Karate Talk

Jet Li's Fearless

The discussion topic for the week is obviously philosophy!  I've talked about Master Okazaki's new book, and have been posting up his thoughts on the dojo kun.  I wanted to keep those posts separate and discrete, so I made this one its own being even though I feel it fits so nicely in with all the rest!

We went to see the movie "Jet Li's Fearless" yesterday, and I have to say I loved it.  Not just for the fun fighting scenes, which are always reliable in a Jet Li movie, but also for the philosophy that the movie tries to impart.  Just as the movie "Hero" tried to point out that there are many different perspectives of looking at a situation, and many different reasons for fighting, and also emphasized that you have to weigh the decision to enter into combat carefully, even so does "Fearless" attempt to impart this deeper perspective.  "Fearless" tells the (more or less) true story of Huo Yuanjia, a Chinese hero whose fighting skills helped to restore the pride of the nation at a time when they were being beaten down.  It's also the story of one man's personal journey from youth through arrogance and irresponsibility, through personal tragedy and into maturity.

Not everyone will like the movie, obviously.  One part I particularly loved did nothing for a friend of mine, who said "it got really slow in the middle"!  He wanted the fight scenes and found the personal growth section dull, I loved it all.  But that's just me.

I find it interesting that this is Jet Li's last martial arts action film.  Rumor has it he's been trying to move beyond them for several years now, and he has declared that this is it.  This movie was filmed when he was 42, about a Chinese fighting master who died at age 42.  He's at a point in his career when he's moving beyond pure fighting and trying hard to express deeper or greater meaning beyond the combat itself, just as Huo Yuanjia in his maturity had learned that the glory of the fight was not what it was all about.  The parallels are unmistakable and I'm quite sure that Jet Li himself was well aware of them throughout the journey of making the movie.  Since I got so much more than just fun fight scenes from the movie (the scene taking tea with the Japanese swordsman was absolutely wonderful), I hope that others can as well.

Sort of the same way I feel about the deeper aspects of karate  :-).

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part III

ENDEAVOR

Hitotsu!  Doryoku no seishin o yashinau koto

Try hard at everything you do.  No matter what you are doing, whether it's training, working, having a relationship, give it one hundred percent.  To do anything else is to cheat yourself and others.  If you don't endeavor, you are not being faithful, and you are not trying to seek perfection of character.

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part II

BE FAITHFUL

Hitotsu!  Makoto no michi o mamoru koto

Be sincere in everything you do.  Make a total effort, all the time.  This not only means to be faithful to other people, to your obligations -- but to be faithful to yourself, in doing your best in everything you do.  When you are faithful to yourself, others will have faith in you.  This creates mutual trust between people.  Being faithful to yourself is essential to realizing the first goal of being the best person you can be.

Dojo Kun Philosophy, Part I

A couple of years ago, we were given a copy of the dojo kun which included some of Master Okazaki's thoughts.  In keeping with his book coming out, I thought I'd post up one per day for the next few days.  Hopefully this will give people something to think about, plus be a bit of a preview for the book itself.  For those who train in very different styles or schools to mine, it will probably give you some insight into some of my feelings and how I approach training.  They might also find, to their surprise, that they include more philosophy in their approach than they realize!

SEEK PERFECTION OF CHARACTER

Hitotsu!  Jinkaku kansei ni tsutomuru koto

This is the ultimate goal of karate.  The other four aspects of the dojo kun tell us what it means to seek perfection of character.  But this is the most important thing.  We seek perfection of character from the inside out.  It is something we should do every day of our lives.

New Book By Master Okazaki

Master Okazaki has written a new book which is due out for release at the end of October, to be entitled:  "Perfection of Character - Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life".  It is described as a book about the dojo kun and the niju kun, as interpreted by Master Okazaki.

I'm really looking forward to reading this, and our dojo is planning to pre-order a number of copies because so many people have expressed interest.  Anyone who reads this blog will know that I spend a lot of time pondering the ramifications of karate training far above and beyond the physical, beyond the obvious practical real-world applications.  When I've had the privilege of training with Master Okazaki, I've always appreciated hearing his insights into some of the personal struggles and the greater meanings of martial arts, so I anticipate really enjoying hearing him expound on this at length, based on his 50+ years in karate.

A quote from the book:

"Karate practitioners and other martial artists must know that the martial arts are about more than physical development, self-defense, and competition; most importantly, they are about continually striving to perfect one's character."

My character, so flawed!  In so many ways, in dojo or out of it.  Lately I've been tired and grumpy, I've had the cold from hell which is taking me ages to shake off, my best friend's dad died and everything that surrounds such an event was as always so stressful, I've been trying to find the energy to tidy things up and get my act together but keep crashing and burning, leaving much undone and making me even grumpier.  I haven't wanted to train because I'm tired, dammit, I can barely make it through class and I ache for a couple of days afterwards, because I'm still weak.  I've gone anyway, but I've had a few rebellious thoughts during training ("I don't WANT to do five more of those and this IS full speed for me right now!") and definitely been whiny afterwards.  I'd like to think I've still managed to give my all and kept a game face on, but it's cost me dearly. 

Is it worth it?  Why not just stay home if I'm tired and sick?  Why push myself past what I can do?  Why let people order me around?  Why let someone tell me I'm doing something wrong when I know (oh yes, I know!) that I'm right?

Character, and the perfection thereof.  Does karate help build character?  Oh hell yes, if you let it.  I have left the dojo in tears, exhausted, furious, frustrated, discouraged.  I've been rebellious, I've been hurt physically and mentally, I've felt humiliated and I've definitely felt impatient.  I have felt fear many times, fear that I'd get hurt, fear that I'd make an ass of myself.  I've had people outside martial arts ask why I put myself through that for a hobby, and my answer is that this is not just a hobby.  It is karate-do, a path through life that is hopefully making me a stronger and better person, starting with the physical and using the physical as the means of accessing greater and deeper places within me. 

Is it working?  Sometimes I don't think do, when I pout all the way home from a training, or a tournament, or a test, feeling victimized and frustrated, and realizing that I'm acting like a 5-year-old who needs a nap (which doesn't help the situation).  But I keep going back, not because I'm masochistic, but because at the bottom of my anger or embarrassment there is a chance to do something better, something to work on from which I can get a real result if I really try.