The Stance is a means of performing a given technique. The problem is that people get stuck in the means. That is, they get stuck in the means of reaching the goal of form, and look no further. But the means is not the goal. The goal is to radiate a sense of superiority so that even your enemies feel obliged to defer to you. This means they won’t attack you. Typically this is said to be something you do in an actual fight with a guard. However, actually it is something you can practice all the time. I will show you how.
As I say, the stance is a means of conducting yourself towards others, rather than for hitting them. The enemy is just a stimulus, of achieving this goal. As such, the fight actually begins far earlier than when the enemy points a gun at you. It begins in our own conduct and negativity we might radiate. Because, we influence ourselves and others around us to a great extent. We forget this inner power. The real goal, therefore can be seen as rising above circumstances which lead to external conflict. This is why you must not engage directly with your enemy. “What? don’t engage with the enemy after he has punched me in the face?” Obviously there are exceptions to this. But most of the time people are often totally ignorant of their own provocative behaviour. They irritate themselves and other around them because they don’t manage their behaviour. And when they react to hostility, it is always justified. Oh yes, it is always the fault of the other person.
Instead of looking for every sign of hostility in others, take the superior stance and work on gestures and actions which inspire respect from others rather than violence. This is a science in itself, and you will find that it changes the way you see Martial arts. The potential hostility in others provides the energy, and you transform it into power. This is a necessary exchange, as the small doses of negativity from others (and our own dissatisfaction) can enhance our efforts. Yes, there is much work to be done inside ourselves. Large doses of this negative energy allowed to get out of control will lead to the practice of “firefighting”.
Inspiring the best in every situation may seem like such a burden, but even if you chose to see others as your enemies you will find that eventually this mentality will take over. You will get good at the wrong thing. So many fighters chose to see every action in others as a hidden provocation In the same way, soon enough, you can with the right attitude begin to see everyone as a potential ally. This takes a lot of time practice, and deep study, but it is the ultimate triumph. Whichever path you chose, the workload is the same, and the physical and mental position you take, the stance, must be up to the demands.Do not delude yourself, this takes a lot of effort to overcome ordeals. Of course, if you don’t want to strive for perfection, then you are free to ignore what I am saying. But for those who want to absorb themselves in meaningful work, I can think of none better.
Instead of becoming obsessed with crushing others, use their hostility as stimulus to springboard above circumstances rather than becoming mired in them. In your training, think of nothing else but controlling your actions so that they radiate positivity rather than hostility. View the enemy as a trial, a trial which was sent to teach you a lesson, a lesson of self control. Many Martial artists boast of self control but it is rare to find anyone who practices this as much as they do hitting things. But, In my opinion this is the most important exercise there is which will give you strength and indomitable will. Of course we have adversaries, but this is often because we are ignorant about how to view them and act towards them.
If you want to live in safety therefore, you must apply your techniques to a wider sphere than just the Dojo or training centre. Your stance, which is another way of saying personal magnetism or bearing, must be more than just combative. Yes, you will want to practice with a stance which is flexible and adaptable to all martial arts forms, but why stop there? There is every opportunity to practice controlling and commanding your everyday expressions and gestures, everything from holding a knife to shaking someones hand. These seem insignificant by themselves, but I assure you the cumulative effect of doing this whenever you can is unbelievably powerful.
Consider for a moment the weakness that must lie in the mentality of an enemy who has nothing better to do than bring you down to their level. They do not have authority over themselves. When you see it this way, little by little the image of their superiority will fade, and you will want to be nothing like them. In fact you will forget all about them, as you will be too absorbed in intensive work.
Instead of defaulting to a fighting stance when the going gets tough, why not use your gestures and actions to make an impression on your enemy that bowls him over with respect for you1. Obviously this is not feasible against someone with a knife to your throat, but if you are really serious about stopping such a threat you should remedy the situation before it becomes serious. In other words, before the threat has even manifested itself. As long as you continue to think of good outcomes and positivity in others as forces separate from yourself, things will continue to torment you. This philosophy of the stance you must take before your enemies is difficult to accept, but it is the superior one. Once you practice it, you will continue to evolve and find every occasion to put it into practice, whatever happens to you.
From a more elevated position, the hostilities of others will be unable to reach you, and as Sun Tzu said “If you wait by the river Long enough, the bodies of you enemies will float by”. He also said be still as the Mountain. This is significant, because the Mountain is symbolic of the highest perspective, from which the bad intentions of others are unable to reach. The rock is the indomitable spirit. When you use willpower to reach this perspective, you are protected from your enemies because you forget they even exist. You are too absorbed in your work to relate to them. You have then performed the operation I’ve been talking about, which is changing the environment in and around you. In other words, you have recycled the waste at the dumping ground into something useful. This takes audacity.
