Hi Folks,
Catching up with this week's Monday post. For those who have enjoyed my bits of movie and martial arts trivia, apologies for all those weeks where I have failed to get something up. Some weeks prove more distracting than others, and unfortunately this one was particularly harrowing.
I'm sure everyone has watched the terrible news from Japan about the earthquake, tsunami and ensuing aftermath. Luckily, I have been able to track down the majority of my friends and they are fine. My immediately family is in Hawaii, and luckily the effects of the tsunami were largely mild there.
This unfortunately leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to write down on a day like today. Talking about my favorite Jet Li film or fighting techniques feels a bit too trivial; almost improper.
But even at a time like this, I think I've found something that is both appropriate to the day, and in keeping with the FJ spirit of things.
Fighting arts are inseparable from the cultures and history that spawned them. That doesn't mean an American can't master karate or someone from Mexico can't become a great boxer (history has proven that). But to fully appreciate any fighting art, you really do need to know about the people who created it. How did they live? How did they eat? Were their lands steamy and tropical or "foggy, raw and dull" (to quote Shakespeare). Were there a lot of usable metals around, or did they have to depend on wood and rock?
The fighting arts (and fighters themselves) of Japan have been admired and feared for centuries, both the real and the fictional.. I can think of very few people who have heard stories or watched movies featuring calm and focused samurai warriors or stealthy, silently-moving ninja and not thought, "Hey, that's really cool."
The thing is, where did that come from? That steely resolve, the dispassionate look in the eye when facing down an opponent, knowing full well that it could mean the killer might become the killed.
It came from living on an island chain full of rocks and rough waters (especially to the north). It came from ever-present threats from the land itself in the form of earthquakes and droughts, and from the sea in the form of tsunami and seasonal typhoons. It came from a relative shortage of arable land compared to the bounty we have here in the U.S., resulting periodic shortages of food and the accompanying social unrest.
In some ways it made the Japanese a tough lot. They ended up being dominated by brutal warriors who ruled by the sword and didn't really take kindly to others (I think it's funny when people dream of living in ancient Japan; they never assume that they might have been a peasant or servant). But it also instilled a sense of grace; of appreciating (and fearing) nature. It led to development of ways to discipline the spirit, calm the mind and toughen the body.
Is it any wonder that the Hagakure, the seminal volume on the way of the samurai, suggests that one should daily contemplate their own death, being riddled with arrows, torn apart by dogs or dashed upon rocks? It wasn't about morbidly obsessing on death like a goth teenager - it was about accepting that life is ALWAYS precarious, and in that, one should be appreciative.
It is interesting to note that for all the bloodshed and brutality, the samurai-dominated culture of Japan also bred some of those most delicate art forms imagined: calligraphy, flower arrangement, bonsai. Many of these were practiced by samurai themselves, not just effete aristocrats.
Sure, there is a dark side to all this, as the events of World War II can attest. A hard spirit can breed brutal actions, and I have no words to forgive that.
But on the flipside, I cannot help but admire the stories I have heard from Japan this weekend of orderly evacuations, very little looting, and people struggling forward as they have always struggled.
There are no more samurai in Japan today. They've receded back into myth, legend, comic books and TV. But there is still some of that old spirit there. And I have faith the country will bounce back.
On a final note, for those wishing to make a donation in support of the people of Japan, the Japaneses American Service Committee (JASC) of Chicago has set up a relief fund. Information may be found on their homepage (http://www.jasc-chicago.org/).
In addition, for those in the suburbs or willing to travel, the Aikido Shimboku Dojo in Lake in the Hills is hosting a relief fundraising seminar on Saturday, April 16. Lisa Tomoleoni Sensei and Marsha Turner Sensei will be teaching classes from 10:00am to 5:30pm. Beginners welcome. For more information, go to www.aikidoshimbokudojo.com.
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