Tag: equilibrium

The Hara Centre

Posted on Last updated on by joeharman8 | 8 min read | 281 views

The Hara Centre, located just below the naval and between the hips, is a region responsible for enormous power generation. In fact, it isn’t a disconnected area but runs through the solar plexus and to the head. This is why, for optimal functioning, you will want to align the entire body correctly, for example when sitting and doing breathing exercises. In this way you will prevent any ” Chi Blockages”, which simply means trapped or dissipated energy which runs along this alignment connection. Steve Morris has often said that the hip and head, which act through “the spinal engine” should be worked on and aligned when delivering powerful hits.

The Hara Centre represents the bowls of the earth, symbolically speaking, from which energy can be drawn to send heavenward (To the head). This region can be dangerous for disciples who have not studied “The way”, that is the virtues, but once you have strengthened your character, you can plumb the depths. Feel free to ignore this advice but I think it’s prudent.

The Hara centre can be considered the true mind or body of knowledge, because when it has been fully developed and organised through breathing, mindfulness, and meditation practices, it becomes the authority which controls even the brain. Yes, because, really, the brain is a receiver which can form images and interprets sensations based on archetypal ideas which are then elaborated by experience. This is why artistic expression and creativity is so important. But it must follow certain rules. Anyway, at this point of unified understanding, the disciple can focus on any area he likes, for example the head or solar plexus, or even the arms and legs, because everything represents an interconnected whole. In other words they represent the same core, and spring from the same centre.

At the moment we tend to operate with an undeveloped Apparatus, with the head, solar plexus, and Hara Centre not doing their job properly as a unified triforce. In this state, nothing works as it should. Modern man is overburdened by cognitive activity and is constantly overanalysing, in everything from how to perform various actions, to how he looks on social media. And when he goes to the gym he is often just going though the motions paying no attention at all to how anything feels. However, when you align all these centres I’m talking about you will feel better able to breath properly and nourish better thoughts. It will then not matter what is going on externally. In this way the Brain can be used for its proper job: to intuitively sense what it has to do when, say, you are training Martial arts. You will have a superabundance of energy as the burden of work is shifted to a bigger generator.

Sun Tzu says “If a general who is strange to the troops punishes them, they cease to obey him”. This means, symbolically speaking that the fighter who does not attach himself to his troops loses their confidence. In other words, if your general (The Hara Centre) does not work properly with the troops (the body and brain), then they “cannot be usefully employed”. This is why there must be harmony in the relations between each of the centres and the body. It then becomes clear what you have to do, even if you don’t technically know all the details.

Disciples often wait for the coming of the Messiah, and if you wait and patiently make yourself receptive to the subtle energies of the Hara centre, you will get a visit sooner or later. But there is no point in waiting if you have not done the work or are looking in all the wrong places. That is why, from now on I recommend you work with the Hara Centre and its related lines of energy not only during training but in all activity. All the technical knowledge takes second, or even third, fourth or fifth place to this.

Whether it experiencing an intensive Harmony of Spirited action, a Controlled Gesture, or a contemplative meditation, it’s all the same. The important thing to remember is that there must be unity in thought, desire, action, and feeling. When you feel this centre is activated in your practice, allow if to take possession of you. When you do this often, it will begin to accompany you in everything you do throughout the day, and therefore it is easy to draw upon this force at will. In other words, you will begin to relate to it as the centre of being. For those that are ready, there is a whole way of practice to totally immerse themselves in, which is more certain than any form of objectively measurable progress. The more you are able to observe this state and conform to it, the more you will understand abstract ideas and forms alter and arrive at truth.

So Instead of acquiring new moves or increasing your fitness, think instead more about changing your perceptions and interactions between the parts and the whole. In other words cultivate the faculty of mindfully going about the most mundane activities. In this condition you will be able to spend decades drawing inspiration from and practicing even the most basic and form or move without ever losing interest or motivation.

The Brain is not designed to stand up to fretting and worrying, and due to this overloading and burdening exhausts itself in anxiety. This is why it is important to regain control over our Hara Centre, so that the burden of activity, and even the problems of existence itself can be overcome. If the Masters of the past we able to become tireless and almost all powerful, it was not because of brain power, calculations or huge muscles. No, instead it was because they were able to concentrate, develop and strengthen the life centre, the centre of gravity, the roots of the earth. The hara Centre represents these roots.

