artofwar – Intuitive Martial Arts

“Disciples should not be preoccupied with their own faults or those of others. When they study someone, they should seek out the good within him. The good lies deep within, and must be found.”
Peter Deunov

How do you become strong, powerful, and dynamic without descending into chaos and violence? How do you live an intense life, without being destroyed or going too far as so many have? These are some of the most profound questions that Martial arts Masters and philosophers have grappled with for centuries. Some such Masters understood that by giving themselves over to violence and chaos, which may seem pleasurable, an individual eventually develops their worst tendencies within, and to top it all off: self deception to justify such behaviour.

Many fighters strut about with an arrogant attitude towards others, even when no one is being hostile to them. This belligenerant attitude is often developed as a protective shell. It is is aimed towards others, as a means of warding off opponents, but actually ends up developing the very antagonism in others that they work so hard to fight. It’s a case of the old general who always fighting the last war. In other words the aggression seen in others, directed towards us, is often a result of our behaviour, a reflection, rather than a separate constituent part of the process. Put differently, people are aggressive towards us because we are at the same time aggressive towards them. Aggressive behaviour, then, must be combated at the source: Ourselves.

Many instructors will tell a young student “You simply do such and such a move to overcome an attacker”. And that’s the end of it. However, many people want to learn to overcome their sense of inferiority, not simply react against an antagonist to feel tough. However, It is often this sense of inferiority that is displaced onto other individuals rather than dealt with properly. Soon the supercharged ego, fueled by winning at all costs, finds enemies everywhere. When one opponent disappears another quickly takes their place in the form of somebody looking at them the wrong way, or chatting up their girlfriend, or whatever. Then you will have a horrible inner monster to contend with. This is the real enemy, and the battle against this is the very definition of “inner martial arts”.

By feeding kill or be killed attitude many fighters end up becoming the very thing they despise, because there is a certain reciprocal relationship between the antagonist and the antagonised. They both relate to each other on the same level and need each other. This is why when a bully is stood up to, the one who was bullied by them often fills the vacuum created: By becoming the bully themselves and finding a victim. “Those that lie down with Dogs get fleas”. In other words, don’t descend to this level.

The thing the bully and the victim share in common is that they both define others and themselves as either winners or losers in some narrow sense of a particular outcome. In martial arts the aim is to turn a loser into a winner. But the one can’t exist without the other, and they often gain all their confidence from relegating others around them to a lower position. In doing so, they work at this lower level themselves and get stuck there. Sometimes I get the impression that this is their only goal. If they really are determined to see it that way, let them go ahead, but a true fighter does not fight the enemy on their home turf by sinking to their level. You might say “I was told never to back down, and to always make the first move”. Yes that’s true, but move to a higher level and from that vantage point do your worst.

Doing away with others never puts anything right, inward disorder and chaos still continue long after the opponent has been defeated. You are better off avoiding those determined to be physical aggressors as a means of developing positive forces and energy. That is why The famous swordsman Yagyu Munenori said “What is gained or lost by winning of losing is trifling…It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil”. Because by destroying others with violence you create evil, an inner chaos. However, by saving them, in other words diffusing the situation, you destroy evil. This is the higher goal of Martial arts, an ideal if you like, that you will never find lacks opportunity for its practice. In fact, this is the only real goal of martial arts so why consider all kinds of contradictory notions? I know there are some rare occasions where fighting can’t be avoided but I’m not interested in that because generally speaking it can be.

So what I am saying is you should transform your oppositions attitude towards you by your gestures, expressions, bearing, energy, and attitude. That is why so many Masters of Tai Chi in the old days spent all their time practicing harmonious movements. By using these potent weapons properly you will transform opponents, and you are perfectly within your rights to use them whenever you like. This is work worthy of the highest esteem. These are the weapons I recommend cultivating principally unless you want others to despise you. Yes, because it is in your power to influence the behaviour of others for better or worse.

