisibility.<br />
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On the surface, there is always much in common between long-time actors of the martial ways. We are all of us engaged in a process that changes us fundamentally and hopefully for the better. But if we dig into the details of our respective backgrounds, we will inevitably find many examples of differences in our training values. These differences ought not be compared ad nauseum, but <i>celebrated! </i><br />
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We ought to revel in the ability, sheer will, and technical expertise required to overcome such advanced levels of pure martial ideal. And we should treat with all sacredness the wisdom and clarity that the ancient touchstone of humanity's protector ethic imbues upon us to temper ourselves to stand up for, save, and defend the lives of self and others in the crucible of human conflict.<br />
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Let's - all of us - "keep going!"<br />
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We'll make it!<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-46060150650202288352015-05-07T10:23:00.000-05:002015-05-07T10:23:16.014-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Heart and Sole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Another piece from a work in progress, "Taijutsu Truths</i>.<i>"</i><br />
<i>~James</i><br />
<br />
<br />
The secret to effective Taijutsu is efficient, habitual, and intrinsic activation of its principles. The right place to begin training those principles is through maneuvering, specifically <i>out</i>-maneuvering one’s opponents.<br />
<br />
Most commercial martial sports practiced today rely heavily upon the principles of athletic endeavor, namely, power, speed, and strength. These form the basis of physical might and are intuitive to the human condition. In fact, if one wishes to know whether one’s training has become reliant upon these principles, they have only to ask themselves a simple question: would I be better at my martial art if I were bigger, stronger, and faster? If the honest answer is “yes,” then one can be assured they are engaged in training as a martial sport, regardless of the art.<br />
<br />
However, for the training of warrior arts, that is martial arts based upon survival and usually carried out with weapons, the athletic approach can well hamper, and even defy true mastery. Thus over the ages warrior arts embraced and refined an alternative set of counter-intuitive principles to functionally activate themselves and reach for levels of ability un-matchable through the intuitive mindset alone. These alternative aspects come to us as the <i>Sanshin</i>, "three hearts" of the <i>Shingitai</i>, the mind, technique, and the body, and formulate the principles of mindful initiative, technical leverage, and body positioning or maneuvering.<br />
<br />
Physical positioning/maneuvering is known in Taijutsu as <i>Taisabaki</i>, or from a tactical standpoint, <i>Kuraidori</i>, a concept that hails from the Koto Ryu to move and position oneself to gain spatial and variable, such as environmental, advantage against opponents. In initial training, the student must learn to position, re-position, and out-position their partner consistently, instead of clashing with them over the same ground and forcing them to give way. This broader understanding begins with movement itself, specifically from the soles of the feet on up.<br />
<br />
In order for this counter-intuitive truth to become intuitive, the body structure must first change. I see many potentially good practitioners doing the same things wrong over and again. One of the most common is distorting their frame and posture. In too many cases, beginners often find themselves moving head first, jerking their body along for the ride. This is a mistake and should be corrected. As a general rule, it is advisable to keep proper posture: head over spine, spine over hips, hips over heels. Good posture generates good structure and better movement is the result.<br />
<br />
Good posture keeps the weight centered in the heels and allows one to move from the soles of the feet first to take up better positions and the easy transfer of balance and momentum while doing so. While moving we ought not let our knee go past the toes when stepping - weight would then transfer to the balls of the feet, making it more difficult to move and means we should have taken either a longer step or more steps as the case may be. In fact, a general rule in my dojo is that after any same-side punch, as in <i>namba-aruki</i>, we should be able to lift up our front foot. If the practitioner cannot, they have placed too much weight upon it and cornered themselves in a vulnerable spot.<br />
<br />
Once students intuit this aspect successfully they will discover a positive by-product: their movement will not only emulate better structure and resiliency, they will also notice they are moving <i>earlier</i>. And being ahead is of such vast importance to understanding Taijutsu it cannot be overlooked. <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-75870802449830765732015-04-30T01:13:00.000-05:002015-04-30T01:13:09.719-05:00A Book Worth Reading Redux<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>This is based on an actual event. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>~James</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Some years ago,<br />
I read a book on a bus,<br />
headed to a job I hated.<br />
I have since quit the job and finished the book.<br />
I still ride the bus from time to time.<br />
<br />
It was a good book,<br />
as I remember.<br />
Its cover was fine,<br />
its print sharp and clear,<br />
and sized to be carried without hassle.<br />
<br />
It was sunny that day.<br />