The Bulgarian spiritual Master Omraam Mikael Aivanov says that the secrets of the Hara Centre were well know to all ancient religions and and Sages of the past. Jesus says “From out of the believers belly shall flow the rivers of the living Water”. The Shaolin Drunken boxers even become intoxicated on this water, where they experience an unorthadox balance of grace and explosive power. The Hindu Sages tell us that Shiva, who represents the brain, was the “Destroyer of reality”. The Chinese system of Tai Chi says that their is an energy channel, known as a “Chi pathway” which travels from the Hara centre and out of the crown of the head. As such, when this pathway is fully operational and aligned, the Disciple is “Held by a fine golden thread” from the crown. This thread represents a spiritual thread, a link to heaven, through which almost supernatural powers are granted to the disciple in the form of increased Vitality, power, and Health.

As I have just said, the brain is very much dependant on the signals it receives from the Hara Centre. This is why by focusing and concentrating on the Hara Centre, through meditation and breathing exercises for example, the Brain is able to function more smoothly and harmoniously without nervous agitation and fatigue. This is why it is so important to make sure that the centres of the head, solar plexus, and Hara are able to work as a unified whole. It is then possible to say, concentrate on breathing, or head positioning for optimal posture, from a position of an active Hara Centre. For example, it can be helpful to concentrate on the diaphragm to feel the sensations of breathing, or the chakra in the back of the head which produces an intense surge of energy. Moderation in the latter is advised therefore.

Even if you think this is all spiritual nonsense, if you decide to cultivate this area of practice, you may begin to see that this is the only kind of practice there is. Because we can only maintain an attitude of optimism and progress if we are on the right path. And this path follows many routes, and has many different manifestations, but all lead to the same inner unity.

What I am saying is that the proper measure of whether your meditations, breathing exercises, or martial arts techniques are correct is not whether you can pulverize somebody or look superficially correct. Instead, each of these exercises should awaken and develop this triforce of nature, the head2, the solar plexus, and the Hara Centre. This is not so much something that you achieve with a rigid posture of technique, but is a “felt sense”, as Eugene Gendlin puts it. Yes, because through the intermediary of feeling we can begin to understand.

The deeper mysteries of reality are not seen with our eyes, but are instead felt. In Hindu Philosophy the eyes are said to reveal a false reality of our physical surroundings, or “Maya”1. The full reality is brought to bear when the Hara Centre is developed. Only then can we begin to accurately mentally construct reality (the brain) with our creative imagination and full array of faculties. Otherwise we are held captive by an ugly imposter which sits at the throne. This is the true enemy3.

References

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

2 Alignment and tension exercises https://harmanater.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/ . Here I have mainly used examples from Steve Morris.

3 The True Meaning of Martial Arts https://harmanater.com/2020/05/18/the-true-meaning-of-martial-arts/

Martial Arts and Health

Posted on Last updated on by joeharman8 | 11 min read | 92 views

We can think of health as energy available to us to live an intense meaningful life, free from disease and debilitation. It is this state that we should reach in order to train properly in Martial Arts. And so we must cultivate and live in this state as much as possible, so that we can put this energy into everything we do. That is, of course, if we want to devote ourselves to this path. We don’t need to go looking for this energy outside ourselves by learning all sorts of complicated moves, hoping this will give us power. No, instead we should move naturally in ways which correlate with the intuitive rhythms of nature.

Now that science has given us complicated explanations and exact methods of technical performance, we exploit the resources of the body in order perform these techniques. And yet, many people find themselves more unhealthy than ever and plagued with injuries, not to mention lacking in energy. This is because people think about performing certain moves, like a punch, rather than strengthening the body which animates them. They do all sorts of robotic moves unthinkingly, which just causes wear and tear as the years go on. In truth, much of scientific advancement has made us lazy and unwilling to do work.