By rising above the pettiness of others, their attempts to attack you simply fall back on themselves. In other words they float down the river. When you use the same weapons as your enemy you make yourself vulnerable. And because you are contemplating how to get back at them, you forget about your inner work, your high ideal2. This what what is meant by staying centred. That is, centred around an incorruptible idea or truth that empowers you to rise above circumstances. In this way, your work should involve uniting with the centre, and putting your full trust in this position. This is the only way to survive amongst the dregs of society who threaten to take you down.
If you begin to relate to the enemy by thinking about them, on their level, they do you an injury from afar because this gives them power. This is what Sun Tzu meant by winning a battle Ten thousand Miles away – they managed to beat you in your own mind by transforming your attitude. Because the idea comes before the manifestation, it is at this level you should work. It is the same as if you dwell on illness and sickness you will end up becoming worn out and ill. You will have created an inner environment in which resources were allocated unwisely, maximising the chances of a bad outcome. Whereas if you think positively, this has an invigorating effect, even if their appears to be no material reason to do so.
So, If you think of the high ideal, your whole bearing and attitude, your stance, will be inspired to take a new form; One that is more refined. It is this that will give meaning to your training, because nobody is motivated by training which results in becoming more weathered and worn out. If you do this you will never lose, and you will remain motivated and never lose the will to win.
Sun Tzu said that by knowing yourself you can win one thousand victories out of one thousand battles. Similarly, certain Famous swordsmen of Japan spoke of techniques and stances which were able to manifest themselves in ten thousand different situations. The ten thousand victories and forms refers to the infinite number of variations a principle of truth takes, and the certainty that it will prevail. The ten thousand battles begin at every instance you become upset or tense, which might be very often, so say to yourself “I must do something to change my rythmn and behaviour”. Behave in a more harmonious way3, handling things with care, because many people have no idea how this effects their inner condition before anyone has even come along to challenge them.
The Asian Schools of Martial arts speak of hard and soft styles. Ying and Yan, body and mind, External and internal, principle and technique… It all amounts to the same thing. They are two polar opposites which form a unity. Because duality is just a way of seeing unity. In other words, many powerful individuals who have mastered themselves have done so by transforming the hostility within themselves into something good. Tese two polar opposite tendencies form a dynamic equilibrium4. In certain Japanese Swordsmanship traditions they say that the sword and the mind or no different. The sword (external) is the physical manifestation of the minds will (internal energy). They are two aspects of the whole.
One must be careful that when they win an external battle, they do not lose an internal one. Other people are incapable of solving our internal battles, so why bother puffing ourselves up fighting with them? You cannot gain much in the way of inner fulfilment by duelling with others. When you realise this, you will no longer be able to seek inspiration in beating others. On the contrary, you will want to help them.
In spite of all the hostility around you, you must keep fighting, only with the weapons of self discipline and inner strength. In this way you use your enemies to develop will power and a stance which pacifies them. The confidence you gain from this reliable law will strengthen your will in a way that victory over others cannot. The enemy will simply see that you are so highly evolved and their attempts make no impression on you.
Even if you beat the biggest toughest fighter out there, he will usually claim that he had an off day or that you were lucky. You see this all the time. And anyway, someone bigger and tougher than you will defeat you one day. When you externalise all battles, it is simply inevitable that you will have to contend with your enemies over and over again even if you kill them. Because they started in you, it was you who created them with your lack of direction. This is why the great Martial arts Masters of the past turned their hands to teaching, because it is thanks to this effort of passing on knowledge that they found the solutions to their own problems, which are never found in others. Indeed, there are many unsuspected possibilities in warfare.
Instead of having to wait around for challengers, who may have been weak and ignorant, the best thing to do is to harness your inner resources to help others. The less receptive others are to your teaching the more dedicated you will have to become. You will then find, slowly but surely, others will seek your help. This is the best way to work on your aura, authority, or presence as it is often called in the Asian Traditional arts. This is just another more subtle variation of the stance. If you use your authority to destroy others, sooner or later you will arouse such hostility in challengers that sooner or later someone will rise up and take revenge. Just look at the history of warfare. This revenge might take more subtle, cold forms. In other words people will want nothing to do with you and you will become isolated and powerless.
Instead of destroying others, use your energies in a way which is always beneficial, and it is no coincidence that these methods were adopted after Martial artists had reached enlightenment. You will be thinking “You must be out of your mind, I want to become strong and dominant, not weak and submissive!”. No, because the need to dominate others will rob your of your reason more effectively than losing a fight. Yes it is indeed possible to win a fight and lose the war. If you see hostilities as an opportunity to practice your stance by taking on a bearing of self discipline and control, you will find endless occasion for exercising will power and directing your energies constructively. And believe me, when you view things from this perspective you will be filled with courage and optimism.
1 Self defence without Violence https://harmanater.com/2020/06/14/self-defence-without-violence/
2 The High Ideal https://harmanater.com/2020/07/26/the-high-ideal/
3 Fight in Chaos, Live in Harmony https://harmanater.com/2020/07/12/fight-chaos-live-in-harmony/
4 Aggression https://harmanater.com/2020/04/15/aggression/ and Strength of weakness https://harmanater.com/2020/03/12/strength-of-weakness/