Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all. I wanted to say something that I have come to believe after a few years at the hombu: I don't know anything about budo. That might seem a little wierd, but there is a deeper meaning to it than the words imply. I don't know anything about budo and that's the way Sensei wants it. Sensei often says it himself "I dont understand budo." So when I see arguments over the date of Takamatsu Sensei's drivers license expiration or the curvature of "real" ninja swords or the necessity of sparring, I just surf on to somewhere else. Budo is not information, budo is not even knowledge, per se. Budo is a kind of physical wisdom, a visceral experience. You cannot verbally express or define it, hence the futility of verbal argument concerning budo. You have to let go. I love ninja weapons, I love armor and shuriken and swords and all that stuff, but they are not things to be held onto mentally. They are only experiences to be felt. Budo and books, videos, movies, the internet, even discussions are often filled with such paradoxes. You can see this in Sensei's movement, if you have the eyes. You can watch him let go of his weapons and still emerge victorious. We all have to become like this. We all have to let go of knowing and needing to know facts. Budo is unknowable. Budo can only be felt, only be experienced, only be "tasted." I started out knowing and wanting to know. Countless times what I knew was proven wrong to me and now I don't even bother knowing, because knowing something is a kind of trap that you set for yourself and it may very well cost you your life someday. "I know the gun is not loaded." Ask questions, ask many questions, never stop trying to learn, but don't try to have any fixed "knowledge" of budo because it is not fixed. Any fixed knowledge you have is a dangerous trap. tomorrow, Sensei may show up with some 500 year old example of something that blows everybody and their well-researched opinions totally out of the water. I've seen it happen before and it will happen again. So, I don't know anything for sure about budo, and I recommend that you stop knowing, too. I wrote this with the intention of helping my fellow buyu. That is all.
Problem is, though, that it's only going to benefit those with "the eyes to see, and the ears to hear". Notwithstanding all that, I do agree with you. So, from another ignorant SOB -- merry Christmas and happy New Year to you as well.
Only when all of your training and "knowledge" are forgotten and all "tactics" thrown away can the warrior express himself naturally. I have been training forty plus years and only seen this a few times.But it is out there. regards koyo Excellent post martial arts cannot be explained through words let alone taught by them. The art is experienced through the pores of the skin.
So what's the difference between not understanding because you can do Budo, and not understanding because you can't do Budo? My guess is that it's in the doing. However, that being said, some people may think they are in the first group when they are actually in the second.
Hmmm... Oddly enough -- I often disagree with what CCS writes -- but this time I am on the same side of the street... I will say -- outside of the theoretical -- that those that are good clearly know *something* -- but what *it* is -- is probably not what we think *it* is. ;-) I tend to view what we do in the same category as magic -- there are magicians -- and then there is the magician's magician. Strive to be the latter.
Tesco? Not the best watermelon, but compared to one delivered from Lidl, it's great. Well, for all it's worth coming from someone who knows nothing about anything - My understanding of Budo is your own way. Everyone has their own perceptions and everyone experiences things differently. It's something that should be learnt naturally and only in your own way. Like walking, you can watch and learn and even think 'yeah I can do that', but you have to get the feel for it, balance, before you can walk for yourself.