Whilst skilled people don’t wear out overnight, the abilities they have developed, often during youth, don’t last forever, and before too long they end up stagnating or in a sorry state. Many people put all their energy into the move instead of cultivating health through exercise. What they are forgetting is that the move is just a means of expressing the goal of perfection. Instead they get it the wrong way round, thinking that the move itself is the goal, and perfection of this will lead to truth. They think “I’ll perfect this move and one day I’ll become perfect”. But really, People are deluding themselves if they think they will make long term progress in this way, because once they are worn out and no longer able to animate themselves with zest, they lose the impetus to grow and develop. The real goal is keeping this zest, as this is the means of evolution.

Yes lots of people get big muscles first, but even a giant brick wall will develop cracks and fall down if the foundations and alignment are incorrect. And it is the same situation for Martial artists. Say, for instance, you are driving a stake into the ground. If you take the mallet and hit the stake off centre, it might bend. If you hit it dead centre it will drive into the floor creating a stable root. In the same way, if you direct pressure through the ground using gravity, aligned from head to toe, you will be much more structurally sound and dynamically stable (Steve Morris, the authority on the subject talks about alignment and whole body tension extensively on his website). On the other hand, if you contorts the body in all sorts of unnatural ways, without the means of stability stability, it’s only a matter of time before you damage your structure2.

How do we learn these “Fundamental” means of action? There is an imprint of how to move, breathe, and learn correctly inscribed within us. If we follow these intuitive pathways we can, with work, learn anything relatively easily to our own specifications. Think of the body as your instrument, you might be inspired by other peoples music, but you yourself produce the harmonies which resonate with your requirements and tastes. You might copy someone else at first, to create a stereotypical impression, but this is not the end of it. You continually develop. This will ensure you never lose interest and keep on growing, which itself is the only real indicator of success. When you train intuitively, all the knowledge is already in your possession you just need the inspiration and living examples around you to bring it out.

So what about adding our own flavour? After we have a fundamental knowledge of how to train and work, we can then add certain embellishments on top of this these forms we create. What Most Martial Arts practice involves is putting on the embellishments first, rather than making sure the basics are in order. It takes many years to learn to walk, so how do you suppose you can embody more complicated actions quickly? This just shows how much work needs to be done, and if the great fighters have to do this, how much more so for the rest of us?

In other words, many people go for the martial arts form without working on their body’s structural capabilities. Many of them go on about persevering through difficulty, and being patient, but in reality they are often looking for the easiest way to learn as many moves as possible to earn a certificate or belt. When you see a fighter in action, ask yourself “Does this form or style embrace universal principles of development and practice?” And, “Can I embody this practice so that it relates to everything else I do?” If not then it does not represent the truth3. There is no point is beating others up around you whilst your practice becomes devoid of meaning.

A true Martial Arts Master takes no interest in mechanical dead forms. There is no point because they do not relate to everyday matters of health and life. In fact they often ruin health because moving so violently without art or grace wears out the joints and causes fatigue. The temptation to stop developing, through pride, dogs the heals of even the best Martial artists until the end.

Routinised, meaningless practice has a terrible effect on health and energy. And then what weapons will you have when you are older and worn out? What will happen when your inner weapons of energy and enthusiasm has gone? You will have nothing. But if you learn to increase your health, training intensely for only short durations4, you will be able to have a profound effect on your abilities whilst not squandering your reserves on mindless work. Yes it is possible, through intelligent work, to remain healthy and vigorous even into old age. This is how you know you are following true Martial arts practice, you will increase your abilities, happiness, and senses.

To the extent that a form of martial arts is useful, you should integrate this with your everyday behaviours and gestures which underpin movements in all domains. Obviously, this works by degrees. Then martial arts simply becomes another way of moving more generally. You simply take the forms in homeopathic doses, letting them colour your existing movement repertoire, and receive a new expression of the same intuitive movements you already posses. Yes, because we already have within us the means to learn, intuitive movement, enthusiasm, and intelligence, combine all three and you will learn anything naturally.

All movements share intuitive gestures and actions with which we should mindfully engage in order to connect the dots between seemingly different activities. In this way throwing a ball, swinging a bat, etc., is fundamentally the same as throwing a punch or kick. They are different expressions of the same truth. It is up to us to become aware of these connections. To divide is to destroy, what you must do is unify everything. You divide up simply to analyse, and then it becomes part of the whole again. Otherwise it becomes dead and disconnected. This is why once analysed, it must come back into our being adapted to the wisdom of the body. We want to work on this wisdom of the body, in other words, to embody knowledge, but what we often end up doing is practicing nonsense. The form is merely the model to aim towards within a discipline, but the greater form, the true form, encompasses everything.

