Zuihitsu-Random Notes about Judo by Ronald Désormeaux

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1 Judo-Ron 82-Judo Combat Strategies: Courage and Strength In the pursuit of different activities, there are dissimilar approaches and strategies one can take. From laissez- faire and rolling with the punch we can pursue to develop precise plans of accomplishments. There are thousands of ways to accomplish the task. Judo being a strategic sport where two individuals are trying to reach the same goal within a given time frame and where individuals are trying to improve their combative skills or warrior s spirit to face up against daily obstacles as those found in the natural surroundings, it is important that all judo performers or judoka need to elaborate winning strategies to suppress their fear of the unknown, gain some practical experiences with whom they can build their arsenals of resources to accomplish the given task. Aim This article will address two aspects of a warrior s character: the mental fortitude through the display of courage before adversities which marks the difference between the true champions (efficient) from the regular fighter (effective). The second element that will be briefly exposed will consist of a review of the greater use of our physical capacities through the intelligent use of energy resources in order to better conserve our stamina for the right moment and thus enhanced our capabilities to better tackle some of the more challenging of situations. We cannot talk about these two dimensions without making some references to the warrior s character and its form of expression through virtues that have for centuries been lauded as essentials to attain the highest form of excellence. Out of six or seven common virtues which made the difference between being an efficient performer and becoming an excellent or good practitioner, we find as common denominators the elements of: courage, justice, temperance, strength, wisdom and benevolence. Over the years, the literature suggested that anyone of these virtues can simultaneously be of a natural and universal quality yet its physical expression will remain very personal in nature. It is reported that each virtue or source of power can be complemented by the others and that there is a cumulative effect which leads towards a form of excellence. 1

2 Judo pedagogical corpus We are making the emphasis upon the elements of courage and intelligent use of energy as they are implicit to the Judo training regime. Jigoro Kano introduced his Kodokan judo in He then designed his teaching corpus as a vehicle encompassing various elements for building the physical and moral character intended for the Japanese youth and for the general population. Through his teaching of basic values associated with a modified form of physical education, he added some ethical doctrines which could penetrate the social culture and give added moral discipline. As such, he successfully made the linkage between physical abilities and mental suppleness. In some way, his approach or philosophy followed the old Aristotelian philosophy by defining the general goals or purpose of the human being; providing or exposing the various steps or mechanisms for reaching that goal until fulfilment; and demonstrating that the new judoka could be more efficient while serving the greater society. The following quotes are indicatives of the power of virtues which transcend the need to always please our ego and start developing a greater schemes or sets of goals which are more socially oriented. Martial arts without martial virtue are useless for the ways of warfare. Nakae Toju Virtue is a state of war. To live in it, we have always to combat with ourselves. Jean Jacques Rousseau Charles Hackney in his exposé Martial Virtues i sums up his impressions of courage as follow: Courage in its diverse forms is a great asset to one who wishes to engage in martial training. By performing the necessary actions in the face of fear and pain in training, it becomes more likely that the student will correctly perform these behaviors in actual defensive situations... Courage is also an asset to one who wishes to develop their overall character. While others virtues guide and complement courage, it is courage that provides the strength necessary to carry out admirable acts in the face of opposition. 2

3 Definitions of Courage It is often said that courage is the expression of our ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. We frequently distinguish a form of Physical courage with the attitude with the physical endurance and perseverance of our actions before sustained pain, hardship, th, or threat of death or death itself. We also mention that displaying moral courage represent our personal skills to act rightly and defend our beliefs with fortitude when facing popular opposition, contradictory statements and erroneous sayings or when faced with some external scandalous behaviors. Exercising courageous acts does not mean to launch into action without proper prudence and self-control since excessive bravado leads to recklessness and entails taking to many unnecessary risks which may harm one or impede the general safety of others around us. Wisdom, moderation and temperance are often the complementary actions which follow our general assessment of the situation and our determined plan of action. Courage is somewhat a group of corrective actions or a protecting shield exercised to prevent further injuries to our natural vulnerabilities towards injuries or in the presence of imminent death. As such, courage is a natural reaction to deal with our fears that prevent us from reaching our objectives. It is also an ensemble of mental and physical weapons that we put together to manage our positive responses and actions by ensuring that we do the right thing to overcome our fears. Courage is often revealed by composure, calmness, tranquility or by daring, audacious, bold or sustained actions/attacks against what constitute the elements of our fear. These two dimensions (passive-active) when combined will facilitate the implementation of a swift and decisive action plan to neutralize most of the risks involved. Courage is then the ability to muster the necessary resources to overcome fear. Courage also means to: NEVER GIVE UP 3

