Disturbance

Today's posting is on a disturbing trend in humanity and that involves the misguidance one can get from ill-practice of a fighting art. I say fighting art for what I am posting on has nothing to do with the "Way" or the "Tao" of the "gokui".

I do understand completely, more today than yesterday, why Tatsuo Sensei really wanted his deshi to learn about the "Kenpo Gokui". To receive instruction on such a brutal form of combat with out the spiritual and moral guidance leads to a disturbing trend to violence in the training hall which does reflect on behaviors outside of that arena. So here goes:

I have noticed of late the pension for passing along content of such a nature that is can only be described as disturbing and more importantly unnecessary.

Such things remind me of the traveler who suddenly encounters a traffic jam only to find that the cause was not the accident itself but the "gawkers" themselves slowing down to view the scene.

It makes me wonder what it is in our nature that draws us to the, what appears to be an inherent desire, viewing of brutality. When we look at history we see things like this have gone on for hundreds and maybe thousands of years.

Do things like this server any purpose? Do others who view such stuff actually learn something that brings about morality and justice? or...does it just fuel violence?

I remember a moment in time many years past as a recruiter in the Military where group violence almost occurred but for just one moment of thought that defaulted the growing group mood to one of reasonable thought averting what I now know would have ended in brutal violation of a person. I shutter to think of what would have happened if the one person had not had the morality to step up to the plate and diffuse the situation.

We even enjoy the violence of movies and games. Look at the shoot-em up video games and the movies that seem to make a lot of money that are violent. You can justify it to yourself by saying that it is not necessarily the violence but the end result of humanity overcoming such things, i.e. the good guy conquers the bad guy, etc. yet thinking about it does this really require the graphic nature of the movie.

Over an hour and a half of violence for about ten minutes where the good guys finally win. What does the person viewing it really remember? The end or all the stuff that comes before?

Then we must take a look at what we practice. The only difference between pure violence and brutality and the practice of karate DO is the mental attitude and intent. It is easy to let things slide into the power trip and end up being brutal.

I am not the riotous one for I have slipped into certain less moral modes and I hope that I have learned the Way so that I am more in control of those types of losses in morality. Maybe it is knowing the difference and ensuring that one follows the right "path."

Maybe it is because we tend to repeat things over and over and over and over and over again because we have failed to learn from it. I hope that one day mankind/humanity does learn from its past and finally and irrevocably overcome our pension for violence toward others.

Maybe then we all would be posting on the art of the tea ceremony or flower arranging or calligraphy as our means of finding the true path vs. the path of the empty hand where the underlying possibility of violence can be shifted to brutality at any one moment.

I am not going to quit my art of Isshinryu yet this today, the video that is going around that is pure ugly brutality in the guise of "martial art", does cause me great concern and further hardens my resolve to follow the correct "path" to the "one" so that I am more than just someone proficient in punching and kicking but one who is a model to other practitioners on how to do it right.

At least I am resolved to try my hardest! Truly think before acting for the action you take can and does have irrevocable consequences to the person acting and to whom that persons actions affect.