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Voice of the Fox
The Newsletter of the Martial Arts Training ServiceMartial Arts as Metaphor, or . . .
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Getting Choked
by Jim Wheeler
Winter 1999We move through the world in a narrow groove, preoccupied with the petty things we see and hear, brooding over prejudices, passing by the joys of life without even knowing that we have missed anything. Never for a moment do we taste the heady wine of freedom. We are as truly imprisoned as if we lay at the bottom of a dungeon, heaped with chains.
YANG CHU, FOURTH CENTURY BCE CHINESE PHILOSOPHERWhy study jujitsu? There are more immediate (and less painful) forms of gratification. Television, money, movies, alcohol, drugs, cars, clothes, more money, etc. But those less painful forms of gratification tend to be short lived and an escape from life. Jujitsu teaches me to see things more clearly and has a long-term profound influence on how I approach the world.
Some of the initial benefits of studying martial arts are better physical health (this ain't bowling), an awareness of your body's functionality (such as learning how to take falls) and a way to relieve stress. These are all positive benefits, yet there are also other, less-obvious benefits that are ultimately (I believe) more fulfilling.
In the course of one class I will typically experience the joy of learning something new, even if it is merely turning my wrist slightly to make a technique more effective. I will experience frustration as, no matter how much I try to apply a technique, I cannot seem to make it work. And more commonly I will experience something in between—learning or teaching something new and at the same time not being able to quite "get it."
Then there are those dark day when nothing seems to work correctly. No matter what technique I try, it just does not flow. It becomes jerky and awkward. But out of this can come the less-obvious benefits of martial arts training: patience, diligence, and humility. These days serve as a reminder to me to keep my ego in check. Something worth learning does not always come easily and is not always fun.
Once in a while, although it does not happen very often or last for very long since I am only a beginner, I feel I have reached another level. It's a feeling that has to be experienced and cannot be completely explained. Suddenly everything is moving in agreement. The technique I am practicing flows without effort. For a brief moment time is suspended. Nothing matters, nothing is relevant. My legs, my arms, my head, my torso are all moving in concert. Everything is coming into sharp focus. I am moving in harmony, and it all happens on its own. I am not thinking about it. I am not instructing my body. I am only a spectator. Then that specific moment has passed, but it has also left something behind and changed me slightly. It has brought the world into focus a little more. My mind is quieter and things make a bit more sense.
I started to compete in judo tournaments to apply the techniques I was learning and see if they worked. I found the adrenaline rush of competition enjoyable. But my focus started to shift. During practice, I was becoming more concerned about developing skills to defeat an opponent during a contest. My training was becoming a competition with others or a vehicle to feed my ego. I was no longer training for the sake of mastering a skill. For me, this is not the reason I want to study jujitsu. So I returned to studying jujitsu without the goal of defeating somebody in a contest.
I don't think it ultimately matters whether you study jujitsu, aikido, flower arranging or juggling. If you study an art in depth, the subject itself becomes irrelevant. It is the process itself that causes you to change and opens your mind to your own possibilities, that makes you see the world in a positive light.
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