Do martial arts rely on not being the attacker?
(A small truth about mind and body relating to martial arts.)
This is a question relating to traditional martial arts and not necessarily to sport arts. I know a bit about Aikido and some tai chi but you must be the judge of this article’s relevance to other arts.
Our mind is our most powerful friend and our worst enemy. Our body will listen to our mind and, with the right mind/body engagement, perform amazing feats with effortless power. (Because it commands muscle use beyond the simple and beyond our physical awareness of their engagement.)
Our eyes too are a powerful tool, not just for observing what is going on, but for a much deeper purpose, they have an ability to connect our spirit to the outside world. Blocking a punch with eyes open is powerful but the identical punch blocked when blinking is much weaker. Regardless of how hard you might try.
So, we know that the body is capable of effortless and seemingly limitless power. (Look at free climbers on great cliffs or mountains.) We know that the mind can control this power and that our eyes contribute to physical power.
However, our mind will believe what the body tells it over what the eyes tell. For example, a very gently deflected punch will leave the attacker with a good feeling – one of success – but they have failed – the eyes tell them clearly that they have missed the target but the mind prioritises the body’s verdict. This can be a useful skill for the defender but not easy to learn.
The body can also be fooled by a soft touch into believing that all is safe even if the mind and eyes are fully aware that a hard strike is to follow. The following attack has far greater impact because the body is unprepared.
In my opinion this is a valuable principle to follow (in Aikido) and why we should not become the attacker. Not because it is some evil act but because this way the attacker’s mind is fooled into their own defeat.
It is all about what happens at the point of contact – or doesn’t happen!
Do not all styles claim to follow the principle of not becoming the attacker?
However, we rarely realise fully what this means. If we use force against our attacker then we are breaking the principle. At higher levels it can be seen that even the mere act of intention itself is enough to become the attacker. An act of intention alone is transmitted to aware others and therefore of use to them.
It’s fairly obvious that much of this is counter intuitive to human beings in normal life and definitely not easy to attain, let alone master.
Just something to consider in martial arts.
(A small truth about mind and body relating to martial arts.)
This is a question relating to traditional martial arts and not necessarily to sport arts. I know a bit about Aikido and some tai chi but you must be the judge of this article’s relevance to other arts.
Our mind is our most powerful friend and our worst enemy. Our body will listen to our mind and, with the right mind/body engagement, perform amazing feats with effortless power. (Because it commands muscle use beyond the simple and beyond our physical awareness of their engagement.)
Our eyes too are a powerful tool, not just for observing what is going on, but for a much deeper purpose, they have an ability to connect our spirit to the outside world. Blocking a punch with eyes open is powerful but the identical punch blocked when blinking is much weaker. Regardless of how hard you might try.
So, we know that the body is capable of effortless and seemingly limitless power. (Look at free climbers on great cliffs or mountains.) We know that the mind can control this power and that our eyes contribute to physical power.
However, our mind will believe what the body tells it over what the eyes tell. For example, a very gently deflected punch will leave the attacker with a good feeling – one of success – but they have failed – the eyes tell them clearly that they have missed the target but the mind prioritises the body’s verdict. This can be a useful skill for the defender but not easy to learn.
The body can also be fooled by a soft touch into believing that all is safe even if the mind and eyes are fully aware that a hard strike is to follow. The following attack has far greater impact because the body is unprepared.
In my opinion this is a valuable principle to follow (in Aikido) and why we should not become the attacker. Not because it is some evil act but because this way the attacker’s mind is fooled into their own defeat.
It is all about what happens at the point of contact – or doesn’t happen!
Do not all styles claim to follow the principle of not becoming the attacker?
However, we rarely realise fully what this means. If we use force against our attacker then we are breaking the principle. At higher levels it can be seen that even the mere act of intention itself is enough to become the attacker. An act of intention alone is transmitted to aware others and therefore of use to them.
It’s fairly obvious that much of this is counter intuitive to human beings in normal life and definitely not easy to attain, let alone master.
Just something to consider in martial arts.