There is the crystal clarity of pure water vs. muddy water. Water denoting a peaceful practice of tranquility. How water seeks the lowest places. How water is soft enough to flow around all things but can be focused to a point where nothing can withstand its onslaught. Water is one of the five elements of the I Ching.
The stillness of water with purpose vs. being active with meaning/intent. Water is flexible in that it remains a liquid, can become solid as ice, it becomes gaseous as steam, and water except if some cases remains flowing. Water is also that one element that supports and maintains life itself. We are made up mostly of water in our bodies, etc.
Water flows over, under, around all things. It does not jump. Water is water is karate is life is both yang and yin thus not surprising utilized as a symbol for a consummate martial artist or budo-ka.
The I Ching uses water to give a sense of gradual advancement as a natural order to life. The idea of advance/progress is used to teach us that this process is natural and done in a gradual manner with and by successive steps and other conditions as denoted by the particular hexagram. It can be hypothesized by the readings that to do otherwise results in calamity. What this means today is the short cuts many take to achieve the glory of the cool stuff may give immediate satisfaction but for longevity it will open the practitioner to fault and instability of the entire system. To follow proper natural ways is to build strength and stamina while "cheating" leads to weakness and instability.
We can learn from the yin side of the coin we call karate-do or any "Do" for that matter for they all lead to the truth of life, living, and self improvement, etc.
Just see how many times water is used to convey some meaning and ability to achieve proficient levels of expertise in the combative arts of both FA and MA. After all, symbolism is a way to "teach" others by expressing ideas and knowledge in a way that will allow understanding not to forget the ability to convey that over generations.
Examples:
Water has a universal undertone of purity and fertility. It is also seen as a source of life which in reality it is since we are, as I have said, mostly water and lets not forget that we look to "water" as an indication of life or possible life on other planets. Some mythological stories use water to indicate where live emerges.
Let use also the water flowing as an symbol to represent circulation where the ken-po goku-i also alludes to circulation by saying blood circulates similar to sun and moon.
Taoism, Tao-te-ching, also uses the symbol of water to indicate aspects of sagely wisdom. They let us know that water, unlike most other elements, assumes an form that it encounters to flow in, over, or around objects. It forms with what ever contains it and when unconfined if follows a path of lease resistance and seeks the lowest area.
It also symbolizes to us the innate ability to morph or change. Water was so important to life that whole tribes would create homes adjacent to sources of water.
Water can be symbolic of transformation, the subconscious, fertilization, purification, reflection, intuition, renewal, motion and life to name just a few.
In astrological symbolism the water sing of Cancer symbolizes purity, clarity and refreshment while for Scorpio mystery, stillness and reflection. Pisces is depth, motion and life.
As to the references of the moon and sun of the ken-po goku-i the moon reflecting off water can be reference to the subconscious. The sun and moon circulating deals with the harmony of the cycles.
Water deals with these cycles of life, the revitalization, the generosity and also dreams and visions.
Water as it relates to natures animal life give us a means to add persecutive to our daily lives as can be seen in the Chinese martial traditions which use animals to symbolize fighting systems and styles.
Of current note is water frozen where the crystals seen with microscopes display designs that can be related to many of life's cycles and systems which include our human form.
As you can see water does symbolize many things not only in the martial arts but in philosophical teachings from all over history and the world. These existed long before we achieved the ability to travel and to get it from the Internet ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment