Chasing two rabbits: the irreconcilable paradox of karate.
There's a parable about a boy who chased two rabbits. Day and night, he pursued the rabbits, never catching up to them. This went on for a week. Distraught, the boy gave up and returned home. His father asked him, " and what have you been doing."
"Father," he said, " I chased a pair of rabbits. I hoped to be able to catch them and bring them home so that we would have a small feast."
"But, rather than focusing your energies on catching one, you arrive at the end of the pursuit with nothing," said the father. "You have the pursuit of the goal, the desire to taste the spoils of your victory, but now, you are left with nothing."
The rabbit story serves to illustrate many things in our western life and lifestyle. But, the one that appeals to me the most is the notion of traditional and sport karate. They are two rabbits. They may look the same and run they same, but in the end, they are two separate creatures. They have two different natures. You can follow the path of both rabbits, but you never 'capture' them. You may sense that you understand the nature, notion and being of the rabbit. Perhaps you feel you are so close you can taste them.
Hell, in your pursuit, you may actually think that you are running 'like' the rabbits.
It's a false belief. A delusion. No rabbit = no meal.
Allow me to explain my premise in karate terms.
In sport karate, there is the premise of the adversary. There is conflict, but there is also the appearance of the need to show one's dominance over another. The nature of sport karate is that it is done in an arena of some form, one where there are judges and winners and losers. It is self-serving and ego-feeding. If there is no need for ego, then remove the trophies and titles and the medals. The recognition of the victory alone should be reward enough. Yet, in the end, there is the need to win, the desire to win. The desire to prove one`s superiority of skill over another - a vainglorious effort, a solipsistic endeavour.
Don't get me wrong: sport does have its advantages and serves a purpose. I competed in sports when I was younger. And, I see a value and purpose of a sport karate system as a means of offering people a choice - a smorgasbord of 'rabbits' as it were. Sports, when conducted properly, can teach many values and skills necessary in life.
Yet, traditional karate has values, benefits and advantages as well. They, too, can offer skills and values beneficial to development as a good human being. The form may look similar, but the approach is different. the values are different. And in this style, the biggest and meanest opponent is not found across an artificial 'turf,' it is within. That is the person that must be conquered first. Any threat by an opponent is countered not with the threat of 'winning,' for that would mean some sort of prize or reward is involved. The goal in any external combat is not to possess something you don't have but to retain something you have already: life and health. Thus, by building your life and health by training hard and learning and improving, arriving at the moment where conflict occurs, the training is set in to view the situation in a wholly different manner: to not lose, or perhaps more succinctly, to maintain. In a self-defense situation, the ability to defend oneself should resist making the fight a zero-sum game, because, if need be, it will only happen once. This also means to know when NOT fighting is the more prudent step to take to avoid loss of health or life on either side.
The artificiality of sport karate's nature, in whatever form it appears, does not exist in the traditional pattern wherein the sport realm, one can rack up a pattern of wins and losses. A loss in a violent attack can mean an end of game, an end of life. If we train to win, we will approach this situation in a much different manner because our focus is on the 'win,' and this new challenger can be construed as just another opponent. That, dear friends, is where the ego has gotten more than one sport fighter into a peck of trouble. Dominate the self, control the self first, then worry about what to do with any opponent on the street.
Don't get me wrong, each has its benefits and its drawbacks. And not everyone will be crazy about the same way. It depends on what people's motivations and goals are. Mastery of one does not equal mastery of the other, but it does not have to. That's why it is important to focus your efforts on one path of karate, traditional or sport. Choose your rabbit of choice.
And let the chase begin!
For another interpretation on the same subject, check out this entry by Michael Clarke.
"Father," he said, " I chased a pair of rabbits. I hoped to be able to catch them and bring them home so that we would have a small feast."
"But, rather than focusing your energies on catching one, you arrive at the end of the pursuit with nothing," said the father. "You have the pursuit of the goal, the desire to taste the spoils of your victory, but now, you are left with nothing."
The rabbit story serves to illustrate many things in our western life and lifestyle. But, the one that appeals to me the most is the notion of traditional and sport karate. They are two rabbits. They may look the same and run they same, but in the end, they are two separate creatures. They have two different natures. You can follow the path of both rabbits, but you never 'capture' them. You may sense that you understand the nature, notion and being of the rabbit. Perhaps you feel you are so close you can taste them.
Hell, in your pursuit, you may actually think that you are running 'like' the rabbits.
It's a false belief. A delusion. No rabbit = no meal.
Allow me to explain my premise in karate terms.
In sport karate, there is the premise of the adversary. There is conflict, but there is also the appearance of the need to show one's dominance over another. The nature of sport karate is that it is done in an arena of some form, one where there are judges and winners and losers. It is self-serving and ego-feeding. If there is no need for ego, then remove the trophies and titles and the medals. The recognition of the victory alone should be reward enough. Yet, in the end, there is the need to win, the desire to win. The desire to prove one`s superiority of skill over another - a vainglorious effort, a solipsistic endeavour.
Don't get me wrong: sport does have its advantages and serves a purpose. I competed in sports when I was younger. And, I see a value and purpose of a sport karate system as a means of offering people a choice - a smorgasbord of 'rabbits' as it were. Sports, when conducted properly, can teach many values and skills necessary in life.
Yet, traditional karate has values, benefits and advantages as well. They, too, can offer skills and values beneficial to development as a good human being. The form may look similar, but the approach is different. the values are different. And in this style, the biggest and meanest opponent is not found across an artificial 'turf,' it is within. That is the person that must be conquered first. Any threat by an opponent is countered not with the threat of 'winning,' for that would mean some sort of prize or reward is involved. The goal in any external combat is not to possess something you don't have but to retain something you have already: life and health. Thus, by building your life and health by training hard and learning and improving, arriving at the moment where conflict occurs, the training is set in to view the situation in a wholly different manner: to not lose, or perhaps more succinctly, to maintain. In a self-defense situation, the ability to defend oneself should resist making the fight a zero-sum game, because, if need be, it will only happen once. This also means to know when NOT fighting is the more prudent step to take to avoid loss of health or life on either side.
The artificiality of sport karate's nature, in whatever form it appears, does not exist in the traditional pattern wherein the sport realm, one can rack up a pattern of wins and losses. A loss in a violent attack can mean an end of game, an end of life. If we train to win, we will approach this situation in a much different manner because our focus is on the 'win,' and this new challenger can be construed as just another opponent. That, dear friends, is where the ego has gotten more than one sport fighter into a peck of trouble. Dominate the self, control the self first, then worry about what to do with any opponent on the street.
Don't get me wrong, each has its benefits and its drawbacks. And not everyone will be crazy about the same way. It depends on what people's motivations and goals are. Mastery of one does not equal mastery of the other, but it does not have to. That's why it is important to focus your efforts on one path of karate, traditional or sport. Choose your rabbit of choice.
And let the chase begin!
For another interpretation on the same subject, check out this entry by Michael Clarke.
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