I am currently advancing my understanding of swordsmanship in the Japanese styles of "moving Zen".
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IaidÅ
As the late Yogi Bhajan (the premier teacher of Kundalini Yoga) said again and again, the key phrase for our times is: "Don't just tread water. Keep up. Really keep up, and you'll be kept up."
The "inner smile," which we read about in so many traditions, actually finds real expression in this art as it would be impossible to support the weight of the katana for the hours of practice unless ones chest is light and filled with nothing. Far from being abstractions, these principles really get reified in the martial arts if one studies them for the appropriate reasons--whatever they may be. I find that the practice of Kundalini Yoga is also invaluable here.
It's so interesting to be doing this work in Israel with Japanese Jews who are said to descend from Samuari (they call themselves: Hata). They are such a compliment to the Israeli scene. Instead of realpolitik, they teach flexibility and peace as the "way of the sword" = to give the other (opponent/friend) the radical permission to be themselves. To let them be. Without occupation or preoccupation.
My studies in Israel and Japan are, partially, an effort to explore alternatives to the home-grown Israeli system of self-defence called Krav Maga. You may have heard of it. The best way for me to describe it is this: it's like trying to shoot down a mosquito with an anti-aircraft-gun.
It's so interesting to be doing this work in Israel with Japanese Jews who are said to descend from Samuari (they call themselves: Hata). They are such a compliment to the Israeli scene. Instead of realpolitik, they teach flexibility and peace as the "way of the sword" = to give the other (opponent/friend) the radical permission to be themselves. To let them be. Without occupation or preoccupation.
My studies in Israel and Japan are, partially, an effort to explore alternatives to the home-grown Israeli system of self-defence called Krav Maga. You may have heard of it. The best way for me to describe it is this: it's like trying to shoot down a mosquito with an anti-aircraft-gun.
It's inelegant and unnecessarily brutal to the practitioner and the opponent. Most importantly, it runs the same old patterns without any improvisation or imagination. It just doesn't see the target. Because of this rigidity, it's likely to get you killed in a fight. It also screws with ones way of interpreting the world.
It seems that the Israeli defence establishment 's approach to the other is similarly self-defeating and ultimately, well, anti-human. Perhaps they could benefit from time spent studying to really explore the limits of their potential.
It seems that the Israeli defence establishment 's approach to the other is similarly self-defeating and ultimately, well, anti-human. Perhaps they could benefit from time spent studying to really explore the limits of their potential.
As the late Yogi Bhajan (the premier teacher of Kundalini Yoga) said again and again, the key phrase for our times is: "Don't just tread water. Keep up. Really keep up, and you'll be kept up."
One has to be worthy of survival.
Namaste.
PS Here you can see a clip of me performing Kata Juppon Me - Shiho giri (four-directional cutting of four opponents)
Namaste.
PS Here you can see a clip of me performing Kata Juppon Me - Shiho giri (four-directional cutting of four opponents)
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