We practice according to a perfect model, that is a representation of the higher self. This mental model, and physical representation, is always better than we ourselves are. It assimilates what is useful, in other words the essentials, and discards what isn’t. These are the fundamentals, and the intuitive movements we all posses like walking and grabbing are used as building blocks. I have no objection to practcing a specific style, they are good as far as the go, but the problem of inner evolution and and progress cannot be solved by an existing physical forms. But back to fundamental building blocks.

A baby can learn to crawl, and then walk, and then run.But adults often have difficult applying the concept to even more advanced movements as they grow in intelligence and power. Because they fail to capitalise ion this, they stagnate and go backwards. Martial arts is just an extension, and evolution, of these basic fundamental actions. Once they are tapped into, these basic movements stimulate and trigger the development of more advanced skills such as punches and kicks. They are not simply new movements disconnected from previous learning.

The flowers of one plant spreads and multiplies new plants which then blossom into new flowers. In the same way humans learn one skill and then cultivate it until it is ready to spread into new domains. The whole thing then goes on and on again, even into later eras after the death of the practitioner. These ideas are then passed onto someone else and then come back to where they began, inside the individual. That individual is then in possession of certain knowledge that he must then pour out onto others. If the flowers are uninspired, dull, and disfigured no one looks at them and it is as if they never existed.

By helping other develop, you will find solutions to your own questions due to this effort applied to the process of “blossoming”. Others around you will be attracted to your flowers as a bee is around nectar. Naturally, this is how ideas spread. In this way your own practice will develop, fuelling your optimism and abilities. There is no escaping this process. I know that this may seem naive and childish, and it may not be taken seriously, because as everybody knows that you need to flatter people and quote recognised authorities, otherwise you don’t get anywhere. This just proves that despite of the hostility and hazards around you, you must keep fighting, and it is these trials if you like which oblige you to develop will power and evolve. I will go further to say that this is a blessing in disguise.

People tend to be happy one minute, unmotivated the next, always changing theirs moods and ideas. The least little problem knocks them off balance. This is why we need a high ideal, or if you like a perfect model to orientate ourselves towards. Compared to this ideal we are weak and ignorant. We keep failing, making mistakes, making enemies… We then think this weakness represents truth, and we bring everything down to this level. And then progress stops because we have focused on our lower nature and its insecurities rather than treating the high self as a living being. So many people have received so called wisdom in this form, and became disillusioned by it. They think “That’s just the way it is, I’ve invested so much time is this big lie, and since my livelihood depends on it I’ll just be the one to lie to others as I have been lied to”.

But perfection does not have an enemy, nor does it make mistakes or errors. Perfection, of course will never be achieved, it just orientates us in the right direction. That is why it is without form, and greater than form.

Like the earth around the sun, we must become “Centred” around the high ideal5 which inspires us and keeps us in motion, keeps us revolving. All people posses this faculty, but they often spend their whole life not knowing how to use it. Some people think that they must resemble exactly the perfect form, other believe that having an ideal is a waste of time because it can never be attained. But really it is something for our will power to strive towards, representing essential truths symbolised by martial arts practice. All the forms are merely different representations of the same truth.

Our will power must desire perfection, because it has an infinite scope which can reach far beyond physical limitations. Only the best satisfies it and will empower you towards real success, and by success I mean reach your full potential6. It does not matter if you achieve the ideal, but the important thing is to keep trying.