The method of harmony, fighting without fighting, also works on your self against emotional strain and trauma, often brought about by endless petty struggles of the kind you’re better off without. Unfortunately, this idea lacks any kind of a tough guy imagery associated with “the fight game” and therefore people lose respect for you. Instead, in the market place, you’ve got to pull the wool over peoples eyes with emphasis on certain styles and slogans. Yes, then you are a force to be reckoned with, a somebody. A simple philosophy of sacrifice and hard work is too “simplistic”. However, sacrifice, that is gaining something greater than winning in the narrow sense, allows for peace of mind against all that life throws at you. But if you go around with this philosophy people take zero interest in what you have to say and look at you like you’re a man from Mars.

Personally, knowing I could do some serious damage with a punch, that’s enough for me, I choose not to do it. There is no need to have a death wish by becoming a martyr for some cause, a hero that is unbearable to others in the impression he gives off. That is often what the self destructive attitude is about: A secret wish for defeat, and end to the constant challenges life throws at us. Once you have gotten over this obstacle, which should overcome on the path to truth, why go over it again and again? Why not see the challenges within instead, they are far more high stakes and numerous.

Most fighters think they have to show the other guy who’s boss. To them, fighting means possibly getting maimed or crippled, or becoming mentally unwell, living this way even, and that’s just the way it is. Either that, or the other guy may suffer the same, it’s 50/50. Personally, I have no desire to be limited and victimised by this stupid attitude, I’d rather put an opponents aggression to sleep at a distance. That is the true meaning of “fighting without fighting” or the so called “esoteric energies” of the ancient spiritual arts. You must not think of their powers in the literal sense2. No, it is not a case of taking some potion made by a tribal leader, or receiving the blessing of some sage to gain supernatural powers. Nor is developing a tough “iron skin” a literal phenomenon. Has anyone ever explained this to you?

Of course nobody ever thinks that there might be some truth to these legends, symbolically speaking. You might say “That’s a load of rubbish, where are you getting this from?” On the contrary, enchanting someone under a spell or getting rid of them from a great distance of “10,000 leagues away” as detailed in the Art of War by Sun Tzu, simply means destroying their efforts before they are close enough to do harm. This is the the real art1.

You must simply ask yourself: What is the best way of ridding myself of antagonists so I can get on with the real work of living? It is that simple. You will then be able to synchronise your thoughts to all situations, because they require peaceful settlement. If a Country goes to war they cannot at the same time advance their civilization optimally. However, if they go about diplomatically defusing situations they can then get on with proper work. It is only when Countries become Barbaric that they thirst for war rather than advancement. So you have to convert the thirst for war against individuals into a thirst for war against evil. There is then coherence in everything you do, because you then have one goal, rather than dividing your forces towards war and then trying to build on top of the ashes.

Just look at how people are hypnotised or seduced into wasting their money on all sorts of rubbish, no one would have any trouble denying these modern day “dark arts”. In the same way they are goaded into battles they don’t want. This is the lower self talking, the instinctive and reactive vestige of the past2. At the moment many people are content to give into these tendencies without using will power3, as if it was the norm. Be under no illusion, if you don’t use will power to think well of others, yourself, and your own future progress, you will be as susceptible as anyone else to despair and chaos.

Everyone knows the benefits of positive thinking, so why not apply it to what most people consider negative things by seeing the best elements? The more you do this the more perceptible you will become in making something out of apparently nothing. You can’t count on your physical skills, or even on your mental toughness, because simply exchanging punches with some maniac is always a 50/50 game, as Steve Morris often points out.

References

1 See Signs and synbols in Martial Arts Part 2 https://harmanater.com/2020/06/06/signs-and-symbols-part-2-pedagogy-and-the-art-of-war/

2 See The higher and Lower self in martial arts https://harmanater.com/2020/05/04/the-higher-and-lower-self-in-martial-arts/

3 See Will Power https://harmanater.com/2020/05/10/will-power/

The ancient teachers and Masters of old used pedagogic methods involving metaphor and symbolic explanations. In Martial arts you have examples such as “Tiger” or “Dragon” style Kung Fu. For example the dragon metaphor is just another way of saying “Remain poised, vigilant, and dart in from all angles, waiting and stalking”. However, there are many interpretations and applications of the universal Snake symbol, which is known to provoke powerful imagery in the mind. Steve Morris suggests viewing the knife in the hand of an attacker as if it were a snake, to provoke the sense of urgency and danger required of a fight. In symbolism, most of the ancient examples are all quite obscure and impossible to understand if taken literally, and why this is so will become apparent in a moment.

