archetypal thrust

Here is a martial arts question that could use some attention.

Energy Training

General Principles

1. Energy fields exist.
2. An energy field has a movable center, an area of influence, and a vibrational quality.
3. Humans have movable centers, areas of influence, and vibrational qualities.
   
4. Humans are energy fields.
5. Attention directs energy.
6. Your energy quality changes through attention direction.
7. Whatever you attend to, you become.
   
8. Your energy quality transforms the world around you.
   

"the mind is one with heaven and earth"

“The mind is one with heaven and earth” reminds one that indulging in a felt sense of separation, of separativeness, is disastrous. First, because it does not fit reality. It’s like placing a head on top of your head. Second, by fostering dualism, one is creating “self” as potential target and “other” as enemy. Strife is created through divisiveness. Destruction is the result.

With feet on the ground and head in the sky, the warrior embodies both earth and heaven. Heaven and earth combining form the warrior body. The warrior is “rooted and grounded in love” (Ephesians 3:17). Rooted and grounded (earth) in love (heaven). One condenses (earth) and expands (heaven) simultaneously.

Heaven and Earth are the first two topics of the I CHING, The Book of Changes. The image of the first hexagram, Ch’ien/The Creative is heaven, whose symbol is the dragon, representative of all heavenly creative forces. “In relation to the universe, the hexagram represents the strong creative action of the Deity” (Wilhelm/Baynes, p. 3). “These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is light-giving, active, strong, and of the spirit.”)

K’un/The Receptive, the second hexagram of the I Ching, has devotion as its attribute (the essence of the 1^st hexagram is power or energy) and earth as its image. “The broken line represents the dark, yielding, receptive primal power of yin.” (p. 10)

In embodying heaven and earth simultaneously, the warrior allows the Creative and the Receptive to flow simultaneously within and through his being. More accurately, the warrior becomes/is the Creative (energetic force, spirit) and the Receptive (lovingly yielding). In doing so, he is in complete accord with the universe, with reality.

“[The Receptive] is the perfect complement of THE CREATIVE – the complement, not the opposite, for the Receptive does not combat the Creative but completes it. It represents nature in contrast to spirit, earth in contrast to heaven, space [in contrast to] time, the female-maternal [in contrast with] the male-paternal” (p. 10).

Hanging on my wall is a bamboo scroll with a painting depicting these two elemental forces. The creative dragon surrounded by clouds and flames of fire gazes toward earth with lightning flashing and creative energy pouring from its fierce mouth. The tiger, firmly rooted and grounded on earth, gazes upward with a receptive eye and open-mouthed roar meeting and receiving the heavenly energy strongly and with no barrier.

The warrior is both dragon and tiger. The warrior is one with heaven and earth.

martial art precepts

In Patrick McCarthy’s translation and commentary on The Bible of Karate: Bubishi, he lists the eight precepts of Quanfa (fighting methods and strategies). The precepts describe the warrior’s way of being:

“Article 13: The Eight Precepts of Quanfa

1. The human mind is one with heaven and earth.

2. Our blood circulation parallels the solar and lunar cycles of each day.

3. Inhaling represents softness while exhaling characterizes hardness.

4. Adapt to changing conditions.

5. Response must result without conscious thought.

6. Distancing and posture dictate the outcome of the meeting.

7. See what is unseeable.

8. Expect what is unexpected.” (pps. 159-160)*

*NOTE. – Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957), an Okinawan karate master who began demonstrating and teaching karate in Japan in 1922, listed the eight precepts from the Bubishi in his Karate-Do Kyohan: The Master Text as part of his “Maxims for the Trainee.” The English translation (Tr. Tsutomu) is: “Eight important phrases of karate:

The mind is the same with heaven and earth.

The circulatory rhythm of the body is similar to the sun and moon.

The Law includes hardness and softness.

Act in accordance with time and change.

Techniques will occur when a void is found.

The Ma requires advancing and retreating, separating and meeting.

The eyes do not miss even the slightest change.

