I'm not really qualified to comment Tim but I did enjoy your fluid attitude to various disciplines - and in my short time with you and a few years after it enabled me to have the confidence to also enjoy Goju-Ryu and Ju Jitsu. Am enjoying reading your articles, thanks for taking the time to write them.
Another fantastic initiative Tim, this piece in the form of a 'socratic' dialogue between Mr Vernooy and yourself. This is a very good method of getting straight to the heart of something as complicated as the Eastern concept of budo forms. Before I comment further on this, the following remarks have to be made:
I do not really know Mr Vernooy personally, yet we have crossed paths many times at Wado seminars in GB and the Netherlands. To my surprise, I learn here that he has the publication "From the road to the street" on his asset. As a philosophically interested person, I did not hesitate and ordered it immediately.
Furthermore, you make mention of Karen Armstrong's book "The Great Transformation". This is indeed a valuable work in view that at a certain point in global world history, a paradigm shift occurred in the field of religion with a remarkable uniform metaphysical pattern. That Mr Vernooy describes this as 'convergent evolution’, is a fact I fully concur with.
Anyway, I think that the various moral systems that emerged from this convergence also have very many shared values and that it should not be a problem to arrive at a universal definition of Budo in this way. That it is not an easy task, however, is certain. Even within Japanese 'budo culture', there are considerable differences in the overarching ideology or metaphysics of the various disciplines (I deliberately do not use the word 'politics' here, as I consider it to be the mere organisational aspect of a community form, an organisation or school in order to function well).
It is more than significant that the kanji Bu 武 (in budo 武道) stands for: 'the "cessation of warfare" or outright “no war" so to speak.
Can we conclude from this that we are dealing with a pacifist attitude? I think not.
As in Chinese Wushu 武術, hanzi Wu (武) also stands for identical meaning: no war. Both Budo and Wushu do WELL assume that 'martial manners' can be employed as self-defence, as preservation say of personal integrity in precarious situations. Taoist-inspired martial arts take this even further by stating that preserving and improving health is an important part of martial arts. (This goes some way against the more rigorous approach of some 'hard' martial arts that have total 'self' expenditure as an idea -but this aside).
How different disciplines within the martial arts apply these norms depends on specific schools or even individual views on how an individual can or may resist in acts of self-preservation. As an illustration, here is how my first sensei saw 'metaphysics' of Wado Ryu and in which spirits he taught these: “It is often said that the WADO-RYU style appears less powerful than that of other more aggressive schools. This characteristic does not always play against WADO-RYU, if one considers the strategy side in martial arts. On the other hand, there is a serious problem if the WADO-RYU practitioner himself feels it in his own inferior. One reason for this characteristic of WADO-RYU is that, from the beginning of the initiation, dodging techniques are studied, instead of taking advantage of strength and physical fitness. This does not mean that we have nothing to do with aggression: on the contrary, all martial arts must be exercised by positive or aggressive attitude: even in training, and even in real fights. I would like to present to you here five attitudes of combat mentality, in Karate. Don't think that this or that attitude is better or worse; The choice of one of the five attitudes depends on the relationship between you and your opponent, or your character.” You are invited to learn more on this true blooded, but sadly late budo man, on which following site is dedicated: https://wado-kamigaito-ryu.be/en/about-this-site/
This is written in haste so I can't react to everything you're saying. However, I would like to debunk the myth that the kanji 'bu' stands for 'the cessation of warfare' or 'stopping the spear'. This is the so-called 'hokodome' interpretation, which has been refuted by present-day linguists. According to them the original Chinese hanzi for 'wu' originated in a time when the country was rife with warfare and 'advancing with a spear' is a more correct translation. So indeed, no pacifism there.
I'm not really qualified to comment Tim but I did enjoy your fluid attitude to various disciplines - and in my short time with you and a few years after it enabled me to have the confidence to also enjoy Goju-Ryu and Ju Jitsu. Am enjoying reading your articles, thanks for taking the time to write them.
Thanks Chris,
There's more to come. Please share and recommend to anyone you know who might have an interest.
Another fantastic initiative Tim, this piece in the form of a 'socratic' dialogue between Mr Vernooy and yourself. This is a very good method of getting straight to the heart of something as complicated as the Eastern concept of budo forms. Before I comment further on this, the following remarks have to be made:
I do not really know Mr Vernooy personally, yet we have crossed paths many times at Wado seminars in GB and the Netherlands. To my surprise, I learn here that he has the publication "From the road to the street" on his asset. As a philosophically interested person, I did not hesitate and ordered it immediately.
Furthermore, you make mention of Karen Armstrong's book "The Great Transformation". This is indeed a valuable work in view that at a certain point in global world history, a paradigm shift occurred in the field of religion with a remarkable uniform metaphysical pattern. That Mr Vernooy describes this as 'convergent evolution’, is a fact I fully concur with.
Anyway, I think that the various moral systems that emerged from this convergence also have very many shared values and that it should not be a problem to arrive at a universal definition of Budo in this way. That it is not an easy task, however, is certain. Even within Japanese 'budo culture', there are considerable differences in the overarching ideology or metaphysics of the various disciplines (I deliberately do not use the word 'politics' here, as I consider it to be the mere organisational aspect of a community form, an organisation or school in order to function well).
It is more than significant that the kanji Bu 武 (in budo 武道) stands for: 'the "cessation of warfare" or outright “no war" so to speak.
Can we conclude from this that we are dealing with a pacifist attitude? I think not.
As in Chinese Wushu 武術, hanzi Wu (武) also stands for identical meaning: no war. Both Budo and Wushu do WELL assume that 'martial manners' can be employed as self-defence, as preservation say of personal integrity in precarious situations. Taoist-inspired martial arts take this even further by stating that preserving and improving health is an important part of martial arts. (This goes some way against the more rigorous approach of some 'hard' martial arts that have total 'self' expenditure as an idea -but this aside).
How different disciplines within the martial arts apply these norms depends on specific schools or even individual views on how an individual can or may resist in acts of self-preservation. As an illustration, here is how my first sensei saw 'metaphysics' of Wado Ryu and in which spirits he taught these: “It is often said that the WADO-RYU style appears less powerful than that of other more aggressive schools. This characteristic does not always play against WADO-RYU, if one considers the strategy side in martial arts. On the other hand, there is a serious problem if the WADO-RYU practitioner himself feels it in his own inferior. One reason for this characteristic of WADO-RYU is that, from the beginning of the initiation, dodging techniques are studied, instead of taking advantage of strength and physical fitness. This does not mean that we have nothing to do with aggression: on the contrary, all martial arts must be exercised by positive or aggressive attitude: even in training, and even in real fights. I would like to present to you here five attitudes of combat mentality, in Karate. Don't think that this or that attitude is better or worse; The choice of one of the five attitudes depends on the relationship between you and your opponent, or your character.” You are invited to learn more on this true blooded, but sadly late budo man, on which following site is dedicated: https://wado-kamigaito-ryu.be/en/about-this-site/
Hi Jan,
This is written in haste so I can't react to everything you're saying. However, I would like to debunk the myth that the kanji 'bu' stands for 'the cessation of warfare' or 'stopping the spear'. This is the so-called 'hokodome' interpretation, which has been refuted by present-day linguists. According to them the original Chinese hanzi for 'wu' originated in a time when the country was rife with warfare and 'advancing with a spear' is a more correct translation. So indeed, no pacifism there.