Archives
Martial Arts Related Articles
The Zen of Combat - Chu Fen Do Can Help Prepare Your Mind for the Street, By Tony Blauer
Originally printed in the June 1998 issue of Black Belt Magazine
Chu Fen Do is a system noted for its hard-core approach to street-defense training. Drills like the Panic Attack enhance confidence in students, yet it is the system's research into the mind, specifically the psychology of fear and its effect on performance, that truly differentiates it from others.
Whether martial artists train for self-defense or other reasons, they often fail to recognize that the mental side of combat is far more crucial to success than physical development is. This is particularly true for the aspects that involve the ego. Of course, physical skill is necessary, but people could probably defend themselves more effectively without martial arts training - if they simply chose to survive, to fight with their instincts and their indignation at being attacked.
In fact, this contention is supported daily by countless civilians who just say "No" to the sociopaths that prey on the supposedly meek and helpless. There are fat more people who defend themselves every day - without training - than there ever will be martial artists who train and then are attacked.
Since most styles do not truly prepare students for street survival, it is necessary for them to train separately for it. It's up to each person to recognize that the responsibility (meaning "response/ability" or "ability to respond") is his alone and, therefore, he must train scientifically and specifically for the street.
To enhance this process, chu fen do draws from a wealth of material. As the student progresses, he is introduced to more cerebral and spiritual concepts. These include performance psychology and unique Zen-Tao blend that complements martial arts training.
This training has transcendent value. The primary objective is to share discoveries on self-defense - to ensure that the student is prepared to protect his life or the life of a loved one. The secondary objective is to spiritually enlighten the practitioner through the cultivation of the art, which is achieved only when the student realizes that his expression of the art is uniquely his.
What follows is a brief synopsis of the chu fen do integration of Zen, which teaches one to be in the moment; Taoism, which teaches one to let go of the moment; and performance psychology, which applies to the higher levels of training, sparring and ultimately street survival.
Philosophical Science of Combat
Understanding how the mind categorizes, creates programs, uses logic and ultimately deludes itself is very important to a student's training. Modern society places too much emphasis on memorization, imitation and automaton cooperativeness. Transcendence is neither inspired nor sought.
To use a painting corollary, people spend far too much time trying to paint someone else's picture. They are not expressing their true self, nor are they truly creating. They do not seem to recognize that self-actualization is paramount for inner peace.
Art is about self-expression. It is an inspired moment of movement. Consider the idea of the art class: How can an art teacher tell anyone that his painting is or isn't "good"? It's that person's expression! Isn't the teacher really saying, "That's not the color I would use," or That's not the stroke I would use"?
The ego is so corrupt and omnipotent that people have trouble recognizing self-manipulation and delusion. Chu fen do students are often reminded that the longer they practice failure, the harder it will be to recognize success. That is, so many people spend so much time getting good at the wrong ting that the right thing is no longer recognizable. The late Brandon Lee once wrote, "For what level of imperfection will you settle?" Brilliant.
Today, success is often determined by acceptance from an authority - and authority that a person has identified and to whom he has relinquished some of his personal power. People aren't happy doing their own thing. They all want feedback to know whether they are worthwhile or on the right track. They think that if what they're doing fits the current trend and formula, it must be right.
In other words, if a person is not doing his thing, he is doing someone else's. This awareness represents the key to freedom and spontaneity with his skill and art. As a novice painter, he might imitate a master's work, but no matter how good his copy is, it is simply a copy.
As the old expression says,
"Seek not to follow in a holy man's footsteps; seek what he sought."
Painting by numbers is a start because it teaches techniques and the process, but it has limitations. If the teacher doesn't encourage exploration, the student becomes a clone of the master.
There is an expression in the martial arts:
"Most people boast 20 years of experience. Really, what they mean is that they have one year of experience repeated 20 times."
Until a student learns to respect and understand just how complicated his mind-ego and thinking process are, he will always be chained to the imitation/conformity process. He will be a slave to convention. His theory will continue to determine his experience: How he looks at something colors the evaluation.
The human mind is dualistic. This means people are always analyzing, forming opinions, drawing conclusions, comparing and expecting. Basically, they are thinking too much. Comparison leads to judgement, which leads to classification as good or bad. Since the mind navigates the body, the heart (representing intuition) often loses out to this process. This accounts for much of the controversy in the martial arts. Rather than sharing skills, practitioners criticize and challenge one another. They think too much in the wrong way.
What's wrong with thinking? How can a person think too much? Thinking too much refers to fixating, which is not to be confused with focusing. While a person is fixating, he is frozen and his mind has locked onto an idea. During combat, this type of thinking is fatal. Instead, intuition and instinct should control his arsenal. The anatomical thought process is far too slow to react to the immediateness of a non-telegraphic attack.
The duality of the mind is epitomized by combat. The mind - the ego-consciousness - is too concerned with making an impression or controlling the situation. People try to intellectualize something that is completely spontaneous and ever-changing. The only way to rise above this futile process is to simply accept it. Unconditionally. That means a person must rid himself of the thought of injury or death and of the desire to impress or win.
Enlightenment is often more easily attained when one trains combatively than by any other means. This is why Zen doctrines are used to guide students. Zen is about action. D.T. Suzuki summed it up best:
"Strictly speaking, Zen has no philosophy of its own. Its teaching is concentrated on an intuitive experience ... Zen upholds intuition against intellection, for intuition is the more direct way of reaching the Truth."
The Truth he referred to can be a perfect strike, counter, evasion, etc. - as well as personal enlightenment.
