Kakure bushi = kamoku bushi?

Maybe this is just 負け惜しみ (makeoshimi - case of sour grapes), but humour me, for the hell of it. I am convinced more and more that a kakure bushi (隠れ武士- hidden warrior) should also be a kamoku bushi (寡黙武士- modest and quiet warrior). Allow me to explain. I have seen a shift in some MA circles I am part of - directly and indirectly, online and in real life - that leaves me, well, gobsmacked. Here are two examples.

One such issue involved a relatively high-ranking martial artist that "drew fire" on a senior Okinawan karateka not of his lineage or system. Same style, mind you, but that is still not the point. It was not a veiled smear. It was pretty open. He stated as a matter of fact, that karateka in question was a shit practitioner. His karate sucked, he sucked. And, apparently, this non-Okinawan instructor pointed out, the problem was hereditary (at least for the shit instructor and his progeny - he did not slag the practitioner's father), as he continued on in another post, that the adult children of this instructor sucked, too. To say he was harsh would be an understatement. Yet, I saw no one take him to task for his comments. They broke the rules of the group, yet there was no rebuking for his words/ actions. Either the page members agreed with him, or they were too stunned or ashamed to say anything.

Now, without giving away too much on this person, he was in a precarious medical position not too long ago. Funds were raised to help him and his young family as he dealt with this medical condition. I would have thought that such an outporing of support would give someone a new perspective, a new leash on life.

Perhaps his rank is not enough for him. Perhaps he feels a need to exert his greatness, now that he has cheated the reaper, and mark his territory as the invincible karateka. Maybe he was having an off night. Either way, his comments have changed the way I look at this man - and those who are connected to him.

To my knowledge, these two men (or the four, if you count the men related to the object of the verbal smearing) have never met or spent any great time together. I am not aware of any direct relationship they may have or meetings they may have held together. That said, the offending person is working off either an opinion based on their own narrow, cognitively-biased view of the other person's karate. Or worse yet, they are repeating what they have been told by others. Opinions are great things. But they are like the anal orifices from which excrement is secreted. And the negative opinions of another's karate should be dealt with in the same way. Yet something has gotten into this man's bonnet to make such a statement in a setting that was both un-Okinawan in nature and inappropriate overall. What might make someone do such a thing? Well, perhaps partaking in the drink and having ready access to a keyboard is one option - lord knows I have made some regrettable doozy statements when I was inder the unfluence. Yet, methinks that it was something else.

Ego has shown itself. If one is a truly strong and powerful karateka and their skills are matched by their character development, then surely such a statement would not have been uttered at all. At the very least, not in a public forum wherein students (or even proponent's of the other person's particular school) would have been privy to the 'ramblings.' Bad form. Better one say nothing about their thoughts on someone else's karate than to besmirch their own character whilst calling into question someone else's 'poor form" as it were. Full disclosure - I do not know the offending party but through his own self-promotion and his reputation (which is apparently very good), but I do know the people to whom he was referring. I am unable to find the comments, so he may have been advised to "come to his senses" and delete them. However, as I went looking for them, I did find other comments of a lesser yet still offensive nature made about kata of men senior to him in rank and experience. As I alluded to, this person may be a great karateka, but he is now forever marked in my mind as self-absorbed shyte. And if he reads this and is able to piece together that I refer to him (without using his name), thanks for the click! Please feel free to comment. :) 

For the second type of ego-feeding bushi, I have also seen/ heard/ listened to the stories and ramblings of the "greatness" of a local club. Now, I get that as a commercial venture with overhead, you need to market. But the level of self-promotion appears at an almost cult-like level. And, to be fair, they have some reputable instructors in their stable. But a club that offers itself as an "all things to all people" organization treads on dangerous ground. When the signboard offers "motivational speaking", anti-bullying and self-defense in the gamut of public programs, one risks being seen as perhaps too good to be true. And the concepts of confidence and pride are great, but sometimes pride comes before a fall. To begin with, "motivational speaking" is self-promotion at its worst. I'll dig into this a bit further down. And self-defense is great, but I have some bones to pick with offering quick-fix solutions to real-world issues.

The level of hubris that such promotion gives off is not indicative of a true warrior. Somewhere along the line the concepts of modesty, humility and purpose were dropped. Lest I not offend someone's sensitivities, let's be super clear here: fighters are not warriors. Ring and cage fighting is not combat. Life and death struggles do not end with trophy or medal distributions nor are there cash payouts for survivors. To call yourself a warrior or to even breath the notion of the concept of warriors of old shows a clear lack of understanding of the concept of what a warrior is - and is, at best, a misguided romantic fantasy about what you do and who you are. I am a martial artist. I do not nor have I ever considered myself a "warrior" in this context. The concept of why I train and what my outcomes are have been clearly mapped and defined. Anyone who fights for money, prizes, trophies or any sort of "cred" is not a warrior. And while the Okinawan masters of old may have had nicknames attributed to them, they were not used as some form of "identity." I don't think that anyone could find any viable source of historical documentation wherein promotion for classes with or bouts by Kyan "Chan Mi Gwa" Chotoku were being held. He was most likely referred to as Kyan Sensei, with the nickname being a confusing descriptor of his characteristics and not his "fighting identity." Surely his 1930 match in Taiwan with a judoka (Nagamine, Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters, p 87-8) did not include it on any news or informational material about the event.