4 Perseverance A quality greater than any precept or virtue: Perseverance makes people great Hakuin Ekaku There are many examples in many countries and around us whereby persons of different status displayed extraordinary courage in front of difficulties or adversities. There is multitude of role-models from which we can abstract the pertinent virtues and serve our particular interests. We deliberately try to avoid naming names of heroes that may influence our thinking. We will nevertheless highlight some perceptions of general heroes traits as encountered within the Martial Arts community. Judo being of Japanese origin has been influenced by past Japanese culture and events. In the historical drama depicted in the book called Heike Monogatari we can perceive the influences of the battlefields and the comportments of key warriors that made their imprints upon the Japanese culture for generations. In the former, there are ample illustrations depicting the behaviors of model warriors displaying extraordinary courage in front of enemies and or before life threatening situations as they occurred in the war between the Minamoto and Taira clans at end of the 12th century. This red and white epic marked the beginning of the new Japan. The warriors described in Heike Monogatari indeed served as models for the generations of warriors that followed. Another reference book called the Hagakure produced in the 1700 s ii illustrates the very high commitment of the Samurai to serving their lords. In that respect, they were to abandon and forfeit their own pleasures and even pledge total allegiance to their Lord and Master. The way of a true Samurai was found in his own death. (Personal achievements, self-pride and satisfaction becoming second to their total commitment at the service of the Lord).It was considered that not having attained their aim and continuing to live was a form of cowardice. Most follow the maxims that no matter what the obstacle were, there was nothing that cannot be done. Therefore, in every day, they had to become more skillful than yesterday and continue each day in a never-ending progress until the objectives were met. For the samurai, there was nothing that one could suppose cannot be done. They lived for that singular high purpose at every moment: that of being totally committed to the service of their Lord. 4

5 Addressing Courage Some of those sought after qualities as self-development, commitments and services to the community have made their way in the teachings of Ju Jutsu and later introduced into the judo principles. If one has not previously mastered his body and mind, he will not defeat the enemy iii. Jigoro Kano demonstrated that his judo composite system presented sufficient opportunities for everyone to think that no matter what the circumstances might be, one should always have in mind the possibilities to overcome. One should seek the opportunity to take advantage of the disequilibrium found in the other posture to strike, thus securing a conquest. When describing the Essence of judo with the theory of Ju Yoko Go o Seisu, he mentioned: In short, resisting a more powerful opponent will result in your defeat, whilst adjusting to and evading your opponent s attack will cause him to lose his balance, his power will be reduced, and you will defeat him. iv As judoka, we all have the opportunities to exploit courage in different forms. By choosing to practice judo when most of your peers have selected to practice hockey or soccer takes some courage to be different and to be able to persevere with your choice. Accepting the many hours of practicing breakfalls and Uchi Komi and its associated pain and sweat takes special dedication. To seek continually the answers to your questioning about the do s and don ts of selected techniques takes dedication and perseverance. Always seeking the truth until you discover the principles associated with techniques also takes courage. Trying to improve your efficiency day after day is yet another sign of courage. Helping peers and lesser talented judoka with their techniques shows your devotion towards your greater goals. There are multiple scenarios you can add to this short list depending upon your individual personalities. If you have chosen to be an active competitor, your engagement into the severe and arduous training regimes is yet another display of courage. Returning to fight with determination after a defeat or loss is another good example of applied courage. 5

6 It is without saying that to be successful nowadays, one needs the capacity to forge ahead regardless of the obstacles. When the goal is right and worthy, all our energy and emotions can be mustered to achieve it. As such, we constantly need to properly assess developing situations and identify the purpose of our commitments towards certain goals. Our motives need periodic reinforcements and our actions will become more precise with some periodic adjustments. When the cause inciting our actions is worthy, we will respond in kind through our commitments and thus proceed with limited fear of a potential failure. A chosen course of action Armed with such a general approach, we can start developing a general map to exploit our courage. With whatever struggle, we first need to establish who or what is the obstacle. If it is an opponent, an object or a circumstance, we first need to gather as much intelligence as possible of the characteristics and perimeters. There will be some blank spots of course and these may turn out to be fear gathering elements. To minimize such impact, we need to find out their true identity, their composition, purpose, mechanism and mode of operation and their weaknesses. Through early detection of fear factors and the establishment of the weak points, we can proceed to minimize their effects. By qualifying the attributes, reading about what they are, how they performed in the past, understanding their ratio of success and having identified when they are at their most vulnerable moments will provide us with an edge to apply necessary counter-actions. Sports psychologist and Zen teachers may have added another weapon for our arsenal: the imaging concept. Just like in the preparation of key judo Shiai, one may consider visualizing what can take place in the coming circumstances. Positive reinforcement of our capabilities when subjected to mental manipulations can be internalized to represent possible scenario that we will repeat in reality. This deja-vu can help us with the mounting of general mental rehearsal and should assist us with repeating such a winning combination or example when we face the real moment of combat. By posting hypothetical scenarios in our mind and visualizing those at times of uncertainty may bring forth new ideas and means to cope with our fear of not performing well or face defeat. 6