1 Steve Morris http://morrisnoholdsbarred.com/

2 Alignment and Tension exercises https://harmanater.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/

3 Which Moves? https://harmanater.com/2020/04/30/which-moves/

4 High Intensity Work and Balance https://harmanater.com/2020/07/05/high-intensity-work-and-balance/

5 The High Ideal https://harmanater.com/2020/07/26/the-high-ideal/

6 Will power https://harmanater.com/2020/05/10/will-power/

Self Defence without Violence

Posted on by joeharman8 | 9 min read | 137 views

“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 True Meaning of Martial Arts

Posted on by joeharman8 | 13 min read | 181 views

“Weapons are instruments of ill Omen, despised by the Way of Heaven”

“What is gained or lost by winning of losing is trifling”

“It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil”

Yagyu Munenori

Despite what many people think, the true meaning of martial arts is not to maim or destroy your opponent. Neither is it to dominate others and reign victorious over them. No, instead the only enemy to overcome is yourself. “What kind of philosophical rubbish is this” you might say. “I want to be able to intimidate and impress people!” Let me assure you I have gone over every argument you could think of already, and more. At first sight, the self dominance and inner enemies may seem like an evasion of fighting spirit, a passivity and inertia. But in fact, it is the highest form of activity and intense training.

Whilst people may have injured you, or slighted you in some way, it is you who chooses to see them as the enemy. By the time many people realise this choice, it is often at the eleventh hour and they may end up in a very sorry state, having wasted years on trifling matters, ignoring what’s good for them. No matter, because these trials and errors are the only way the vast majority will learn. This is why it doesn’t matter how many mistakes you make along the way, how many beatings you take, and what poor circumstances you might find yourself in. The important thing is that you learn.

This is the path of water. It twists and turns, flows this way and that, crashes against the rocks, and endures turbulences. In the words of Bruce Lee and others, “Be like water”. Most people assume that a martial artist should be hard and tough like solid rock. This is a mistake because as time goes on a rock is worn down and erodes. How true this is of individuals, and of course to some extent all of us.

Water gains momentum as it journeys, and is adaptable and receptive to its changing outer environment. But it retains its essence. In fact, we are more like liquid than solid substances, or should be. Even when we put food in our mouths, it takes liquid salva to break it down and taste it. Don’t be like a rock, developing cracks as you are weathered by circumstances and unable to act fluidly. Water on the other hand retains its qualities and moves forward. Yes, be like water instead, constantly in motion

Many martial artists out there, fancying themselves as tough guys, go around dominating others with their overbearing attitude. This is a huge error, because there will always be someone bigger and tougher out there ready to take your place when you’re worn out and disillusioned. Unable to come to terms with this you’ll end up exhausted and embroiled in a losing battle. Just think of Napoleon. The world is not lacking in such types. This is not the way to spread your influence far and wide. What’s required is a kind of humility, a submission to higher reasoning.

Instead of bullying others and dominating them, I suggest making friends of enemies and showing them positivity. They will be so in awe of your generosity when all they have shown is bitterness or hatred, they will end up showing deference to you. And whilst some battles can’t be avoided, you should do your utmost to avoid them. This approach may take a while, but it is the ultimate form of victory in which everybody gains. The goal is to “entrance” an enemy as the Swordsman, and Zen artist Miyamoto Musashi put it, so that “adversaries themselves are influenced by this mood, becoming less enthusiastic”.

Miyamoto Musashi said “think of your adversaries as your own soldiers”. You might say “What nonsense is this?” I’m motivated by hatred of the enemy, he’s after what’s mine!” But it is not nonsense, because every interaction with others and their hostilities can be seen as a war, a situation requiring diplomacy and command. It is a mistake to just think that one day you might have to throw someone to the ground and that all the training is about one event. This is why Yagyu Munenori Said to “observe the dynamic of situations even in a group as an art of war”.

In fact, by showing your best side, you bring it out in others. This is what Myomoto Musashi referred to as infection. You must not let others infect you with their negativity, you must dynamically engage in positivity so that you are full in the presence of others, and unable to be filled. You must not be passive to the chaos of others. This is the only way to battle negativity: By being ceaselessly engaged in higher thoughts of an inspiring nature. Everybody has ordinary thoughts and is open to whims of doubt and aggression towards others. There’s nothing great or inspiring about any of this, it’s the norm. This is why it’s important to love what you do. No one is saying love what is bad in people, what I’m talking about is an impersonal love of the best possible outcome with the goal of achieving this. In this case through martial arts.