Perhaps it was summer.<br />
I rode at rush hour,<br />
reading my book,<br />
which page I do not remember.<br />
<br />
It occurred to me then,<br />
this rush hour bus,<br />
loud with conversation,<br />
had quieted sharply and strangely so,<br />
with nary an explanation.<br />
<br />
This kind of quiet one does not welcome,<br />
even while reading a book worth reading.<br />
So, I put down my book and I looked and I listened,<br />
to the bus that was no longer speaking. <br />
<br />
Two men,<br />
sitting opposite each other,<br />
were engaged in “conversation.”<br />
One yelled terribly,<br />
the other made faces.<br />
It was an unusual situation.<br />
<br />
Now had they been four, or six, or ten,<br />
no one would have noticed.<br />
No ear would they offend.<br />
But they were old enough to know better.<br />
Old enough to know they should act old enough. <br />
<br />
The faces of the “Facer” were varietal and spontaneous –<br />
kissy, scrunchy, a tongue sticking out.<br />
Made to a baby they were cute and endearing,<br />
drawing squeals of laughter or excited cheering.<br />
<br />
But the “Yeller” receiving them was no baby.<br />
He did not squeal and laugh.<br />
He was not excited and did not cheer.<br />
Facer’s “cute” faces poked and prodded him.<br />
And he spit back profanity;<br />
spit back anger and fear.<br />
<br />
I didn't know who started it.<br />
And didn't care to investigate.<br />
I couldn't read my book.<br />
And no one else could much concentrate.<br />
<br />
Yeller’s yells were yelling louder.<br />
Facer’s faces were face-ing faster.<br />
<br />
I looked to the driver to intervene,<br />
but he held himself quiet –<br />
not a word, not a glance.<br />
He drove his bus in determined ignorance.<br />
<br />
So I folded the corner of the page I was reading<br />
and made my way forward,<br />
weaving and squeezing,<br />
past the stolid riders of the tomb-like bus,<br />
to step into the yelling and face-ing of the two-man gust.<br />
<br />
Once positioned directly between them,<br />
forcing their looks ‘round me to see ‘em,<br />
I reopened my book and pretended to read.<br />
Never once did I glare.<br />
Never once did they stare.<br />
<br />
Now, Yeller did not stop,<br />
and Facer did not either.<br />
There was more yelling and face-ing. <br />
More spitting and egging.<br />
<br />
But not for long.<br />
<br />
Soon the yelling grew less and quieted.<br />
Soon the faces grew less, exhausted.<br />
<br />
And the bus’ quiet became loud again.<br />
And the conversations banal again.<br />
I found my rightful place upon the page,<br />
and could even read my book again,<br />
undistracted and engaged.<br />
<br />
It was a good book,<br />
as I remember.<br />
<br />
One worth reading.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-58212101340188132532015-04-23T12:14:00.001-05:002015-05-07T10:12:08.357-05:00Taijutsu Truth: Drop Out the PowerFrom a work in progress, <i>Taijutsu Truths</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
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At class many years ago, Nagato sensei said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Power to the martial artist is like alcohol to the alcoholic…We must strive to have the same will as the alcoholic who says, “I will never drink again,” and never does. This is the same with relying on power in training.</blockquote>
This was tough for me. As a senior in high school, I weighed a whopping 135lbs with my shoes on. I was seventeen years old and the giant of my family at five-foot-six inches. I was ultra lean and had been lifting weights since I was 13, so I was deceptively strong.<br />
<br />
Before graduating, I bench pressed almost 290lbs – more than twice my own body weight. A few years later, in college, I did it again at 150lbs, pressing up 320lbs – 20 lbs more than twice my body weight. So it seemed only natural, during martial arts training, to compensate for larger or stronger opponents by meeting their power with my own. But I came to realize that for training in Taijutsu, relying on my physical might not only promoted a false sense of confidence, it was a tremendous weakness.<br />
<br />
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Just like "shit happens," we should say, "strength happens." For too many, it’s a foregone conclusion – when stuck in the mud, gun the engine. But in habituating that response, we’ll only ever be as strong as our next opponent. We can defeat power with power only so often, and those times don't include the countless situations where even our strongest would not be enough.<br />
<br />
There's always going to be someone bigger, stronger, and faster than us. I'd also include someone with more weapons than us, better odds than us, more opponents than us, meaner than us, even less to live for than us. See, relying on our power alone <i>is </i>a weakness, for there are just too many variables that can work against us in which our might is the inappropriate response. We should always strive to be smarter, cleverer, and ultimately more skilled than our opponents. In that way, power becomes just another option among many.<br />
<br />
Mark Hodel, a high-ranking Bujinkan instructor and close friend, once told me there are three kinds of Budo: good Budo, bad Budo, and bad Budo done well. “Bad Budo done well” relies on power. But when one is used to forcing techniques like this, it becomes very easy to lose the edge in a fight and get taken. Power requires so much energy that we can't help but act in obvious ways that are easily detected. We wind up giving up information, like our very intention, that if discovered under conditions of conflict could cost life itself.<br />
<br />