The ego, in its pejorative sense, is responsible for all diseases a person is afflicted with during combat. (Disease should be read "dis-ease," meaning "ill at ease.") These diseases are based on the duality of the fixative thought. For example, good/bad, right/wrong, fear/courage, winning/losing, etc.
The problem is simple. People engage in too much discursive and delusive thought. They fixate on everything and therefore interrupt the natural flow of order. In combat, intellectual deliberations are obvious emotional rhythm breaks. The superior opponent, who fights with directness and economy of motion, and employs the intuitive and instinctive elements of his mind and body, will exploit this cessation of flow. To correct this common flaw, it is necessary to purge the mind of all thought during combat. In Zen terms, they must achieve mushin, or "empty mind."
Yagyu, a famous sword master, stated in his treatise on the sword:
"The mind unmoved is emptiness; when moved it works the mysterious. Emptiness is one-mind-ness; one-mind-ness is no-mind-ness; and it is no-mind-ness that achieves wonders. Give up thinking as though not giving it up . Observe the techniques as though not observing. Have nothing left in your mind; keep it thoroughly cleansed of its contents; and then the mirror will reflect the images in their ‘is-ness.' Let yourself go with the disease, be with it, keep company with it; this is the way to get rid of it."
Mastering technique is important, but it is secondary. Transcending technique is the height of evolution. When the act and the actor become one, there is enlightenment. There is no thought process, no deliberation. True combat is composed of random sequential relationships, a succession of interdependent attacks, defenses and counterattacks. If harmony is to exist in combat, it is the understanding of sequential relationship that will engender it. The attacker and the defender must be one.
The truth of combat is simple: Circumstantial spontaneity, not some preconceived reaction, must control the flow of action. Having no preference for range tool or tactic is the "way." Only then can a person become one with his opponent. A response should be creative; therefore, it cannot be determined until it's done. Trying to decide whether a certain action should be done reveals a lack of insight into the omnipotent strategy of "choiceless choice." The opponent controls the fight. It is always his intentions, movements, attacks, etc. that stimulate the martial artist's response.
Philosophically, there are no answers in combat because there can be no questions. It's always yin and yang. It's blending. Equal forces that meet each other usually negate each other. Let the action dictate the reaction. No movement is wrong until the user solidifies the moment by fixating on it. One must not establish parameters around his arsenal or classify his techniques. This will only hinder on's improvisational skills, which are so necessary in real combat. Classification leads to solidification, which is the result of fixation, which in turn arrests instinctive flow. Thinking during combat is mechanical, but combat is always alive and fluid.
Thought and Reality
To further clarify the concept that thinking during combat is wrong, it's useful to remember that subjective thought is always myopic. Objective thought is liberating. Learn to think without the interference of thought. That is productive thinking. Non-interference allows everything to be seen in its true light, uncolored by the ego. The actor and the action are one; the martial artist has transcended technique.
In his essay on Zen and swordsmanship, Suzuki wrote:
"The man emptied of all thoughts, all emotions originating from fear, all sense of insecurity, all desires to win, is not conscious of using the sword; both man and sword turn into instruments in the hands, as it were, of the unconscious, and it is this unconscious that achieves wonders of creativity. It is here that swordplay becomes an art."
He continued:
"As the sword is not separated from the man, it is an extension of his arms and accordingly a part of his body. Furthermore, the body and mind are not separated as they are in the case of intellectualization. The mind and body move in perfect unison, with no interference from intellect or emotion. Even the distinction of subject and object is annihilated. The opponent's movements are not perceived as such, and therefore the subject, so called, acts instinctively in response to what is presented to him. There is no deliberation on his part as to how to react. His unconscious automatically takes care of the whole situation."
It is important to come to terms with the nature of thoughts and how they interfere with reality. Once this is grasped, the martial artist is left with satori, or enlightenment.
Another Voice
Zen master Philip Kapleau wrote:
"All thoughts, whether ennobling or debasing, are mutable and impermanent; they have a beginning and an end even as they are fleeting with us ... It is important in this connection to distinguish the role of transitory thoughts from that of fixed concepts. Random ideas are relatively innocuous, but ideologies, beliefs, opinions and points of view, not to mention factual knowledge accumulated since birth, are the shadows which obscure the light of truth."
One might ask, What am I to do if I can't think? In a philosophical sense, thinking refers to duality. When a person liberates himself from duality, his thoughts are pure.
Suzuki asserted:
"Thinking is useful in many ways, but there are some occasions when thinking interferes with the work, and you have to leave it behind and let the unconscious come forward. In such cases, you cease to be your conscious master but become an instrument in the hands of the unknown. The unknown has no ego-consciousness and consequently no thought of winning the contest because it moves at the level of non-duality, where there is neither subject nor object."
Many of these Zen ideas may seem paradoxical to the logical mind. But perhaps there is more to life than logic. It is linear logic and intellectualizing that clouds true seeing. Buddhist thought tells that logic should harmonize with life in order to be logical, not vice versa.
With simplicity comes adversity because most martial artists equate complexity with competence. The simplicity being referred to is the true nature of instinct and intuition. The fighter strives to respond instinctively and intuitively. On this level, his thoughts and actions are organic. They are unpolluted and uncolored by the many "diseases" brought on through confrontation. Philosophically, everything is perfect. There is perfect perfection and perfect imperfection. Nothing is right or wrong. Everything just is.
The truth gives many martial arts students trouble. They fixate on what they believe reality to be. When they stop emotionally coloring their daily experiences, they will experience reality.
Now go hit a bag.