Not only does your vision of the world and other infect your opponent, it principally infects you. So why waste time on infecting yourself with negativity, when there is nothing to be gained in the long run? This is a technique in and of itself. Forget about all the drilling, and which punch is the best. Insistence on merely physical pedantries is itself a form of negativity, because it obscures any thought or discussion about the truth: Which is that the devil is in the details.

You could even say that criticising others on the basis of their technical skills is often a form of self deception, a form of self congratulation that you look better. None of that matters very much and distracts true progress. Just think how much time is wasted doing this! What’s important is to focus on concentrating all your efforts towards overcoming weakness in even the most seemingly insignificant events. The outer transformation will then take care of itself, there is no magic formula or ultimate system. It just takes time, and I assure you that even though others go racing ahead exploiting people around them, the reality is that they fade from the scene and end up losing ground.

Sun Tzu said “incitement must be given to vanquish the enemy.” Yagyu Renya said “Greet your opponent”, and Gichin Funakoshi said there is “No first attack in Karate”. Kyuzo Mifune said the soft beats the hard. It all means the same thing, symbolically speaking. This is the meaning behind turn the other cheek: You don’t give in and let them abuse you. You show the opponent your better more evolved side and win thereby. Many of the greatest truths seems contradictory, overly simplistic, or unintuitive, so people ignore them. But the reason for their simplicity is that they are universal principles and could apply to anything. Analysing them to death often makes you feel less in touch with them, so they have to be lived.

No one wants to face off against someone who they instinctively feel is high in the pecking order. It is impossible not too look up to someone who is a living example of all that is good. This is why the great masters of the past talked of the “empty sword” technique”. For a technique is an inner strategy, not an outer attack. Just as a goal is a process, not an outcome. This is why Musashi also said “intending to deal a powerful blow with the sword, you will not be successful… and will wind up being manipulated by others” Of course this takes a lot of practice, and no one devotes their time to this anymore. No wonder people give up on martial arts or don’t dedicate themselves to it as they used to, they’ve lost track of this rich source of inexhaustible wisdom!

Yagyu Munenori said “Keep the mind attentive”. What he meant by this is to keep it occupied with positive and constructive thoughts. He said don’t let the mind wander off. This is why such emphasis is placed on breathing and concentration on it. It is a means ready to hand to practice concentration on something essential, rather than dwelling on non essentials. Breathing should be rhythmic and brought to the level of consciousness, so that this rhythm can infect your organism and its processes. Breathing is an inner example of the to and fro motion of not lingering in one place that we should aspire towards. Keep the mind attentive towards such harmonious examples. When we concentrate on the non essentials, peripheral matters, we lose balance and perspective.

When we think of punishing someone, or how they have insulted us, we disrupt our breathing so that it becomes rapid. This can cause disordered functioning such as heart rate increase, anxious thoughts, and then a focus on trivial matters. This is how focus on outside things has a knock on effect to disrupt our internal equilibrium. Before you know it you are wound up by the most trivial of matters. You might tell yourself, “Well, that’s life!” But it is a mistake to think that life is about constant disorder and chaos. Sure, life is difficult and requires constant vigilance, but this is simply a pre requisite, a motivating force, to reach great heights. It’s the other side of the coin of success. There can be no fire without heat1.

When we are preoccupied by pettiness, material status, popularity, etc., this is our lower unconscious self, the instinctive side, asserting its influence2. It will convince you of all doom and gloom. But don’t let it devour you, let it feed the fire of success. The higher self, the conscious self, should exert influence over the lower self with its higher reasoning. This is what Sun Tzu meant when he referred to how the General must lead the troops and not the other way round. Using the analogy of War, the Art of War is actually a practical handbook to help solve many of the problems of existence. There’s an individual equivalent to this representation. The general is the intelligence, the troops are the instincts. In fact, the two self’s work as one, but usually the instincts are given the leading role!

By identifying with higher reasoning, create a high ideal, and think of all the most positive and grand inspiring ideas in your mind. Imagine yourself thriving there, as a powerful and courageous being. This is Jung’s archetypal God image3. In other words, you create an inner environment with everything you need to cultivate the inner man. By focusing on the inner environment you can influence the outer environment. Athletes call this “Imagery” training. They will tell you the environment and the self in it are very real. But for now, back to breathing.