Were we to face off with someone in a potentially life and death encounter, undue power could create a terrible opening. Physical might here is like the quintessential wind up before the haymaker, or the leg that cocks back before a spin kick – a telegraphed opening. If the opponent senses it, they can use that opening against us. With any reliance on power it's assured one will eventually face defeat. Typically, those who continue this kind of training become disillusioned, because their progress slows or in some cases stops all together. It also becomes increasingly more difficult to lose this kind of movement and mentality the longer the training is sustained.<br />
<br />
Taijutsu is not supposed to rely on power, strength, or speed to overcome opponents. Instead it has three basic principles of advantage: position, leverage, and initiative. These concepts are more elusive to understand than strength, so training toward mastery is difficult, but the rewards are that much sweeter.<br />
<br />
As a Budoka, one has to not only understand the "when," "where," and "what" of a technique or maneuver, but also the "why" of it, our context for usage and justification. This "why" is a tactical as well as a strategic issue (try not to confuse these two – strategy is your overall goal, the tactics you employ get you there) and can be betrayed by reliance on power.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm not saying we should <i>never </i>use power – sometimes we’ll have to as we'll need it in a fight. <i>But we should never rely on it in our training</i>. In this way, when we put power into our "powerless" movements to save, protect, and defend self or others, we can have greater assurance in the outcome we need. Continue this way of training and after a while, one's confidence grows and gets stronger. And strength of confidence is a far better attribute for our overall life and ability than <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ttvq_how-much-ya-bench_fun">how much ya bench</a>.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-55684663082658751052015-04-16T11:13:00.000-05:002015-04-16T11:13:35.713-05:00The Martial and the Moral<i>From the Introduction to my new book, "The Protector Ethic."</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Normality with Distinction</b><br />
<br />
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Imagine training the compression and assisted-breathing techniques of CPR merely as a set of compartmentalized physical skills, but divorced from their design to be used to save lives. Without attunement for CPR’s usage, why exactly has one learned it? What is the point of learning to do something, if one is incapable of recognizing when such learning may be applied? It’s like having solution to a problem one doesn’t even know exists - when encountered, we remain ignorant to any contribution to resolve it.<br />
<br />
Martial training requires this reflection, just like in learning any ability that has the potential to do oneself or others great good or great harm. Spiderman’s Uncle Ben was right, “With great power, comes great responsibility,” and I would argue it is the acceptance of this responsibility and its leadership that one should ultimately recognize and consent to in any martial journey.<br />
<br />
The English writer GK Chesterton was a well-known art critic. Great art, he said, is paradoxical:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The thing that survives is that which has a certain combination of normality with distinction. It has simplicity with a slight touch of strangeness … It is a tale just sufficiently unusual to be worth telling, and yet immediately intelligible when told. </blockquote>
Such is <i>martial </i>art. They are imminently reasonable in their mandate, intrinsic to humanity's instinctual nature, altogether inspiring and terrible, and yet steeped in an inscrutable mystery of mind-body potential.<br />
<br />
More so than many recognize, they are precious to humankind and the reason is simple: martial arts are moral. And when we use them, train them, speak upon them, we deal with the ethical - moral values in action.<br />
<br />
<b>Common Discovery</b><br />
<br />
Martial arts are moral for a simple reason: they were not invented, like the latest Apple product, they were discovered, at different times, in different places, by different people, in different ways around the world because of our shared common sense and the universal values that are essential and worthwhile to humans: the protection, defense, and sustainment of life.<br />
<br />
Does anyone believe the discovery of fire and its control was inconsequential to human existence? On the contrary, humankind as we know it would simply not exist, would not have survived, if not for the ability to control fire. In this sense, it wasn’t just good information to know, it was crucial. The control of fire was also discovered at different times, in different places, by different people, in different ways around the world because of our common sense: the protection, defense, and sustainment of life.<br />
<br />
Being able to conjure and control fire was considered sacred. But why? Because humans like to stay warm, eat cooked food, and have their journey lit? In other words, because it improved their quality of life? Certainly. But these specifics ultimately allowed fire to protect, defend, and sustain humanity’s existence itself. It is this that made it sacred and makes the tradition of “firemaking” sacred still today. Just ask any outdoorsman, camper, hunter, tracker, military or outdoor rescue personnel - fire is life. No fire, no life. <br />
<br />