The ears listen well in all directions.” (p. 248)

On the facing page, as best I can make out with limited understanding of written Chinese, are the Bubishi’s Article 14: The Principles of Ancient Law and Article 16: Grapplings and Escapes. Both articles are presented untranslated in Chinese cailligraphy by the translator who “was unable to locate the original source” and (admirably) did not wish to “risk the transmission of inaccurate thoughts.” (p. 249)]

My Okinawan karate teacher, Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku (1906-1975), gave me (and other graduates) what appears to be a translation of the Bubishi’s Article 13 upon our graduation from his Agena, Okinawa dojo:

“The Code of Karate

A person’s heart is the same as heaven and earth.

The blood circulating is similar to the moon and sun.

The manner of drinking and spitting is either hard or soft.

A person’s unbalance is the same as a weight.

The body should be able to change direction at any time.

The time to strike is when the opportunity presents itself.

The eye must see all sides.

The ear must listen in all directions.”

Examining these precepts allows an understanding of the state of consciousness, or way of being, that is the warrior. To embody these precepts, to live them dynamically, the warrior drops the conventional mindset and opens to the realm of spiritual reality. [See Shi Ming & Siao Weijia, Mind Over Matter: Higher Martial Arts, originally copyrighted as On Refinement of Consciousness Through Martial Arts, for discussion of spirit as energetics.]

warrior of spirit

Warriors, in the usual sense, are thought of as destructive killers who are bent on the annihilation of others and preservation of self. Destroying others while keeping self alive is highly valued, both in the military and civilian population (especially in the business world.)

While I was in the Marine Corps and also in my first few years as a martial artist, I adopted this attitude of volatile egocentricity. I could hardly wait for someone to attack me (no one did), so I could be completely justified in pounding them into the ground.

Fortunately, beneath this arrogance of addled essence was a core of heartfelt compassion and strong understanding of others’ sufferings. This compassionate understanding has been present since early memory. I could sense the HeartMinds of others and feel the suffering of their existence. As a result, people often approached to disclose the heart, soul, and circumstances of their existential situations.

It wasn’t long before the realization came that Killer-Warrior principles and practices could be applied to Healer-Warrior ways. Leaving the Marine Corps behind (though it is true: once a Marine, always a Marine), I continued the practice of the martial arts with a gradual movement toward understanding the usefulness of martial arts as a model for conversations in daily life. The Killer-Warrior sat to the rear while the Spiritual-Warrior emerged.

A spiritual warrior focuses on the annihilation of self while attending to the wellbeing of others – the mirror opposite of the Killer Warrior – but using the same strengths and skills that any warrior embodies (centering, relaxing, opening, facing and dealing, allowing no resting place for fear, vulnerability, blending, re-directing, energizing, and halting others in their tracks).

Not surprisingly, I found strong examples of the spiritual warrior in all the religious/spiritual traditions I investigated. What was surprising (at least to me) was that the spiritual warrior exemplars with whom I became familiar embodied martial art principles. Now I know that the same set of universal principles form the basis of the healing arts, martial arts, spiritual arts, and psychological arts, and that these principles are all about stance and relationship.

So far, at least in the lifetime of this small wave in the vast ocean of existence, the martial arts seem to give the clearest and cleanest exposition/demonstration of these universal principles. Maybe it’s because the martial arts allow little room for abstraction or intellectual theorizing. What works, works. What doesn’t work is immediately obvious to all.

graduation silks from sensei tatsuo shimabuku

the code of karate

The Code of Karate as depicted on one of my graduation silks from Sensei Shimabuku, Founder of Isshinryu Karate. These are principles of fighting, also known as The Eight Precepts of Quanfa, about which more later.

agena dojo 1960 -- clarence ewing

My friend Clarence "Hindu" Ewing, who introduced me to Isshinryu Karate and to Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku, about to demolish the body bag.

(Click for larger view)

agena dojo 1960 -- george breed

George Breed kicking body bag
(Isshinryu Agena Dojo, 1960)

agena dojo 1960 -- view from inside

Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku's Agena Dojo (1960)
View from inside looking toward entrance (frame for holding body bag to left, one of the makiwara striking posts in the extreme right front, the concrete block "domino" between the makiwara and the torii entrance would be draped with tatami mat for kicking)

martial journey -- agena dojo isshinryu basics

The Isshinryu katas, in addition to teaching fluidity of movement in facing and dealing with attackers from all directions, are catalogs of brutal moves which can be extracted and used individually or in varied combinations. Here are the warmup exercises we practiced before moving into katas. One performs each of these many times before moving to the next one.