Now rapid breathing isn’t necessarily bad for short periods of time, such as when under genuine threat or for example when exercising. The point is however, that most people today rush about in this frenzied state all of the time. This is why the monks and Yogis have insisted on breathing for thousands of years as a basis for concentration and exercise. By focusing on breathing through will power, you bring it to the attention of consciousness, rather than bringing to your consciousness disorder and worry.

The “Hara centre” or the solar plexus, solar referring to the centre, should be the focus of concentration. And so that by working with it you can synchronise your consciousness with the harmonious rhythms of breathing. That is, the breathing sets up everything else. It is then much easier to tune in on a wavelength conducive to thinking positive ideas. But instead modern man has chosen to analyse and make the focus of his life the very disorders that have arisen from undue focus on problems and negativity. He is the architect of his own destruction. This is what Musashi rereferred to as a sickness. Man then needs all sorts of distractions and stimulants just to feel alive or motivated.

In the context of martial arts people focus on technique, winning and losing, or reputation, etc., as they think this will set everything in order. According to this reasoning success is obtained from the outside. As I have reasoned here, success takes place first inwardly. Inner work isn’t just something to do when you have a spare ten minutes as most people view it. In this way, every challenge, and pitfall, can be tackled inwardly by mentally channeling outer stresses into positive constructive thoughts. This is the real battleground. Success at this will affect your breathing and therefore health, releasing constraints in the muscles and diaphragm for example. This then affects everything else.

I don’t need to tell you that there is constant occasion to practice inner work. Which is why there is no point going out and looking for medals, people to dominate, pats on the back, etc., the inner work is a relentless battleground of glory. Most people hope to obtain all sorts of material things hoping that this will clam them down and settle them. More often than not, the reverse is true: People begin to think they should have no need for inner work, and then when they find themselves depressed and anxious they feel bad about it. Because after all what do they have to be depressed about? They have the job, the car, and everything else. But ignorance and suffering is the natural state of man, it is success and intelligence that needs explaining.

The true martial arts master aims to bring about success by working on their inner thoughts and organs, such as breathing work, so that this harmony is brought to the level of consciousness. This is done rather than thinking about personal gratification and indulgence in comfort. Because the rhythmic breathing communicates this to the rest of the body, this is where they start. The brain perceives this state and conducts it through the nervous system. Call this “The Way”, “Nirvana”, “Infinite Wisdom” or whatever you like, it just means you a free from ignorance and the limitations around you. Instead, most people look to stimulate their nervous system with outside interventions, eroding the very foundation of their health and happiness.

By focusing on peripheral matters, you stray from the centre, or in other words, by focusing on effects you lose track of causes. For sure, no amount of focus and attention to the wrong thing can turn it into a beneficial good. I know that modern conditions aren’t very conducive to inner reflection, or even slowing down, but try to think and act in accordance with these laws whenever you get the chance.

References

1See Strength of Weakness https://harmanater.com/2020/03/12/strength-of-weakness/

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 The Shadow and the Archetypal Man https://harmanater.com/2020/03/28/the-shadow-and-the-archetypal-man/

Signs and Symbols Part 1: The way and the Number Ten.

Posted on by joeharman8 | 6 min read | 156 views

The ancient teachers often used symbols and analogies, as well as fiction, to convey meaning. Attempts to interpret the language of these symbolic accounts has obscured the true meaning behind many of these insightful teachings. For example, in Tsunetomo Yamamoto’s Hagakure, it sates ” A true retainer is his lords greatest follower, entrusting all matters, good and bad, to him in selfless deference to his Authority”1. Just what is an aspiring warrior supposed to make of this? That he is to follow his master, who may be an egotistical fool, in good times and bad? No. What this means is that a warrior is to follow “the way”, as this is his true “lord”.

The Martial Arts Master may or may not follow the way, but he should physically symbolise it as best he can in his actions. This is his or her job: To be a living example of what they preach and practice, and to the extent that a Master does this they can be considered successful. Obviously the vast majority of people who aspire to be masters do not actually attain this ideal, or if they do it is often for a short time. But none of this matters. By all means respect and trust your masters, seeing what is best in them, however to be “the lords greatest follower” and to “show deference to his authority” really means to serve the highest ideal. In other words, to serve the “Lord” or “The Way” simply means to aim for perfection in the form of the Warrior.