For a large measure of their refined existence, the martial arts and their ways were also considered sacred. Was this because they simply improved quality of life? Ultimately, humankind as we know it could not have survived, if not for the ability to develop and refine the martial arts. There is no moment in history that does not involve their usage, in fact, they permeate it. Imbued with the instinct of self and others preservation from the American Plains Indians to the samurai warrior, martial techniques are as varied as the DNA of the people that developed them. Just as the thousands of variations to create fire under the conditions, environments, and cultures it needs to be created.<br />
<br />
Is this want and need to protect somehow amoral, as in, “lying outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply?” as in, “without moral principles?” Not at all. For without the protection of life, there could never have been any tribe, community, town, or society.<br />
<br />
Can the martial arts be misused? Assuredly, and they have been, just as the control of fire has. But arguing martial arts are divorced from the moral and ethical is to misinterpret the motive of their origins and the principles of their study. This degradation calls into question their sacredness, their very dignity, the “why” they exist, for it is the same as calling into question the “why it matters” for them to exist in the first place - the sacredness, dignity, morality of the protection of the value of life itself.<br />
<br />
<b>The Martial is Ethical</b><br />
<br />
The destructive and unworthy use of the martial way is a renunciation of their gift as a life-protecting source, confirmation of our own prideful use, and a reproach to the gratitude and humility we take for granted for receiving and using their traditions. In fact, it is their misuse and disorientation that continually helps us to re-orient ourselves, reminding us of their calibrating and original right-ness. The evidence for this is the ethical implications of martial training itself. For anytime someone decides to begin training the decision is an embodiment, a physical articulation of “why” one wishes to train, akin to answering “why it matters” to train in the first place. Upon this, there are three questions inherent to training that anyone who trains must answer:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What am I going to learn?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
How am I going to learn it?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Who am I going to learn from?</blockquote>
These ethical considerations only gain in importance. For once one becomes an instructor they do not just inhabit our teaching lives, they haunt them:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What am I going to teach? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
How am I going to teach it? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Who am I going to teach to?</blockquote>
These are the interrogatives of martial principles and are answered regardless of our awareness or ignorance to them, for it is our very participation - the doing of martial arts and their training - that is our vote for the “what, how, and who.” Thus, no one can involve the martial way without being questioned first by the ethical.<br />
<br />
Further, these questions call for direction not just for informative martial techniques, but our manners in thinking and action for using them. Manners relate to the qualities of the person and qualities relate to character. “Manners are of more importance than laws,” Edmund Burke wrote. “Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in.” It seems no one trains martial arts without subjecting themselves to the possibilities of moral character calibration.<br />
<br />
Just like morals, martial arts do not change us for the better, only grant us opportunity to change ourselves, provided we moor training habits to their ethical design. Unless students are compelled to reflect on their inherent moral responsibility, then the training’s potency is diluted from beneficial - virtuous - calibration to mere selfish endeavor. And when training gets selfish, it can grow dark and become twisted, where everyone is a potential enemy, everyone is suspect. Instead of becoming a happier, healthier, more attractive person – a brighter light to the world – we dim, obscured by shadows of our own making.<br />
<br />
This is the biggest concern I have with most training - reliance on techniques is symptomatic of the excessive focus upon the self and the continual satisfaction of the needs of the ego. Perhaps you’ve heard martial arts destroys the ego, but this is silly, people need a healthy ego to thrive in this world. Training is meant to temper the ego, doing so by balancing our desires with humility from our responsibilities for others. Let’s face it, without the obligation to intervene as a protector for self and for others, even if only to call “911” to report someone in need of help, any training we might have cancels itself out.<br />
<br />
<b>Killing Arts?</b><br />
<br />
It’s only through the rose-colored lens of modernity can society by its bounty and ample security could mock and take for granted these once sacred arts, reducing firemaking to a quaint little skill ideal for campers, and the martial arts to the savagery of “ultimate fighting.” Our own self-satisfaction issues the license to degrade martial arts here as amoral - neither ethical or unethical - but simply the cold, hard, inert tool to make easy the utility to win, to harm, to kill. But just what is so exemplary about killing? The fate of the feudal and ancient world was indiscriminate death. People died young, sick, and infirm as they were plagued by plagues, starved, hunted, and massacred between tribes and clans. History’s brutality is legendary. However it is the trained martial ways that could tip that balance, for they could protect and sustain life for those who would otherwise have surely perished in conflict. Is there any question as to why the warrior class would ascend to the preeminent cultural position in every valid society? It is because the warrior was not renowned for their death-dealing, but their life-giving. Death was commonplace. Life was special. <br />
