Standing up for what is right

[Ade]

Dear All

Gassho

Sometimes you just have to stand up for what is right.

It's not easy or pleasant but you just have to, even if it's against people that you have been quite close to.

As Sensei Onishi says - "Right is right."

Doshin So used to stand up for what he saw as the truth, some people call it “his truth.”

Having recently been to Japan and having had access to multitudinous historical sources previously unavailable to me I now feel I know far more about Doshin So and his way.

He was filling a vacuum left after a catastrophic event that left the majority of the Japanese people totally stunned.

Their emperor had been humiliated and forced to apologize and step down from his position of living God.

I cannot imagine the effect on their unshakeable faith - to find out that their God had feet of clay; the emperor had made mistakes and led them into disaster.

They were stunned into a national torpor which threatened their very society.
I believe that the reason the Kyohan has never been translated has something to do with this, it would be deeply insulting to the Japanese Nation to reveal the depth of Doshin So's thoughts on the collective Japanese guilt and its causes.

Guilt is not something that the Japanese race does well as a National trait.
So in this maelstrom Doshin So stood head and shoulders above the alternative, I now understand that he was the man for that moment.
And from that moment here we are.

But he always stood for what was right including sometimes cutting through the social morays and niceties with a good solid right hook.

As he said himself - "I've talked a lot about fighting...and I've done quite a bit too."

He wasn't averse to hitting people that stood in his way.

His way – the way that we study.

I sometimes think we forget that and we've all gone a bit....nice.

When you're dealing with somebody that's in your way he taught that you try every single option, starting from the bottom of the list working inexorably towards his way.

People talk about how Shorinji Kempo has changed.

I don't think it has.

But I sometimes think that it’s become a little too full of people that talk a good fight but would never actually get involved in one.

Because, God forbid, they might get their precious selves hurt.

So much for half for yourself eh?

Standing up for what’s right is sometimes difficult but it’s always right.
And that thought alone keeps me going, even though you will upset and hurt those that disagree with you, as long as you know that you’re in the right, you haven’t lied, cheated, stolen or bullied – as long as you’ve been honourable and stayed close to what you believe I don’t think you’ll go far wrong.

Unless you worship false idols with feet of clay and refuse to accept their mistakes you can move on and gain a new better perspective.

And endeavor to establish an ideal world – one without liars, cheats, thieves and bullies.

Kesshu

[Tripitaka of AA]

As happens so often when Ade posts... I have this uneasy feeling that there is a subtext of which I have no knowledge.

Two observations:

This piece makes sense and would be a good oratory. It could be used as a rallying call for a group of disaffected, in seek of route to salvation, etc. It reminded me of the radio documentary regarding the Boxer Rebellion.

If it had been written by someone else, it could have been easier to mock.. but Ade has shown by his actions, just how much he intends to live up to the fine words. Building successful clubs, producing great students across several venues and always looking to the future, Ade is constantly seeking to improve himself and his value to the students.. then passing that value on to the next generation. If I had been the author (pathetic wannabe who hangs around a forum swapping old stories in a vain bid to re-live a long-since abandoned youth), then you'd have every right to call me a pontificating hypocrite or an obnoxious fake.


I'm still wondering about the subtext.. and remembering the Italian split

[Ade]

Gassho

No sub text intended.

I just get sick of fine words hiding a lack of fine action sometimes.

People are always asking how Shorinji Kempo has developed or changed since Doshin So passed away.

For me this is what Shorinji Kempo is about.

Right actions.

Not right speech only - but actual action.

I sometimes think we've lost some of that and become a study of athletic dynamic movement rather than a gyo.

Kind of like the ongoing discussion between embu or randori, you wouldn't believe how often I got asked "do you do unyoho randori in your club?" in Japan this time.

And the constant pressure to produce embu pairs.

Why? how does that best serve the goals of Shorinji Kempo.

Fine displays are just that - like a circus act.

I think this is meant to be about changing people's lives, not winning prizes and fleeting moments of glory.

[Panu Suominen]

Very nice post sensei. And I was starting to wonder whether you are becoming soft. ;)

I don't think the current embu competitions have nothing to do with Shorinji Kempo. Because people go there to win. We are taught that we are not here to compete yet there seems to be growing emphasis on embu competitions. I think those kind of "wins" don't not matter. Doing embu in competition or just for practice should be about controlling oneself under pressure and learning to connect techniques in a realistic way.

What comes to "the standing up for what is right no matter what" -thing. I could not agree more. If one starts to come up with excuses why this instance can be overlooked one can always push the line little further away. (Naive example: If it's OK to steal just 1€ what about 1.5€ and so on.)