Using the example of the dragon, or serpent, the disciple must shed their skin from time to time, that is, their old prejudices and ignorance. This takes time and happens many times for evolution to take place. All those who fail to make this effort remain at a lower level of evolution. Of course it’s tempting not to bother and stay in the same old familiar skin, but you must contemplate the new skin that awaits you in the form of a greater image. It all starts in the mind, and later takes physical form. Throughout history, man has had to make great efforts to do this in one direction or another.

Yet another illustration of the serpent is the Egyptian symbol of the snake eating its own tail. This means that the disciple must eat, symbolically speaking, their base motivations and passions represented by the tail, with the higher region, that is, brain represented by the serpents head. Another illustration of this was the Egyptian staff that showed two serpants wrapped around each other, representing the higher and lower self: that is the instincts and intelligence, married as one. Only then can disciples master themselves and direct their own forces at will, and move beyond good and evil1. Even ordinary marriage of two people is symbolic of something else.

Of course, this universal language of symbolism is necessary. Because then the disciple can carry about with him an internal method of reflection which requires no external teacher. This is the secret of internal teachings. Moves are not explicitly taught because they must emerge from a foundation. This is how children learn to walk, talk, etc., by watching little animals jumping around, animals who symbolise, in exaggerated form, some form of truth. The disciple must become a child once again, this time to their own intelligence, to learn more important truths later in life, often using the very same symbols they were brought up on in childhood.

Of course there have been endless foolish debates about whether mimicking a tiger or a dragon is effective, but this is besides the point. It seems that these images were invoked to make a powerful impression on the mind, and to teach complex movements by first using some familiar concept. This is an interesting point because this shows that the old Masters had knowledge about how the student can understand something abstract, like a mechanical fighting form, by first working through existing knowledge. In other words it’s always more effective to learn using metaphors and building on existing knowledge and experience.

Of course the situation is very different today, instruction is often devoid of meaning and highly unimaginative. Perhaps you are wondering if the advantages of the internal method are really any good. Yes, they are. By focusing on meaningful symbols, this encourages a creative energy that raises your imagination to its heights. Channeling ones energies is the real goal, to live an intense life whatever you are doing. Beating an opponent will never do this, even if you beat everybody. In this way, even the least gifted athlete can benefit and over time become a great martial artist in the wider sense. This is why I recommended mediating on these subjects for at least a few minutes everyday, and if you can do it for hours, then so much the better.

The process of inner focus triggers motivation from within, rather than from some meaningless external source, such as winning a contest or obtaining a certificate. To be fair, these are not meaningless in themselves, but the point is that vast quantities of these possessions and skills they are often obtained at the expense of quality. The problem is that many people are encouraged to switch off from the thought process entirely, with promises of learning some kind of self defence system within days. They will learn these skills, but their consciousness will have had nothing to do with it. Of course, thought take time and effort, but many people are unwilling to bother on the basis that they don’t get immediate results. Why? One reason is the pursuit of tangible or material results.

The old Masters were keen to put forward systems which neither individuals nor styles were able to refute. A higher Method. Because certain technical points differ from one school of thought to the next, you cannot eternalise a style in physical form. For example, one coach might says to punch from distance, and another might says to fight “inside” at close quarters. There is no point in debating which of these is right or wrong because these are just peripheral details which fluctuate with the times and depend on so many different situations. They often come down to matters opinion, as if an individual were able to refute the process by which we learn. However, you can instead use a metaphor which illustrates a universal point. This is why I don’t advocating learning from some organised system, instead you are better off relying on a method without form.

