Meaningful violence: the beatings will continue 'til you understand what karate's about

As my trip to Okinawa gets closer (roughly four months and counting), my mind intermittently flashes back to my training time in Osaka. One of the most poignant issues in my trip down memory lane happened one Saturday night after practice. On my way out of the dojo with one of my fellow students, I noticed a bug crawling across the floor. I moved to squash it when I was stopped by three voices around me almost reacting in unison. I did not have to understand what they said, the message was quite clear.

Don't do it.

At the heart of what I was going to do was a natural instinct acquired as a western kid: see a bug, squish it. Yet, in the heart of a country that embraced Buddhism, ending any life wantonly was verboten. In fact, the comment that I understand from my classmate (who translated Sensei's words) was 'ignorant westerner who does not respect the life of animals'. I think he meant bugs, but I understood the larger message. If this would have been Survivor, I was gonna be off the island soon. And it was to be proven to me the following week. The blocks seemed a little harder, the strikes a little longer into the body. And if you think the strikes of an old Japanese man in his 80s would be weak, well, you would be wrong. Dead wrong. But, he was not the only one to lay into the gaijin that night. End of night, I am sore and humbled. I get the message - train your body to use it for the right reasons. Karateka should not allow themselves to be casually taken to violence under any circumstances.

In the past few years as I dabbled further into Buddhism, I came to understand the notion of right reason and compassion to all living things. I'm not an expert at it, but I do try to apply it to what I do on the floor and in life. And when it comes to coping with PTSD brownouts, it has likely kept me from doing some really, REALLY stupid things to people who may or may not have deserved it.

But, what it did is further solidify in my mind that sport karate and traditional karate are no more alike in their purpose than would be boxing and ballet. Once you apply karate as a competitive vehicle, in my opinion, you remove it from the world of martial 'art' and place it squarely in the realm of martial 'sport'. If you look up martial arts on Wikipedia, even the entry there says that "Martial arts have crossed over into sports when forms of sparring become competitive, becoming a sport in its own right that is dissociated from the original combative origin," And if you can't believe Wikipedia, who can you believe?

Years ago, when I was a foolish young man, I decided to dabble in sparring, thinking that I was missing something in my karate training. My friends were into various martial styles- kickboxing, tae kwon do - and I thought I was missing out on something really big and important. Turns out, not so much. Now, I won't lie and say I was great at it. I was ok, but more than once, I was disqualified for 'going with instinct' (which once resulted in me dislocating an opponent's jaw with a backfist - not a shining moment). I went with what I was taught, and against what I was taught. The brain knew better, but the body was following other thoughts. Oops.

And here's the other side of the spectrum: I had my nose broken for the third time in a tournament where there was a rule about 'no head contact.' I decided that this was a sign that 'tournament karate was not for me.' I only competed in four more tournaments. ;)

But, some of the things that come back to me when I think about the difference between 'martial art' and 'martial sport' are the means by which practitioners act and react with each other when faced with adversity. And I mean serious issues. I have never seen a senior karateka 'lose it' on someone else for any reason. I have felt the sting of the relational whip through words and 'parables', I have gotten, as mentioned, the physical lessons that showed me the error of my ways. But, those lessons were not violent, they were a reminder that the brain needs to be conditioned and controlled as much as the body.

What have I seen in the many years on the floor when surrounded by people who partake in martial sport?

- I once watch two Korean masters square off and go at it briefly at a well-attended tournament. the reason for said brouhaha? Someone slighted someone else by going first in the demo program.

- I once had to separate two senior martial arts instructors over an argument about 'points' one of their students received at a tournament. While trying to calm the one down, the other came rushing around the corner with one of his senior students and spine-stomped the much-smaller instructor. They later gave a very cheap apology to the people in the stands (purely for appearance sake).

- I watched two 'karate sensei', supposed friends and instructor-student, get down and dirty, 'supervised' by others of their ilk, and go at it like two immature kids. "It needed to be done" I was told. The reason? Who cares. I lost respect for both men pretty much on the spot. NEVER saw anything like that when I had studied traditional karate.

Other examples could be given, but I think you get my point. Lessons imparted in these groups missed out on something. Problems and issues that one may have of a personal nature are never resolved through violence of any kind, especially using one's training!

The notion of sport karate says beat someone up for points. If you get more points than everyone else, you get a trophy. Or cash. Or cash AND a trophy. Or whatever. You get my point. It goes against the basic tenet of karate: there is no first attack in karate. Chalk up that you have no contact, light contact, moderate contact and full contact, and you get the idea I am coming to about what said arts are imparting. You have to wear groin cups, mouthguards, fist and foot protectors, shin pads, forearm pads, headgear, etc. How can you train the body when the body is covered in compressed and dipped foam?

I watch sport karate and I see violations of basic concepts of movement, I see people exposing vital targets and applying techniques improperly and even dangerously. Sure you can kick over your head and scream real loud, but why would you need to? And what will that do? Practising for when someone bags you when you are kicking at an object seven feet in the air?

That'll teach ya!

Now, don't get me wrong or think me a hypocrite because I love boxing and I have come to appreciate UFC. But, I see these for what they are: they call themselves martial arts, yet they all derive from combative sports. If you seek to understand how I cut up the distinction, observe the definition of culture, that which defines the arts in general:

• An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
• The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group

I would daresay that one is more likely to find examples of this in a traditional dojo than they will in fighter's gym. Yeh, ok, call me a purist. And I am. But I've been on both sides of the fence. End of the day, I like the idea of training for a moment that I may have to use my training for a purpose. Yes, I said a purpose. In other words, there is a meaning, a reason for why I would need to employ all that training time. But, I would rather not ever come to that day. For my sake as much as for the sake of someone else who may force me to go there.

And in my three decades on the floor, I have only used my physical skills likely three times. I have used my brain and my patience and other 'dojo lessons' a whole whack more times over that same period. I am, of course, not counting the times that I stepped in the square during my misguided time in the sport world. ;)

So, (finally) my point is this: karate is not meant to be used in an adversarial pursuit. The first (and really only) true enemy rests in the mirror. Beat them into submission first. Once you stand in front of something else for other than practice or as a need to defend one's person or principles, you should willingly remove the word 'art' from your practice and adopt the word 'sport' in its place.
Case in point: Tae Kwon Do, an Olympic sport, is recognized as the martial sport of South Korea. Case in point #2: Judo is considered a combat sport as well as an Olympic sport.

When was the last time you saw a 'shodo' tournament? Or two masters of ikebana come to blows? No? Stuck for examples?

How about the last time a practitioner of chado strived to create a masterpiece in their art of preparation and presentation by constant practice and attention to even the slightest detail in their thoughts and actions?

Well, in karate, we use our violent actions as a way of refining ourselves. Our violence is not meant to be used against others recklessly - and especially not for money or plastic, metal or glass baubles.

And as for my 'narrow western penchant' for killing bugs? I still allow my baser instincts to get me from time to time (sometimes I give them a live burial at sea instead). I just make sure there are no Buddhists around when I do it. :)