No, I am not alone in my thoughts on this concept of warriors and fighters (or athletes of any stripe) not being equals. Two different goals, two different circumstances, two different outcomes. If you don't share this reality, here's more fuel to make your fire burn.

- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1449976-lets-put-warrior-to-rest-when-describing-mma-fighters

- http://www.mmaforum.com/general-mma-discussion/70025-mma-fighters-warriors.html

- http://pointofthegame.blogspot.ca/2012/06/athletes-are-not-warriors-they-might-be.html

- https://www.reddit.com/r/martialarts/comments/12vpiz/way_of_the_warrior_in_modern_society/

- http://www.allaboutmartialarts.com/difference-between-a-fighter-and-a-warrior/

- https://lowtechcombat.com/blog/2012/02/warrior-is-dead-long-live-warrior

Fighters need to hype themselves up. They need egos. They need identities. They need to keep track of wins and losses. Especially the wins.

Within the Okinawan context, this type would likely be called the "tijikun bushi" - chest puffed out, displaying their fighting skills and little else. There is little humanity in this realm. There is even less humility.

The true 'bushi' were the ones who went about training 'under the radar,' as it were. They did not call themselves bushi. Actually, "bushi" was an honorific title, much like "sensei" is. More about the Okinawan bushi can be found here. Spouting that one follows the "warrior's code" is an automatic red flag for me. It means two things:

- you drank the kool-aid that some poor bastard served you when you started training.

- you're not smart enough to do your homework and study up on issues such as lineage, "kun" and ryuha to know if you're actually on a path or some hybrid that someone cooked up after a marathon of Musashi flicks, samurai manga and Bruce Lee marathons.

The samurai are dead. So, if you're following bushido and the samurai way to the letter, please don't make a mess on the floor when you lose face, mmm-kay?

Playing the false warrior, talking up every. single. damn. thing. that you and your school do is a sign of sickness. The sickness of self-promotion. It tells me you have achieved "neon belt" - as in "look at me, I am super special." That is sure not bushi behaviour from the Okinawan or Japanese context. Flouting accomplishments or who did what for you or who recognized you is the martial equivalent of name-dropping. It is egregious behaviour. But, as long as the sycophants and the uninitiated buy into it, then you are good to go.

Why am I so hard on both of these folk? Why does it bother me?

Ego.

Yup, you still have it. Sorry to state the blindingly obvious. But if there is anything that my graduate work has taught me about leadership, it's this: most leadership in the world today is as phony as a $3 bill. And leadership is as important in a dojo/ kwoon/ sit/ dojang/ batta as it is anywhere else. True leaders - great leaders - do not backstab others to show their own value. Nor do they spout off how great they are. I have had the pleasure of training with true bushi (of the Okinawan version) and I have had the pure, unmitigated bad luck of training with some pretty lousy people who just happened to make it to black belt and taught martial arts. Authentic leadership is evident when you train with real masters. So is transformational leadership. However, ego is quite often the driver for charismatic leaders. Hubris is as huge an issue for martial artists (especially instructors) as is it for CEOs. It is easy to get caught up in this one. You know how great the person training you is because they or others will tell you. And you will find yourself spewing/ spouting/ puffing the greatness of both of these folks - the mouthy ones who call out and disrespect others who they deem to be of lesser skill or pedigree AND those who seemingly are paragons of virtue, goodness and skill (since that is the description they give you on their website and business card).

And if you are curious about the whole notion of leadership and motivational speaking and its actual worth, read some Pfeffer.

So, do these character flaws of ego make me better than them? Hell no. I am far from perfect and have a laundry list of defects. Ego is not one of them. It just happens to be a cross these folks have to bear. Perhaps it is a blind spot for them. Perhaps it is a weakness they perceive as a strength. Perhaps it is overcompensation for something else. We are equally flawed just in different ways. I have not pointed out the speck in my fellow artists' eyes without being wholly conscious of my own.

I merely wish to demonstrate or spill that ego can appear in all sorts of places and for all sorts of reasons. But, if one wishes to be a true martial artist, they should seek to overcome their failings - even if they see them as strengths. Or, at the very least, dial them back so as not to choke on their own greatness. Humility is a grand virtue to demonstrate; Petit and Bollaert (see Hubris link above) talk about cultivating the virtue of reverence as a means to prevent hubris. Humility should be equal to any virtue other you wish to demonstrate or practice. Demonstrations of one's humanity are also nice touches- for no other reason than because it is the right thing to do - there should be no other "catch" or benefit attached. Perhaps neither person illustrated above wishes to be a kakure bushi - for their own reasons - but there is still great value in striving to be a kamoku bushi.