The Ronin and the Teamaster.
this relates to my above reply to monkey slaps post about the inevitability of fighting to prove a point.
:The Ronin and the Teamaster:
A master of Chado (The way of the tea ceremony) Tajimi Kozo, was challenged to a duel by an unscrupulous ronin who was confident of winning with ease. As Tajimi could not refuse the challenge without loss of his honour,,the tea master prepared to die.
Tajimi went to call on a neighbouring master of Kenjutsu and asked to teach him how to die properly. "Your intention is most 'laudable," said the expert "and i should be very happy to help you,,but first would you be so kind as to serve tea to me?"
Tajimi was delighted to have the chance to practise his skill,probably for the last time, and so he was totally absorbed in the ceremony of preparing the tea, forgetting what was in store for him. The expert was deeply impressed by his degree of serenity at such a solemn time: "there is no need for me to teach you how to die", he told him. "your concentration of mind is so great that you can let yourself encounter any sword expert. When you are facing the ronin, first imagine that you are about to serve tea to a guest. greet him courteously. Take off your coat, fold it carefully and place your fan on top of it, exactly as you have just done. Then draw your katana and raise it above your head,ready to strike when the opponent attacks, and concentrate on this action alone."
Tajimi thanked the kenjutsu expert and went to the place appointed for the fight. He followed the expert's advice and totally absorbed himself with the thought that he was about to serve tea to a friend. When he raised his sword above his head, the ronin sensed that before him was an entirely different character; he could see no way around him; Tajimi seemed to him as solid as a rock, completely without fear or weakness.
So the ronin, demoralized by this behaviour, threw down his katana and prostrating himself before Tajimi, humbly asked forgiveness for his unspeakable conduct.
Many respects,TWS
Re: Evolving past bashing styles, systems and schools.
Quote:
Originally posted by The Willow Sword
Are we so arrogant and jaded and biased that we have to fall in to the traps of judging other schools and systems and styles?
It is in our nature to judge.We judge everything, why not schools, systems and styles? Example, I don't like TKD - I've tried it, but it's not my cup of tea. There are people, like Rogue for example, who do love it, and I know from personal experience that it can be used quite effectively. Consequently, you will never hear me say TKD is a bad style, but since I don't like it for myself, then I have judged it.
i mean i have heard time and time again the saying "well if it works for you and you are happy then cool".(or some derivative of that comment) It can be a convienient excuse for masking disdain and passive agressively judging someones choice of school ,style or system.
there doesn't have to be disdain there - see above.
Why are we Men so pre-disposed to resorting to the violence of what we do? i mean being that we we practice is fighting. but do we really have to stop there and remain,in my opinion, on the surface level of what these arts and systems are all about?
It's a MARTIAL art - an art of fighting. on the surface and beneath it, fighting is what it's about - that's why it's martial. Sure, there are other lessons to be learned, but at the core is the fact that it's martial.
no wonder the chinese laugh at us and think us ridiculous. I for one would like to see here on this forum decent exchanges of information rather than immature bantering and BS.
there is plenty of that here. Check out the ultimate grappling thread and the favorite throw thread for examples. People from different styles comparing and contrasting throws in their respective systems.
i dont exclude myself from all the immature banter and BS. i own my own writings here. But i am tired of it. i had a revelation the other night that "the world does NOT revolve around our jaded perceptions of each other and what we practice".
What we do is but a fraction of what the world is about and i think it is time we evolve past all this BS and really be the disciplined people that we "think" and "claim" we are.
It's no secret that the world doesn't revolve around MY perceptions, however, MY world does. just as YOUR world revolves around YOUR perceptions. If you don't want to be around the BS, then simply don't take part in it. Easy enough, right?
despite our political and martial arts differences we are good people(for the most part). we may not do good things at times and we reveal our flaws and imperfections here. But i have faith that at some point on this forum that we will start really talking martial arts and really exchanging good info and sharing our own personal insights to things, rather than repeating what someone else has said or thinks.
We already do that. Case in point, RD and myself. I completely disagree with most of his approach to MA. We don't resort to name calling and the like, however. We just dispute our differences in an adult manner - I can show you several such threads to back it up. I've met him in person - he's not such a bad guy, we just have differing views of MA.