[Indar]

Building successful clubs, producing great students across several venues and always looking to the future

The Southampton Uni Dojo website used to have a section featuring howa essays. The standard was very high (assuming that I am in any position to judge :laugh:)

This section no longer exists, which is a pity. Perhaps WSKO could add a section to their website with a selection of essays submitted by WSKO kenshi and evaluated by Hombu ? In a variety of languages of course.

[sean dixie]

So are you removing embu from your training Ade? As to 'right is right', well it's not always so simple, is it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEle_DLDg9Y

:);)

[Indar]

So are you removing embu from your training Ade?

Ade's getting a bit too chubby for embu............:laugh:

not as bad as some in the BSKF though..................:(

Let me have men about me that are fat,
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.

(Julius Caesar, Shakespear)

[Tripitaka of AA]

It is said that criticism is easy, when you have nothing to lose; See this brilliant job by a Conservative MEP, cutting down Gordon Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs&feature=related) in the Brussels parliament. I wonder how he would have fared if he had tried delivering the same speech in Westminster.

No, I'm not sure how this is a relevant post either. I just saw it this morning and I've been dying to share :D

[Indar]

It is said that criticism is easy, when you have nothing to lose

easy................but potentially expensive....


In the UK, if someone thinks that what you wrote about them is either defamatory or damaging, the onus will be entirely on you to prove that your comments are true in court. In other words, if you make the claim, you've got to prove it!

A landmark legal ruling ordering a woman to pay £10,000 in damages for defamatory comments posted on an internet chatroom site could trigger a rush of similar lawsuits, a leading libel lawyer warned today....


http://www.urban75.org/info/libel.html

[PeterL]

Hi Ade


Gassho
No sub text intended.

I am not sure what is meant by subtext :) , but this is certainly with the subtext of your expiernce with SK and other kenshi/teachers. I have a questions/comments.




Gassho
Right actions.

Not right speech only - but actual action.
I wonder what you meant by that- (not being sarcastic) but what actions and in what context do you see things not happening? What do see that is not occurring and in what context - that should occur?



Kind of like the ongoing discussion between embu or randori, you wouldn't believe how often I got asked "do you do unyoho randori in your club?" in Japan this time.

Perhaps this is because randori is becoming rarer and rarer in Japan. But in terms of this ongoing discussion... what is it exactly that you are referring to: Is there an ongoing discussion in the UK or or at the BM level on which should be emphasized or de-emphasized? It is hard for me to get a perspective on where you are coming from this.



And the constant pressure to produce embu pairs.

Why? how does that best serve the goals of Shorinji Kempo.

Fine displays are just that - like a circus act.

Same comments as above - though this would suggest to me that you think that randori serves the goals of SK better... Is that a correct assumption?



I think this is meant to be about changing people's lives, not winning prizes and fleeting moments of glory.
If that is the goal of SK as you see it, then how would set about accomplishing this?


Cheers

Peter

[Indar]

I wonder what you meant by that- (not being sarcastic) but what actions and in what context do you see things not happening? What do see that is not occurring and in what context - that should occur?



Hi Peter,

I would hazard a guess that Ade, like most of us, doesn't want to dishonour Shorinji Kempo by washing dirty linen in public. (not sure of the origin of that expression, maybe someone can explain).

If you want more information maybe you should PM him. Or PM me if you like.
I'm sure that there is a lot of interest concerning the development of Shorinji Kempo outside Japan.

http://www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/kaiso/42.html

[PeterL]

Hi Peter,

I would hazard a guess that Ade, like most of us, doesn't want to dishonour Shorinji Kempo by washing dirty linen in public. (not sure of the origin of that expression, maybe someone can explain).


Hi Indar,

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't aware of any particular situation nor making reference to one when I posted. I hope my post did not come off like I was prying.

Cheers

Peter

[Tripitaka of AA]

Just to add another post to this strange and confusing thread, here is a link to a story that kind or represents one of those aspects of the thread title;
Pictured: Five-foot female fitness fanatic pins knife-wielding attacker to a wall (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166096/Pictured-Five-foot-female-fitness-fanatic-pins-knife-wielding-attacker-wall.html)
A 50 year old former Pub landlady chased a 6'2" knife attacker down the street and pinned him to a wall, held on to him for 10 minutes until police could take him into custody. A dumb, reckless, unsafe thing to do.. and she was lucky to escape injury... was it the right thing to do? Probably not, but she HAD to do it.

