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Mekugi
8th May 2004, 07:31
This year I was in attendance at Nagoya castle for their yearly Golden Week Embukai. This is usually on "Kodomonohi" (Children's Day, may 5th) and the weather is always stellar. I had just finished playing catch with my son in the large field of Nagoya castle just in front of the performance area. I was walking back and getting ready for my groups Shinto Muso Ryu Jo embu when a strange little man in a black suit wearing a red band around his arm tapped me on the shoulder.
"Chunichi Shimbun, Interview please" he said.

Now, I felt kind of odd standing there wearing a hakama, sports jacket and a baseball glove, but why not. I gave it a go and greenlighted the thing.

The little newspaper man continued "Why you do Budo"?

Without any hesitation I said it was fun. Seemed simple enough. I mean too many details make for rhetoric, not a whimsical question/answer period.


"What make it fun?"

Ohh boy. OK so I told him that the reason it was fun to me was because it was a study of a combative culture, the people are always nice and it was a way to self improve. It was a source of interest I pursued.

"What makes combative culture interesting"?

For the love of Pete, this little dude was digging in. I told him that it was a personality type that enjoyed the study of this type of thing. First and foremost, you had to be interested in culture and it was a living tradition and a history in itself. To be involved in it in the classical sense and to be serious required a lot of effort and you needed to like it. The idea has been carried on for generations in a lot of cases, just look at the Owari Kan Ryu over there (I pointed at the guys holding spears). They have been around here for many, many years. This is 'specially true of the Koryu budo.He winced and scribbled down "small ryu" which I immediately corrected to "old ryu". That pushed him back a step as it surprised him that I knew the differences between third grade kanji.

"You say living history, you mean bushido is still alive in Japan"?

Ok how do you answer that in the shadow of "The Last Samurai"? A thousand things rushed into my mind, namely that bushido was a modern concept and 'philosophy' and indeed it was still alive however the bushi class itself was dead. I just ended up telling him the idea of Bushido was not active anymore.

"So you think Bushido spirit is no longer in Japan"?

The problem I had was how to present this to him, in a nice way, as to not sound like a jerk. So, after staring at the spears set up along a giant tree in the park, I gave him this: The samurai class is DEAD. Has been for a long time, since the Meiji jidai at least. There are no more samurai or bushi (this brought thoughts of the self defense force and recent attempts to make them active internationally, which I quickly ushered out). Modern budo and bushido are a bridge between the past and the present. Koryu, being a budo, is the same thing. IN that sense, the history that we have now is the history that we will have tomorrow, and the present is simply a link in that chain of history.
He took my name, address, dojo name and martial art down.

Yoroshiku! He walked off.
Whew.
Now sitting at my desk at my lunch break three days later I have about a thousand more things pop into my mind. Did I answer the questions right? Did I make myself clear? Will this guy make me look like a schmuck in the paper?

I had checked the local paper and no sign of the interview or even of the Nagoya embu. Perhaps a good thing and I am hoping they leave my interview out of it when and if they do decide to publish.

Now after milling this all out, I have my own personal question:

What is the logos, or true meaning behind my pursuit of koryu? What am I thinking to get out of it? Power?(Yeah right, not in my lifetime white boy), fame? (milk just shot out my nose on that one), fortune? (you couldn't make a cold cent at anything I do unless it went electric samurai and jump up and down tournament stuff).

So I am left here with my cup empty, thinking that the only way I will know what I want out of koryu is to see it through and train. It's not a question of what it has in store for me, it's a question of whether I can do it justice or not and make my own training meaningful. Just like the fears I had in the questions I was attempting to field, I need to find my own logos.

-Russ

meat
8th May 2004, 12:24
Russ, please excuse my extremely humble reply(I am far inferior in terms of budo experience), but why does there have to be a true meaning behind your pursuit of koryu? You obviously love what you do, and you are part of a very unique cultural and physical discipline.
I wondered a while ago what I wanted out of my jujutsu study, what was the reason behind me doing it, and I realised, what's the point of questioning it? We only get one shot at life, and I figure if you are doing something that you truly love(which most people don't get to do) then why not just enjoy it?