Yamamoto also says in Hagakure:

“Rehearse your death every morning and night. Only when you constantly live as though already a corpse will you be able to find Freedom in the Martial Way, and fulfill your duties without fault throughout your life”.

If we take this literally we must assume that the way of the warrior is suicide and that physical existence is unimportant. Whilst there have been many samurai and monks who have thought this way, this is not The Way, it doesn’t inspire a high ideal or bring “Heaven to Earth”. Once again, we a dealing with symbols and so what this means is that the warrior should fight the weakness inside of themselves by instead relating to their high ideal, which is to say their “Lord” and not their own imperfections. In other words, you should aim to fight evil tendencies and weakness, as these are the true enemies. This is what is meant by the Way, or bringing “Heaven to Earth”. Abiding by the way cannot mean severing ties with the physical, because the physical body is the expressional of the spiritual ideal. In fact, we would be unable to work on the physical form if we did this.

The mind must follow the way, that is to not dwell on peripheral matters, and keep active in the pursuit of the high ideal, never lingering in “swamps” or “marshes”.

In his Book the Unfettered Mind, Takuan Soho says:

“If ten men, each with a swords, come at you with swords slashing, if you parry each swords without stopping in the mind at each action, and go from one to the next, you will not be lacking in a proper action for every one of the ten.2”

The number ten appears frequently in Martial arts, and Elsewhere. That is why you find 10th Dan Black Belts, that is, the ten stages of initiation, such as found in the Ten Pranas in Yoga. But it also means “the one who bears light and penetrates obscurity”3. The number ten is also symbolic of the sword and shield, that is, the one looks like a sword, and the zero looks like a shield. Another way or saying this, is that the one, the individual, should embrace the truth, which is the zero. The zero should surround him like the circle around a axis of rotation.

The sword is of course symbolic of penetration into truth, and the shield reflects this truth. A further symbol of ten is the ten points of a compass. In this way, a fighter must be able to be aware of enemies from all around his centre, and train to act accordingly without delay. In yet another symbolic form, the number ten also means the unity of the body, the individual “one” and the mind, the “zero”. Here the zero symbolises eternal truths which must be perceived, as they exist before anything else, which form the basis of the individuals world, the circle that surrounds him. Instead he often gets caught up in peripheral matters and loses his centre.

As you may see, it is impossible to sum up the teachings of signs and symbols through techniques or form. Because they are principles governing them. It is equally futile to analyse and define these universal principles because they have such vast application. They apply equally to Buddhism, carpentry, Martial arts, or any other discipline and subject. This is noted by Musashi and many others, which is why he states “When you have mastered the practice of the science of martial arts, there will be nothing you do not see.”

In many of the ancient texts, the Masters state that the techniques are difficult or impossible to express in written form. Perhaps you can see why from the above examples. Any form, technique, or skill is simply a way of expressing the truth. In this way a given form which expresses truth holds true across all forms4. As such, there are conflicting physical forms which seem unrelated only on the surface. Such and such a form might be better against this or that form, but is weaker against still a different form. But there are no conflicting truths, and when this is understood there is unity.

There are peripheral aspects which vary in form, but the “centre” around which a form rotates provides the equilibrium. This is why a Martial artist must always remain centred5. This has obvious parallels with the one and the zero: The one viewed from above is the dot within the centre of a circle, which is the zero. In other words, the centre of gravity around which the body rotates. This is why Gravity plays such an important role in power and equilibrium development of the individual. Similarly, in the solar system the planets orbit the sun. The sun does not move from the centre, it controls the planets. This explains the idea of sun worship, as a concept for understanding truth. On the Military level, the general keeps his distance from the troops6, which is saying the same thing as the sun keeps its distance from the planets. This is in order to rule over them.

References

1 Tsunetomo Yamamoto Hagakure

2 Takuan Soho “The Unfettered Mind”

3 Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov Cosmic Balance, the Secret of polarity

4 Miyamoto Musashi The Book of five Rings

5 See My Alignment and Tension Exercises https://harmanater.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/

6 Sun Tzu The Art of War

Back to top ⇧