<br />
There are some that wish to deny this intrinsic ethical relationship and would rather rely upon whatever one deems prescriptive for its usage. It is here the pedigree of the martial way is misinterpreted to be mere “killing arts,” which, in effect, unceremoniously diminishes and degrades them by severing the link between martial strategies and their original life-giving principles. The account departs from any sense of responsibility for shared duties to fellow persons and appeals, perhaps unwittingly, to our base appetite for “might makes right,” leaving both practitioner and opponent dehumanized.<br />
<br />
If the guiding value of martial arts were only the “killing of the enemy,” then how does one explain the fact these arts contain, were refined, and were meant to be understood and trained <i>protectively</i>? The arts themselves retain the tactical calculations in order <i>to live</i>, even though killing the enemy may be necessary. Were the guiding value to cultivate only a “killing art” they would have been refined far differently, for it is always easier to kill the enemy and train to kill them when one’s own life and the lives of others are forfeit and sacrificial to that goal. “Suicide bombing” is first and foremost a “killing art,” if art at all, for its guiding values and principles place killing the enemy above the lives of any innocents affected or taken, and even the life of the bomber. Thus, the martial arts must cohere with human nature’s life-preserving instincts - even a killing art of survival is qualified by the value-of-life notion, survival.<br />
<br />
We ourselves by our own assent to depict and participate with a so-called “killing art” will have revoked and falsified the actual moral reasons for necessity and worth of the martial way. Even if we believe in the moral reasons, if we don’t train them, articulate them, and rely upon them, we will have left it to the misinformed uninitiated to use them against us in a court of public opinion, or perhaps an actual court, and even shape any future arguments for the abolition of martial arts altogether. <br />
<br />
<b>Knowing the Ought</b><br />
<br />
Ethics relate to action, but no action can be had if we lack, not simply the will, but an understanding of what makes ethics relevant in the first place. Martial techniques are often thought of as the lifeblood of training, but if we lose the sense of what makes them matter to begin with, then why are we training at all?<br />
<br />
In Gichin Funakoshi’s seminal work, “The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate,” the founder of modern Karate tells a story regarding Tsukahara Bokuden, a famous feudal-age, Japanese swordmaster. As the story goes, a high level student of his with “extraordinary technical skill” passed by a skittish horse that kicked at him. He “deftly turned his body to avoid the kick and escaped injury.” Bystanders were so impressed they related the story to Bokuden himself, who reportedly said, “I’ve misjudged him,” and promptly expelled the student.<br />
<br />
Unable to understand his reasoning the folks set to force Bokuden to react to the same circumstances by placing “an exceedingly ill-tempered horse” on a road they knew he used. Secretly watching, they were surprised to see Bokuden give the horse a wide berth and pass it without incident. Confessing their ruse, the swordmaster said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A person with a mental attitude that allows him to walk carelessly by a horse without considering that it may rear up is a lost cause no matter how much he may study technique. I thought he was a person of better judgment, but I was mistaken.</blockquote>
Funakoshi uses this story as a way to explain “mentality over technique,” but never defines what he means by “mentality” or why it should be “over technique.” I suppose he could mean anything – a certain wherewithal for applying one’s ability or perhaps one’s manner, character, for doing so. What is clear to me from the story is that losing one’s sense of “mentality,” or worse, being willfully ignorant of it, can be life-threatening.<br />
<br />
I submit that “mentality” here actually represents one’s common sense. Bokuden dismissed his student for a simple reason: he was careless with his life. He had lost touch with his own common sense.<br />
<br />
From survivalists, like Tom Brown and Larry Dean Olsen, to Jon “Lofty” Wiseman of British SAS fame, shelter is the priority for survival situations in harsh climates. In essence, this is to position or re-position oneself to endure the situation.<br />
<br />
In terms of training, conflict and violence represent “harsh climate,” thus, positioning is the priority. Sort of. There is something even more important than positioning: knowing you ought to position. "Knowing the ought" means you are not in denial of a situation that can kill you. It means you are “mindful” about what’s at stake and can thus make the decision to act. Any technique of sheltering or martial arts is useless if we are oblivious to, deny, or willfully ignore when it should be used, when it <i>ought </i>to be used. In fact, once we have a clear understanding of ought, we also gain a clear context to apply any technique. This is true of training at all levels and all methods. Reactivating the common sense is how we teach ourselves what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it because we are trying to protect and defend a very clear comprehension of why -<i> why we ought - </i>to be<i> </i>doing it in the first place.<br />
<br />
