Bujutsu Tetsugaku continued: Isshinryu No Megami

Megami

The symbol of Isshinryu is Megami or simply the "goddess." She is half sea-snake and half-woman. Some refer to her as Mizu Gami or "Water Goddess" as after a dream Master Tatsuo Shimabuku had of using an open left hand and closed right hand in response to a challenge to fight, he reportedly came across a painting depicting the Shinto Water Goddess in the same stance he recalled using in the dream. While the image of Mizu Gami appears to be incorporated into the Isshinryu emblem, Shinsho Shimabuku and Kensho Tokumura both indicate that it is not Mizu Gami; it is Isshinryu no Megami or Megami for short.

Yin Yang of Megami

In the simplest descriptions of Megami, she is half sea-snake and therefore has the strength of a snake. As half woman, she possesses a feminine grace and peacefulness. The left hand is open to convey peace. The right hand is closed to convey power. But, the image of Megami holds much more and important meanings.

Her image contains two pairs that are set as Yin Yang. Snake and Woman. Open Hand and Closed Fist.

Megami's snake aspect indicates a singular strength and deadly power as well as a rootedness to the material world. Serpents represent cunning and wisdom as well as healing and regeneration. Serpents can also be said to be a masculine symbol given their phallic form. Megami's feminine aspect represents grace and peacefulness. Unlike the snake, the woman symbolizes freshness, innocence, and creativity. Where the snake is masculine, deadly, and a bearer of knowledge, the woman is feminine (duh), nurturing, and open to learning.

Megami's open hand conveys peace. It also is welcoming and therefore represents courtesy and even modesty. Her clenched fist is a symbol of power. It represents perseverance and indomitable spirit. The open hand is peaceful and the closed fist is belligerent.

The Four Pillars, Megami, and the Salute

The hands of Megami inform the salute used in Isshinryu. The left hand is open and covers the knuckles of the closed right fist. This salute also serves as a quick mnemonic for the Four Pillars:

Form - The fingers of the left hand are expanded while the fingers of the right hand are contracted. This reminds us that conducting martial arts actions requires that we are mindful of the necessary expanding and contracting of our body and spirit.

Balance - the most difficult of the Four Pillars, it is brought to mind in the execution of the salute -- bringing the open hand together with the closed fist without sound of collision and then rotating the combined fist and hand to face downward and move away from the body parallel to the floor. Thus, we see the graceful rising, falling and then maintaining of a symbolic center of gravity as it moves through space. This reminds us that we must be aware of where our center of gravity is and how we intend it to change as we make a martial action.

Breathing - the closed fist symbolizes the drawing of breath into our bodies. The open hand symbolizes the exhalation of that breath. Their juxtaposition symbolizes how their timing is critical to the proper execution of any martial action.

Power - remind yourself of the Pillar of Power in realizing that the left hand is open. It is soft, light, fast. The right hand is closed. It is hard and dynamic. The salute reminds us that our performance of martial arts must balance both soft and hard actions.

On your own, consider how Megami also informs us of the Three Dimensions. For myself, I have only some half formed thoughts on Being that perhaps I will share another time.

Yin Yang and the Pillars of Heaven

Yin Yang

The concept that seemingly opposing aspects in truth define one another; that they are interconnected and give rise to one another. Yin may be dark and cold, but you can only truly know what that is by also knowing Yang which is bright and hot. They are complimentary opposites within a greater whole. You should not be able to think or speak of Yin without also thinking of or referencing Yang.

In martial arts, I believe you will find Yin Yang at the foundation: contracting and expanding in space (Form), rising and falling (Balance), inhaling and exhaling (Breathing), hard and soft movement (Power). The concept of Yin Yang also helps to better understand more abstract but still critical concepts to developing one's martial arts style: Energy (kiai and aiki), Matter (time and space), and Being (physical and metaphysical). Respectively, I refer to these as the Four Pillars and the Three Dimensions.

The Four Pillars

Form, Balance, Breathing, and Power. These four aspects are the most basic characteristics of any martial action whether it is taking a step, holding a stance, throwing a punch or launching a kick. Whenever one practices any technique, one could and probably should only focus on just one of those aspects. As indicated above, Form involves how we move our body -- expanding and contracting different elements of our body as we execute a technique. Balance involves controlling the rise and fall of our center of gravity. Breathing, most obviously, is the aspect of when and how we inhale and as well as exhale. Power is whether an action is hard or soft.

For example, when throwing a punch, Form would involve focusing on how one's fist and arm expands into the open space to meet the target and then contracts again to take it out of counterattack range. Balance would inform the movement as to whether it remains level or travels an arc along a chosen plane. Breathing informs us as to inhale prior to the punch and how to exhale through the punch. Power, of course, is our measure of the necessary energy to expend to most efficiently accomplish the objective.