Take the saying “If the General be skillful, the spirit of his troops is as the impetus of a round stone rolled from the top of a high Mountain” from the Art of War2. In the language of symbols a mountain means from up high, which is where you must aim even though you might fall over, or overheat on the way up. Yes, there are many trials awaiting us before we reach the summit. A stone represents something which rotation occurs around an axis. This could be taken to mean “Sharply drop your centre of gravity into a strike” or “view things from the perspective of higher reason, with the use of natural forces”. It could also mean, in management of people “The leader does not gravitate around the troops, he keeps his distance so his followers are drawn to him. He is careful to not to be drawn to their level”. There are many more explanations of this simple sentence: use your imagination, that’s the whole point!

Even without knowing what they mean, you can begin to contemplate symbolic language and metaphors. This ignites the whole process. Because symbols apply to so many fields and on all levels, they must be kept deliberately obscure and simple. And this only increases their meditative value. Meditation begins by choosing a subject and contemplating it. Soon, the meaningful image you have conjured up quite naturally focuses your concentration. Then, eventually, eventually relate to it. Let’s look at some other examples of this phenomenon taken from the art of War, a classic text on Warfare.

Sun Tzu said “When the fire is at its height, attack or not as opportunity may arise”. This can be interpreted to mean “When the enemy has given themselves over to disorder, they will have lost their ambition and drive”. Equally it can be interpreted as “When you have channeled your inner fires, use them, or if they threaten to destroy you because you have been seized by chaos, then don’t”. But once again, it is not necessary to know the moves in martial arts to begin working with these methods. Some sayings and proverbs have such an impression on the mind that they provide enough motivation to run with them and teach yourself. It is not a question of their literal validity. And with enough motivation it is mathematically certain that you will succeed in your goals, using such symbols as an impetus for learning.

“War should not be undertaken because the Lord is in a moment of passion” Said Sun Tzu. Now many people have interpreted this to mean that there should be no passion behind practice, that their should be a void. But in fact, meaningful action is not possible without passion. Instead this statement can be interpreted to mean “If you are overwhelmed by your pure instincts, which have not been channelled by reason into power, then you will burn yourself”. Truth be told, many athletes, fighters, and other people, have never really wanted to channel their energies into something higher because they remain convinced that they would be unhappy. And for this reason it is impossible for many to see any truth in books like the Art of war.

The concept of Maya in Hindu Philosophy teaches us that what is immediately apparent is often and illusion. And that behind strength lies weakness. These deceptions are what the enemy uses to gain power over you. For example, Sun Tzu said “the Causes of defeat come from within. Victory is born in the enemies camp”. From this it is apparent that our own inner forces are liable to deception3. To overcome this, Sun Tzu said “the skillful in attack push to the topmost Heaven”. This is just another way of saying that the skillful fighter relates to a high ideal and channels his instinctual energies towards it. He notices the chaos around him, but like a laser focuses on the good.

Now the Chinese Divided Heaven into 9 levels. Similarly, the Yogis divided the self into 9 regions, or Chakras, the highest being at the top of the head. The highest point represents the high ideal, in other words perfection. Only by devoting all of ones energies to the highest form of motivation, rather than petty considerations such as ease and comfort (represented by the lower planes), can the fighter ensure intense vigilance and focus. Notice how, in the language of symbols, perfection is born from a foundation containing ignorance, or if you like the snake eats its own tail. This is what the fighter must aim towards: Perfection even if he falls very wide of the mark. Perfection is what inspires. The more powerful the symbol the greater impression it makes on the mind. Always use symbols and metaphors.

References

1 See Will Power https://harmanater.com/2020/05/10/will-power/

2 From The art of War by Sun Tzu

3 See The Higher and Lower Self in Martial arts https://harmanater.com/2020/05/04/the-higher-and-lower-self-in-martial-arts/

Tag: artofwar

Self Defence without Violence

Signs and Symbols Part 2: Pedagogy, and the Art of War