1. Left foot forward, right hand punch
2. Right foot forward, left hand punch
3. LFF, RH uppercut
4. RFF, LH uppercut
5. RFF, RH punch
6. LFF, LH punch
7. RFF, RH uppercut
8. LFF, LH uppercut
9. LFF, L rising block, R punch
10. RFF, R rising block, L punch
11. LFF, L side block, R punch
12. RFF, R side block, L punch
13. LFF, L leg block, R punch
14. RFF, R leg block, L punch
15. LFF, L arm sweep, R uppercut
16. RFF, R arm sweep, L uppercut
17. LFF, R bridge of nose, L punch
18. RFF, L bridge of nose, R punch
19. LFF, L chop to lower ribs, R chop to neck
20. RFF, R chop to lower ribs, L chop to neck
21. LFF, 5 punches in rapid succession, alternating fists
22. RFF, 5 punches in rapid succession, alternating fists
23. Break from rear bear hug
24. Pushups on knuckles
25. Kicks: Front snap kick, side snap kick, front thrust kick, side thrust kick, squat kick, flying kick (performed with both right and left legs)

The katas (empty hand, sai bo) were moved through many times with Sensei Shimabuku occasionally correcting one's stance or movement. Then there was makiwara pounding with punches and chops and elbow strikes, body bag kicking, and pairing off for application. No time for talk and gab. Work out.

martial journey -- return to states

Upon return to the States from Okinawa in 1960, I found the women to be large and noisy and everyone moving at a rapid pace as if they were going somewhere, never arriving, but by gosh they were never going to get there quickly! I settled in Atlanta, where I resumed a job for Western Electric, manufacturer of Bell Telephones.

I followed up on some vague rumor I heard in the Corps that I would, as a black belt in karate, have to register my hands. I called various law enforcement agencies including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation about this and consistently got the reply: "Kah-rah-teh! What's that?"

I began working out at the downtown Atlanta YMCA and in response to guys asking me "Will you teach me that stuff you are doing?" soon found myself teaching Isshinryu to quite a group.

There was also a black belt and a brown belt in Jujutsu (a brutal form of throws and locks from which Judo sprang) who worked out quite vigorously. We eventually teamed up and I learned their moves, throws, choke holds, etc. while I taught them how to wreak havoc through the devastatingly simple moves of Isshinryu (including bo and sai). We merged our styles and began teaching what we called KaJutsu (karate and jujutsu combined).

Ron L. (Jujutsu) and I would put our students through their paces until we wore them out, then he and I would work out together for another couple of hours. We had great fun.

Ron was pretty vicious with his bo, striking with great power, sometimes cracking my upraised bo protecting my head from one of his downward swings. I had to disarm him as quickly as possible, once parrying one of his thrusts with a quick circular movement of my bo and sending his bo rotating like a helicopter blade across the gym, narrowly missing a person coming through a door.

Eventually we were asked not to kick the body bag in the gym because we were destroying it. I began to find the States to be a lot more tame than Okinawa and the Agena dojo.

bree-deh!

Clarence "Hindu" Ewing and I were at Shimabuku's dojo at every opportunity. We would work out for several hours at a time, outdoors, barefoot on the concrete floor, in the heat of summer and the cold of winter. The Marine Corps paid our dojo fees.

Sensei Shimabuku would either be working out himself, correcting our movements and style, or sipping hot green tea, sometimes pounding a nail into a board with his calloused hand. When I was doing sanchin, a kata (form) based on deep and sustained breathing and the tensing and relaxing of muscles, he would at times come and kick or punch my body. This helped my focus.

I never cared for belt rankings (or awards of any other kind in my life), but was out entirely for the experience. I enjoyed pounding the makiwara with straight punches, chops, and elbow strikes. I liked attacking the body bag hanging from its chain with stationary and flying kicks. My body, mind, and spirit opened to the katas, their intricacies, and their martial meaning. Eventually, I added bo and sai to the empty-hand maneuvers.