7 As human beings, we may at times, hesitate and doubt our capacity to forge ahead in view of the quantity or quality of the adversities we face. We may even feel that we are not the super and brave hero at this precise moment. We must not despair and look back at all the steps or small victories we have already accomplished. There is no need to panic, nor find excuses to lay down our guard, we must try to remain calm as we seek to undertake some alternate forms of behavior which will help deflate the current situation and better prepare us for the real fights ahead. Should we get excited, be indifferent to what is happening or should we panic in the face of difficulties there is no doubt that our whole personality will be influenced and our behavior will reflect our state of mind. Wisdom and composure must prevail so that we only show signs of strength. As with the ancient spirit of the samurai, we must align our activities with a just and worthy cause. Nowadays, we may not have a Lord to serve but we have some definite purposes in life which guided our past endeavors: to better serve the community, to achieve certain mastery in diverse fields, to pass on our savoirfaire, to reach happiness in our daily life, to extend our love to family members or friends, to continue our personal growth etc. Our association with Judo or other activities may be limited by time and other uncontrolled circumstances. We have to make the best of every moment and ensure that our presence and actions reflect our true commitment. As life is a continual cycle of changes, there is no opportunity to come back and change the past, we can only perform now, therefore, every one of our contribution must be sincere and timely. The virtue of courage grows with practice. So lets us all go and practice. Waste no time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one Marcus Aurelius 7

8 Inner strength Let us classify strength as our ability to exteriorize our power or energy to act or work efficiently. It can be expressed in mental, physical or moral behaviors. By being strong we show our robustness, durability and capacity to perform an act with positive results. Zen philosopher talking about the overall strength It is reported that training in the Japanese Hakuin-style Zen required great stamina, something akin to judo training now days. Hakuin Ekaku lived in the period and it is written in his training instructions: The key to nourishing life is to strengthen the body. The secret of strengthening the body lies in concentrating the spirit. When the spirit is concentrated, energy develops. When energy develops, the elixir of life is forged. When the elixir of life is forged, the body becomes steadfast. When the body is steadfast, the spirit is perfected. v Jigoro Kano wrote in Mind over Muscle vi that: While combat may have been at the core of Jujutsu practice, it also had the related goals of physical education and mental training All forms of combat require ingenuity and the various tricks and devices, so in the course of jujutsu training the mind is unconsciously trained in many ways. Courage, composure and other traits that are beneficial in life can also be developed. Saito Tostado who lived during the period was a classical Confucianism scholar who wrote about the manners of a warrior: Simple stolidity is the basic character of the warrior, since being the claws and the fangs of the state lies in this. We should always be this way.those of the warrior class should learn to be ashamed of weakness and take pleasure in strength. They should be shamed and rebuked as cowards if they get scared or startled. You should always cultivate courage and not being startled by thunder, unhesitating in conflict and not letting your expression change even if a mountain should crumble right in front of you vii 8

9 Jigoro Kano exhorted us to make intelligent use of our energy in order to achieve our goal. His approach was to apply the most effective method or technique for the simultaneous use of the mind and body. He made it its first principle: Seiryoku Saizen Katsuyo. This principle entails that we must seek the right opportunity and deploy the right amount of energy for the best results. Not only should we seek the effectiveness by getting the job done and scoring the victory but we must also seek to reach the maximum effectiveness in our victory through the employ of technical refinement and speedy mental execution. To be strong does not necessarily mean to possess massive muscle groups requiring daily exercising. Strength is frequently measured by latent power combined with adequate speed and swiftly applied at the right contact point. It is within our interest to seek out those vulnerable areas or opportunity moments in order to limit the use of excessive force to accomplish the task. With proper posturing, rhythm, use of mechanical levers, playing on angular movements and keeping visual acuity we can certainly overcome with flexibility rather than brute force. Conclusion To embark upon any kind of competition, one must have the sincere desire to win and be ready to test his acquired skills against the kind of obstacles raised by other competitors or by nature. Wishing you all good success with your action plan. Ronald Désormeaux, Judo teacher, University of Toronto, Hart House dojo, July 2014 i Charles Hackney, Martial Virtues, Tuttle publishing, Tokyo, 2010, page 79 ii Yamamoto Tsunemoto, Hagakure, translated by Scott Wilson, A discus Book 1981,page 17 iii idem, page 99 iv Jigoro Kano, Naoki Murata, Mind Over Muscle, Kodansha International Tokyo, 2005, page 41 v John Stevens, Zen Masters, Kodansha International, Tokyo, page 91 vi Jigoro Kano, Naoki Murata, Mind Over Muscle, Kodansha International, Tokyo,2005, page 17 vii Thomas Cleary, Training The Samurai Mind, Shambhala books London, 2008, page N.B.This article contains copyrights and is registered with the National Archives of Canada, electronic Bank. Only reproduction for non-commercial use is permitted. For additional information, please contact: Ronalddesormeaux@gmail.com 9