The Three Dimensions

Energy, Matter, and Being. These three dimensions are present in each of the Four Pillars for any martial arts action. Each of them is a complex concept and deserves a blog post of its own. With regard to Energy, I refer you to my other blog entry on kiai and aiki. But, in short, Energy is a consideration of where we get energy and how we interact with it. Matter is, for my geek friends out there, the Time-Space continuum. When I use the term Matter it is shorthand for the physical reality that is the other part of the Matter - Energy equation. For the purposes of martial arts, Matter is a consideration of the timing involved in a martial action as well as the direction and space that an action requires. And, finally, Being not only directs us to consider the muscles, bones, organs, and nervous system involved in both us as well as our opponent, it also would have us consider qi -- the life force of ourselves as well as our opponent's.

For each of the Pillars, Energy, Matter, and Being should also be considered. Again using the example of a punch, when one is focusing on Power, consideration of Energy would have us think on whether we are drawing energy for our Power from our opponent or the universe (aiki) or from within our own reserves (kiai). Matter has us consider over how much Space and how much Time the Power is to be expended through -- as a snap or as a thrust or perhaps as a dynamic push. Finally, Being leads us to consider the physical aspect of that expression of Power but also the Metaphysical -- the punch impacts upon the opponent's body but it also impacts upon their qi.

Together the Four Pillars and Three Dimensions result in a matrix of 12 variables to be considered and managed for any given martial arts action. While that may become fairly easy to do after 500 repetitions of an action, to start it should be experienced by a student as near impossible. As you work on your martial arts, I would encourage you to spend any given session focusing on only one Pillar and perhaps only on one Dimension of that Pillar. If you consider that for a straight punch, this means that you would be limiting yourself to manipulating two variables. With Form and Matter, as an example, one would try to restrict one's thinking to focusing only upon expanding and contracting the muscles of one's arm and hand so as to be a snap, a thrust or push. This is manageable.

Bujutsu Tetsugaku - Intro

As I move toward my own "mastery" of Isshinryu karate, I have been thinking and talking and reading -- trying to develop my own philosophy of martial arts: my bujutsu tetsugaku. I believe that this should be the on-going task of a karateka whether working toward shodan or working toward godan and beyond. But, considered as a whole, it is a tremendous undertaking. Thus, I felt that if others could read how my thoughts progressed on this topic, it might help them organize their own thoughts on their personal bujutsu tetsugaku.

When one first ties on the obi and begins the journey through the grade or kyu levels, the ideas and ways of martial arts could be overwhelming. Just trying to recreate specific moves without feeling too foolish, falling over, running out of breath or even getting hurt can be all that fills a student's mind. In the lower grades, the student will be just about too overwhelmed to consider their martial arts philosophy. This is understood and tolerated at first. But, as the student advances through the kyus, it is expected that the student will become increasingly more responsible for developing their style AND their martial arts philosophy. It can be imagined as a model of developmental similar to going through the education system:

Elementary School

8 (Hachikyu) - Yellow Belt: 1st and 2nd Graders

7 (Shichikyu) - Orange Belt: 3rd and 4th Graders

Middle School

6 (Rokkyu) - Green Belt: 5th and 6th Graders

5 (Gokyu) - Blue Belt: 7th and 8th Graders

High School

4 (Yonkyu) - Purple Belt: Freshmen and Sophomores

3 (Sankyu) - Brown Belt: Juniors and Seniors

College

2 (Nikyu) - Brown/Black Belt: Freshmen and Sophomores

1 (Ikkyu) _ Red/Black Belt: Juniors and Seniors

Grad School

Shodan and up

If a student perseveres and gets to Sankyu and higher, then they have some talent for the art and are definitely motivated to learn. Now comes the time to develop a deeper and more personal understanding of the martial arts system they are training within. This should be a time for deciding what it is about their martial arts style that is personally interesting and important to the student. Once the rank of Shodan is attained, the logical next step is to take those beliefs and practices and develop one's own personal bujutsu tetsugaku.

In subsequent posts, I will share the current state of my martial arts philosophy. It makes sense to me as it is mine. While you may not know how I arrived at or necessarily even understand what I currently believe, think of what I present as an example that you can consider, use, or discard. Ultimately your own body and spirit will help you develop your own unique martial philosophy which may share some things in common with mine and in other ways perhaps completely differ.

NEXT TIME: Yin, Yang, and the Pillars of Heaven

Face of Evil

In the time that I have worked with people with significant mental health problems, there have been occasions where I worked with people who committed serious crimes: arson, murder, rape... In all these cases, the person in question found nothing wrong with the act they committed. They all had their explanations. And for each of them, what they did made sense and there was nothing to feel bad about.

When you ever encounter in literature or film a "satisfying" villain, I believe what makes that villain acceptable is the sense that this was a regular person that ended up going down a wrong path. That perhaps, initially, their path wasn't so far from the path most of us walk. Over time, they ended up in a darker and darker place... their eyes adjusting as they go... until finally, what appears as darkness to you and I is perfectly clear to them. That is to say, that a villain's perspective on life changes gradually to accommodate their increasingly evil world in a manner that the world does not appear evil to them.

A true villain should not realize... should not believe it when they are told that they are a villain... just like someone who is color blind may not know that what they think is red is actually green. And, in the end, the real tragedy is not that they have no remorse for what they do. It is that they have no awareness that they have done grievous harm that demands reconciliation AND, when justice finds them, they are clueless as to why they are being punished or killed.