Though Sensei Shimabuku never used the word "zen" (his English was rudimentary and my Okinawan was almost non-existent), I learned the basics of that profound ability to attend to the now with no reflection, no "self" consciousness, from him.

Sensei put on a demonstration and asked his students to be on the stage with him. The audience area was packed, mostly with Okinawans. I stood off to one side with other students expecting nothing more (which was plenty!) than to quietly observe. All of a sudden I heard Sensei shout loudly: "Bree-deh!" (which is how he pronounced my name). "Chinto!" Gulp! The fifth kata in the series (seisan, seiuchin, neihanchin, wansu, chinto) and my favorite. I moved to center stage and into preparation posture, where I shifted out of self-consciousness and into heightened awareness. The flow flowed.

I was working out at the dojo one day, wearing my white belt (I had been awarded "higher" belts but did not wear them), when Sensei Shimabuku abruptly stood in front of me. "Bree-deh! Black belt no stay?" "No, Sensei." He turned and walked off. A few days later, he gave me a black belt, one I still have, somewhat shredded from wear.

martial journey -- marines, okinawa

From time to time I receive an email from a martial artist interested in martial art history asking for information about my background and experiences in Isshinryu Karate. (Live long enough and you become a historical artifact, a museum piece that fits somewhere within the jigsaw puzzle of humanity.) So I thought I would provide that information here as a reference for all, and especially for the yet unborn.

On June 26, 1957 (the day before my 19th birthday) I joined the Marines. I spent the first three months at Parris Island, South Carolina, then a month of advanced infantry training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. The next twenty months were with the Second Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point, North Carolina. Two months of that time were with the 10th Brigade at Vieques, Puerto Rico.

My MOS was 2533, Radio Telegraph Operator, providing ground-to-air communication with jet fighters and ground-to-ground with the "ground-pounders." Having a sense of humor, I adopted UU2 as my Morse Code call sign (part of the William Tell overture: di-di-dah, di-di-dah, di-di-dah dah dah).

On June 30, 1959, I joined a staging regiment at Camp Pendleton, California, boarded the U.S.N.S. Daniel I. Sultan, and headed across the Pacific to Okinawa where I joined the Third Division as an RTO with Naval Gunfire. Part of our job was as "spotters" -- going ashore, visibly spotting the targets, and calling in ship fire, adjusting the coordinates until the targets received direct hits. From time to time, we went to Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

I was discharged from the Marines on September 9, 1960 at Treasure Island, California.

Early in my stay on Okinawa, I became fast friends with Clarence Ewing who came up to me one day and asked me to hit him in the head with my fist. When I swung at him, he blocked my blow with a simple move that hurt my mighty arm (all of me was mighty at that time). I asked where he learned that. He said at a dojo in Agena. I began going regularly with him to the poured concrete yard of Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuku's dojo and immersed myself in Sensei's Isshinryu ("the way of one heart") Karate ("empty hand").

just a jarhead

Let me get some things clear here, especially for you gentlemen concerned with the history of Isshinryu Karate. I was just a jarhead who enjoyed working out and learning and practicing exotic, practical, and interesting ways of dismembering and killing others. Not that I wanted to use these abilities, but to me it was (and is) a lot of fun. Call it a personal problem. Other people collect stamps.

I had a lot of anger in me and Isshinryu Karate was a wonderful way to work it out. At the dojo in Okinawa, I enjoyed smashing the makiwara. At least once, I broke it. I learned, when striking, to let the power of the earth itself come up through my feet and legs and emerge with a sharp concentrated force.

(With the snap kick and fist strike, one not only had the foot or fist out of the reach of the other, but cocked and ready for return. The snap was also a perfect way to “leave the itai (hurt) on them.”)

I found Sensei Shimabuku to be a fun, yet stern man who evidently saw that I was sincere in my love for the martial arts, not as a school, but as a devastating system of active defense. From time to time, especially after a hard workout, I would sit beside him on the tatami mats in his room open to the dojo training area and sip hot green tea while he pounded a nail into a board with his hand. I liked the dude and I still do.

I had no idea I was in some kind of flow of martial art history. Just a jarhead, I worked out not only with "empty hands" but also with no mind. I'll answer all the questions you ask if I can, but I am more like Forrest Gump who showed up at notable events without forethought but with right timing.