Reconnection to the common sense provides the context that allows us to intuit the shape of movement and its proportionality. Expanding the palette of training’s options, like different contexts, is to challenge the very perceptions of what we believe martial training is capable of. Expansive training places the burden of use upon us as we try to recognize the requirements that habituate us toward viability, or life-sustaining action.<br />
<br />
These requirements are all meant to calibrate us to that which makes training matter to begin with - the "why" and "why it matters" - our common sense, Natural Law inclinations of survival and self-worth: the Protector Ethic.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-9466725060859060132015-04-09T13:11:00.001-05:002015-04-13T02:52:56.156-05:00No Shock, No Shame, No Circus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This Indiana thing has gotten way out of hand. It's pitting neighbors against one another, being driven by a false narrative of bigotry, and in one case - Memories Pizza - ruined an entire family's business, one that didn't actually <i>do </i>anything, but give their opinion on the matter to an overeager local reporter. In this 2015 dystopia, some labeled that a "thought crime" and threatened to burn them down and murder them all. They were forced to close.<br />
<br />
Universal values are being actively stomped in favor of pure relativism - always a sign of immoral and unethical behavior. Opponents of Indiana's religious freedom law have characterized this as a streetfight between the bigoted and non-bigoted, although which is which is a matter of debate.<br />
<br />
So, let's argue.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxOmBQQna5E9uw8hVwEteJoIYEzd0n3nUi-AcKZpaVqFo-GHznAVvV5tkyXwmEWQ6GpHQr2GyXWpkpiMQku86YHSwt_A5yVay_qyHNLPJBssNBrLhbG1v0w6AMGyHEMyucISJf5FJqH_J/s1600/6a00d8341c011b53ef01156f39ed43970b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxOmBQQna5E9uw8hVwEteJoIYEzd0n3nUi-AcKZpaVqFo-GHznAVvV5tkyXwmEWQ6GpHQr2GyXWpkpiMQku86YHSwt_A5yVay_qyHNLPJBssNBrLhbG1v0w6AMGyHEMyucISJf5FJqH_J/s1600/6a00d8341c011b53ef01156f39ed43970b.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">Think this unreasonable?<br />
It's discrimination.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">See this sign to the right? This sign that we have all seen in every business we have ever gone into ever, ever? This sign represents everything opponents apparently do not want businesses to be able to do. This sign is a discrimi-mongering, value-judgilicious, judgy judgment. A <i>discriminating </i>judgment. This sign represents <i>pure discrimination</i>: if customer expects service from owner, but does so from outside their values, they can refuse. Their values in this case are that shirts and shoes are required for their service to be delivered. But if one has no shirt, and no shoes, the owner may <i>discriminate,</i> and one should not expect their service. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A totally reasonable sign because of its principle: it is universally accepted that business owners can and do make decisions about their business, including whether or not it will be delivered. But apparently, if you do that in Indiana (or 19 others states that have the very same religious freedom law, or any other state under the federal version of the same law) everyone loses their minds. </span><br />
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Let's say a woman walks into a bakery and asks the baker - a devout Christian - to bake a cake. He says, great - I bake cakes every day! Ah, but this cake should say, "Happy Abortion" on it. See this lady is planning to celebrate her abortion la vida loca with friends right after the procedure. So the baker refuses, citing his religious beliefs as to why he must decline service.<br />
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Is his refusal unreasonable?<br />
<br />
Is his refusal immoral or unethical?<br />
<br />
Is he dehumanizing this woman in refusing?<br />
<i><br /></i>
Should declining material support toward an event celebrating such a legal, albeit controversial institution, itself <i>be</i> illegal, involving steep fines and/or possible incarceration by force should those fines not be paid, as potential consequences?<br />
<br />
Should there <i>be </i>financial, social, and emotional bullying of such religious folks, who have never refused service because of <i>who </i>they were dealing with, but exactly <i>what </i>they were being asked to provide support for? <br />
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If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, here's my next one: why? Why is it wrong to refuse service of your business to endeavors antithetical to your value system? I'm not speaking about the law here - state law across the country varies on this issue. I'm talking ethics.<br />
<br />
If you do not believe it unreasonable, immoral or unethical, should be illegal, or subject the baker to copious amounts of bullying for declining to make a "Happy Abortion" cake, then how is refusing to make a gay wedding cake any different? The scenarios are equivalent - both institutions are legal, both are controversial, and many religious folks find them to be antithetical to their value system.<br />
<br />
This "Happy Abortion" scenario is analogical for actual situations occurring around the country involving bakers, florists, and photographers, who have been targeted by activists over their refusal to provide material support for gay marriages. It has resulted in the financial and social bullying of folks by those activists who have sued them as well as state entities that have targeted them for "damages," although the only folks <i>actually</i> being harmed in all this are those being targeted.<br />