Last night she said: 'I think I was just running on adrenaline. It didn't take me long to catch him. I pinned him against the wall, put him in a headlock.
'It's fair to say I applied pressure between his groin - that's the polite way of putting it - and restrained him and he was wincing in agony.
'He was denying that it was him that had done it, but I was saying "It's you". I struggled with him - but I wouldn't let go of him until I knew the police had him.'

Could she have stayed with her friend to help with his injuries (stabbed multiple times in the face)? rung the police and given a detailed description? Probably all those things.. but she made the decision to go for the physical response. The article makes it clear that she had good reason to be confident in her fitness, but was it still a dumb thing to do? Probably. If you have the strength to act, and the compassion to act, then you have the option to do so.. scared, weak cowards like me just don't have as many options available.

[Mrdojo]

But how do you know you are right? the trouble with people is that they always think they are right especially when they are wrong.

I'm sure Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mugabee and probably dr Shipman for instance, all thought they were/are right but not many people (well probably to many) agreed with them.

Personally I feel that to be convinced you are right you need to be either a genius (not many of them about) or an idiot (lots of them about).

When you are confronted with someone that is sure they are "Right" when they obviously are "Wrong" as far as the majority is concerned, how do you convince them otherwise. And for that matter when you know you are the one that is "Right" and everyone else disagrees at what point do you have to get to to conceede the point

I for one know for a fact that i'm always right! (well i think i am anyway)

Peter C Mason

[Panu Suominen]

I don't think the problem is about being absolutely right but acting according based on what one thinks is right. People do most of the time what they find the easiest not the one they think is right. If more people would have done something immediately for the fact that they did find Hitlers actions wrong then history might have been different. And we can't know whether those dictators acted because they thought their actions were right or because of some other motivation.

Many people will lay on couch when they know it is the wrong choice for them. Robbers most of the time know they are doing the wrong thing but is just easiest to steal than to earn the money.

[Indar]

I don't think the problem is about being absolutely right but acting according based on what one thinks is right.

UK TV Channel 4 tonight (Thur 2nd April)

Cutting Edge examines events leading up to vicious, public attacks on complete strangers. Has the fabric of our society disintegrated? Or can we still look out for one another?

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/would-you-save-a-stranger

(p.s.: I don't have shares in channel 4 :))

[Ewok]

I don't think the problem is about being absolutely right but acting according based on what one thinks is right. People do most of the time what they find the easiest not the one they think is right.

The core principles of Shorinji Kempo will never be outdated or irrelvant (until 2035 when we all get chips implanted in our heads, thats if the second robot revolution hasn't wiped us all out ;))

1) Confidence
2) Courage
3) Willingness to act

Even today we see time and time again that these three things are lacking. Its not just about looking the other way when someone gets mugged, its about making the right choices about your diet, its about how you treat people in day to day interactions, about not abusing loopholes and building personal wealth at the expense of the rest of the world (I'm looking at you, faceless group of unnamed financial sector workers!)

Everything else is secondary - the techniques are just the bait that suck you in, they are the tools which we can equip people with so that they can have confidence in themselves to step out of their comfort zone and act on what they think is right.


I'm sure Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mugabee and probably dr Shipman for instance, all thought they were/are right but not many people (well probably to many) agreed with them.

No doubt they did, and how many people looked the other way? How many people knew it was wrong, and pushed it to one side with a "its not my problem"? How many people said "but I'm not a Jew, so I didn't speak up" until they were standing alone, with noone left to defend them? There is ample evidence of this throughout history, there was ample chance for things to have been controlled before it got out of hand, but noone had the courage or will to act.

[Indar]

The core principles of Shorinji Kempo will never be outdated or irrelvant (until 2035 when we all get chips implanted in our heads, thats if the second robot revolution hasn't wiped us all out ;))

1) Confidence
2) Courage
3) Willingness to act

.......and how many people looked the other way? How many people knew it was wrong, and pushed it to one side with a "its not my problem"? How many people said "but I'm not a Jew, so I didn't speak up" until they were standing alone, with noone left to defend them? There is ample evidence of this throughout history, there was ample chance for things to have been controlled before it got out of hand, but noone had the courage or will to act.

hubris..............thinking that we can "build an ideal world", when we can't even run our own small organisation or business.

"Project failures often have roots in two distinct, emergent and dysfunctional behaviors arising from the unwritten rules I just described. These are:

1. Silos and territorialism across the functions and business units
2. Unhealthy conflict avoidance within the project or organization

When participants feel safe in their environment, they tend to speak out and bring problems to the surface, allowing those issues to be managed.

On the other hand, without a sense of trust and safety, participants are reluctant to voice concerns and risk conflict, which keeps problems hidden."

http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=351&tag=btxcsim