And for what it's worth, I think you did a great job of answering the man's questions.

Joel Simmons
8th May 2004, 12:25
Aloha Russ,



So I am left here with my cup empty, thinking that the only way I will know what I want out of koryu is to see it through and train. It's not a question of what it has in store for me, it's a question of whether I can do it justice or not and make my own training meaningful.

You hit the nail on the head. Especially your last sentiment.

Mekugi
8th May 2004, 14:35
Originally posted by meat
...why does there have to be a true meaning behind your pursuit of koryu?

I don't know that there has to be! Meaning in my persuit perhaps is not a question that I ask of it, but rather a question that it asks me, maybe?

Rei Ho
8th May 2004, 16:37
Hi Russ,
The reasons and thoughts you had seem to clear alot of what serious martial artist of Koryu go through. I am no ways in the class as yourself, but I remember when I first started. I liked the movies and thought Martial Arts were cool. Then my father put me in Martial Arts to help discipline me. It was kind'a like learn their way, or get killed. Then I liked the sport aspects and did that for a while. That is when I wanted fame. Then I got my butt kicked by combative Martial Arts and I looked at the heart of what I was doing. Then I wanted to learn authentic combative self-defense. The fame has slowly disappeared to nothing. Now it is about learning about culture, self development and preserving an ancient culture in a small way. Because I chose to do this, I lost all my students from my previous art and lost two dojo's and possibly 2 more I would have had. I needed to do this for me. Martial Artist sometimes get a bad rep (we bring it on ourselves sometimes) but some of us wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for the love of it. That makes it special to us. If I could go back in time, I would have moved to Japan and lived and trained, but then again, maybe it was mean't for me to stay here in the United States. Because I have to struggle to learn, I respect and cherish the art I am doing even more. The stages of knowledge, the self development, yes, even saying the right thing about what you cherish so that others get the right idea of what you enjoy. There are so many levels to what you said Russ. I will enjoy running them over in my mind for the next few months. Seeing you in October will change me even more. I love the path we live. :D
Tracy Crocker

Joseph Svinth
8th May 2004, 20:27
Because you question logos, the following citation, from a book on Hellenic sport, seems appropriate:

QUOTE

By recognizing the ritual and sacrificial nature of sport we can understand how it is that competition, which seems to many commentators to be a necessary component of sport, is merely secondary. Man does not run or throw in the first place for the purpose of demonstrating that he can run faster or throw farther. It is an easy enough task to find someone than whom one can run faster or throw farther; likewise it is not difficult to find someone by whom one can be surpassed in these endeavors. Rather, man runs and throws in order to demonstrate that, although he need do neither, he can run and throw.

END QUOTE

-- David Sansone, Greek Athletics and the Genesis of Sport

nicojo
9th May 2004, 02:13
I totally thought this was about stickers or patches on your hakama...kept waiting to find out who your corporate sponsor was.

Well, anyhow, great post Russ, and nice replies. I think you did a great job of answering the questions, and this line in Mr. Svinth's post really does it for me: "Rather, man runs and throws in order to demonstrate that, although he need do neither, he can run and throw."



As I teach my English students, true rhetoric cannot have only logos to the exclusion of the other parts, it must have ethos and pathos as well. Sometimes one or two are emphasized, but they must all be there for an effective communication. Perhaps it relates? I have posted enough about my attraction towards martial arts and koryu elsewhere, and I have nothing new to say. See you in ten, maybe I will have something new then.

Gene Williams
9th May 2004, 11:33
I personally look to the Demi-urge for the meaning behind my training:D However, I believe that Moira or Ananke is probably ther true force behind it all. I even stopped to write "Ananke" on the dojo wall one day...now my back hurts and I am developiong a hump. :p