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How does being offended and outraged by folks standing for values you hate compare to the <i>actual </i>harm caused to those who are standing for their (unpopular) religious values? Across the country, targeted Christians have been run out of business, fined exorbitant amounts of money, many are facing legal entanglements brought on by well-funded, "witch-hunting" organizations designed for just this purpose. Some have even received death threats - <i>threats of being murdered</i> - no doubt from those that wave the flag of "tolerance," but always seem willing to spear you with the sharp end if you're not quite as "tolerant" as they.<br />
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As Americans, we are free to disagree with folks refusing material support for stuff we think is cool. And in those cases we can vote with our feet and our money. We can also writhe in agony and wretch at the mere thought that some folks might have different values than our own perfect "all inclusive" ones. But you are a dirty, filthy pirate liar if you say you would not invoke (or do not have) the very same right of free association (or <i>dis-</i>association) the First Amendment grants toward anyone asking you to participate in events you personally find to be immoral or unethical.<br />
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Would the outrage and call for consequences be the same if a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/04/07/colorado-double-standard-bakers-should-not-be-forced-to-make-anti-gay-cakes/">gay baker refused to service a pro traditional marriage event?</a> Or a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWIhYAtan4">Muslim baker refused to service a gay wedding?</a> And if not, why not? Just like the "No shoes," sign, these are discriminatory value judgments. They aren't treating everyone the same, they're being selective based upon their values. Businesses do it all the time, usually to favor events and/or clients that pay more, not less - another form of discrimination. When opponents want these people to be summarily prosecuted and burdened just as targeted Christians, maybe then I'll take their outrage seriously.<br />
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Fair-minded people would give passes to the gay and Muslim bakers, citing their personal values as valid reasons for their recusal. We might not all agree with their decisions or their values, but we don't have to. But Christians are not given the very same pass. These targeted folks never refused service <i>because </i>a client was gay - in all of these cases, service was never denied because of a client's identity, they would (and did) happily take their money for services rendered. But because they personally hold religious values that do not support gay marriage. And yes, there's a difference.<br />
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The Cato Institute's Roger Pilon nails it in his piece, <a href="http://www.cato.org/blog/tim-cooks-moral-confusion-intolerance?utm_content=bufferc9c27&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">"Tim Cook's Moral Confusion - and Intolerance</a>" - a short read and well worth it. Pilon challenges Cook, Apple's CEO, who argued against Indiana's law in a Washington Post Op-ed when he invoked the founding values of the Declaration of Independence - freedom and equality. Pilon responds:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Rightly understood, (freedom and equality) hold that we’re all born free, with equal rights to remain free. That means—to cut to the chase—that we may associate with anyone who wishes to associate with us; but we are equally free to decline to associate with others, for any reason, good or bad, or no reason at all. That right to discriminate is the very essence of freedom. That’s why people came to this country, to escape forced associations—religious, economic, political, or otherwise. Cook turns those principles on their head. He says religious freedom bills “rationalize injustice” by, for example, allowing a baker to decline to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. He would compel the baker to accept that request, by force of law. That’s the very opposite of the freedom of association—the right to be left alone—that the nation was founded on.</blockquote>
Freedom and equality are mutually exclusive concepts, but protect each other, as our founders discovered. We are all born equal as innocent human beings, and should be treated respectfully. As a universal value that means no one has the right to take advantage, harm, or kill us for their own relative concerns. Freedom is the liberty to pursue whichever relative concerns one finds valuable, provided they do not violate our universal equality respecting our value of life.<br />
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I personally believe all people should be treated equally. I'm certain opponents believe the same. I believe in freedom. I'm certain opponents believe the same. So why is anyone arguing? Simple: opponents have re-defined equality from "equality of life," to "equality of outcome," meaning everyone must receive the very same <i>results </i>no matter what they want, who they want it from, or what values they conflict with. To decline is labeled bigotry.<br />
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Clearly this is true to some who have threatened death (violation of equality of life) in favor of their relative concern (equality of outcome). But when equality is re-defined from a universal to a relative value, it becomes just another arbitrary concern competing with other people's concerns. It inevitably causes conflict by violating people's liberty if they cannot side with their own values when they conflict with other's values. Without equality defined universally, we cannot enjoy our relative freedom. If someone compels us to something we would not voluntarily do, and coerces and forces us to action against our values - values that are not in violation of equality of life - then we are being taken advantage of. And if we are being taken advantage of, we are certainly not being treated as equal human beings.<br />
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Would opponents rather have an oppressive version of equality? One that labels outrage a criminal offense, than <i>both </i>equality and freedom, that protects life and engenders liberty, that has always pissed off somebody, but makes America, well, America. In this country, no one has a right <i>not </i>to be offended - criminalizing offense would contradict a free people's liberty, destroying the right to hold any personal values valuable, crushing freedom altogether. There are countries where folks <i>do </i>have rights not to be offended: Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, any number of Middle Eastern countries, or despotic African ones. You could be arrested and imprisoned or executed simply for holding views or values that offend the state.<br />
<br />
Then again, opponents may get exactly that. In 2013, Justice Richard C. Bosson, of the New Mexico Supreme Court, upheld a decision against Christian photographers who refused to shoot a same-sex wedding, writing that forcing them to give up their religious convictions was acceptable as "the price of citizenship." This judge required private citizens to give up their beliefs and values for the state - exactly what Tim Cook apparently wants. Cook is the same guy that has blocked certain Christian apps in his iTunes store he finds offensive, and still does business with countries that execute folks for being gay. Cook himself is gay. And now I will invent a word that combines "irony" with "hypocrisy," that I shall call, "ironcrisy."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">"I prefer the tumult of liberty,<br />
to the quiet of servitude."</td></tr>
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Targeting Christians simply because their personal values differ from yours <i>is</i> unethical when it results in their direct, actual harm. The moment we believe our own offense and outrage gives us the moral license to treat others like shit, let alone actually cause harm to them, we lose the argument.<br />
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This is not at all about treating everyone equally, it's about treating Christians <i>differently. </i>People causing harm to these folks are doing to them exactly what they are professing Christians are doing to gays - <i>bigotedly </i><i>discriminating against them for who they are.</i><br />
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Funny. That's the very thing many were so upset about in the first place.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986698317060394072.post-85741780152206885982015-04-02T11:12:00.001-05:002015-04-02T11:12:11.212-05:00Website_Training_Inquiry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>I practice bujinkan and will be in Chicago next week for a few days and would love to come by and train while in town. I wanted to get permission before showing up.</i><br />
<i>Thank you.</i><br />
<i>All the best</i><br />
<i>"John"</i><br />
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Hi "John,"<br />
<br />
Thanks for the email. It's probably okay if you stop by - I appreciate you asking permission - but a couple things first.<br />
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Normally, if someone wrote me an email like yours, but was not already apart of the Bujinkan like you say you are, I'd simply delete it - with no full name, no bio, and no introduction, it'd be gone.<br />
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If I were trying to visit another dojo and a new teacher, one I had had no contact with before, I'd first introduce myself. I'd give my name, where I'm from, and who I train with. I'd link to my teacher's email, just in case my potential new friends wanted to contact my teacher to see if I'm in good standing. I'd also give a short biography of myself, or link the email to a website that contains my bio. In other words, I'd be fully transparent.<br />
<br />
The fact you have not done this may not say anything bad about you - perhaps you are just used to casual messaging. I assume you are. But you ought to be aware that not everyone is used to that kind of familiarity, especially when it comes to new folks seeking training. Teachers tend to be guarded about who comes by and why.<br />
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You may think this all silly, or an imposition on you, and that's fine. I'm not trying to be rude or embarrass you, maybe no one ever instructed you on this protocol. I'm simply out to protect my students and myself (and even you) from situations that might not have our best interests at heart. I like to vet people before they visit - it's like this thing that I and just about everyone else I know does.<br />
<br />
So, if you're still interested, you are more than welcome to send an introduction. In fact, I encourage you to. Let's chalk this one up as a first try, and then let's try again.<br />
<br />
I and my folks are always interested in meeting new people and sharing training with them. And if this doesn't interest you, no hard feelings.<br />
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May the best of luck be with you,<br />
<br />
James Morganelli<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">KOSSHI
Divine Warrior Arts of the
Bujinkan Shingitai-Ichi Dojo</div>James Morganellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02416518974082951352noreply@blogger.com1