SWIMMING ROUND THE STONE; MY TWIST ON IT

 by Phillip Starr

In Japanese (and Chinese) culture, the carp has a long history of respect because many of its attributes are considered worthy of emulation. For instance, it is a paragon of bravery. If you have ever caught one on a fishing line, you know that it will fight furiously to try to free itself. But when the battle is lost and the fish has been brought out of the water, it lies still and accepts its fate calmly and stoically...in a spirit similar to that of the samurai when they faced death.

The Chinese are responsible for teaching the Japanese how to selectively breed this fish and they imparted many of their secrets several centuries ago. Today, the raising of koi (carp) is a multi-million yen business.

Mr. Dave Lowry (author of several best-selling martial arts books) wrote an article on this subject and I will put my own spin on it, for what it's worth...

One technique for raising healthy fish was the placing of a stone in the pond where the fish lived. If koi are placed in a pond with nothing but water in it, they become lazy, listless, and subject to disease. The Chinese found that placing a stone in the pond give the fish something to swim around and they grow energetic and strong. It's a kind of anchor for them and they can clearly see it and use it.

Mr. Lowry goes on to say that he often regards the budo (wudao or martial ways) like that stone. They form a stone of sorts,.. for those who have made the martial ways a part of their lives. He then goes on to discuss how the budo kept him anchored during the turbulent 60's (which is when he trained with his sensei in iaido and also trained judo). The budo provided him with family; consistency in a world where values had been turned upside down and inside out (I too, remember those days). The training hall provided a sort of granite boulder around which he and his classmates (who trained regularly) swam.

The traditions, the training methods, the challenges...were all the same as they had been for his martial arts ancestors. Outside the walls of the training hall the storms of social change raged, but within the training hall was the calm of a temple. He always knew that the stone was there and he could depend on it. The budo provided him and his classmates a core upon which they could center their lives.

Mr. Lowry's essay on the subject is really very delightful and it made me think....that within a given martial art style or system, there must also be a stone. I think this stone is formed out of the traditions, the training methods, the forms...of a given style or art. Without them; without the stone, the style or system flounders and becomes confused, weak, and sick. This is, I think, what has happened to many “modern” martial arts. They have no stone to swim around. They are unidentifiable. They have no markings which make them distinct and clear. No forms, no traditions, no sense of etiquette, no traditional, hard and fast training methods.

Follow your traditional system. Its methods and traditions will remain steadfast; they form the “stone” around which you “swim.” They provide us with a great consistency; a solid anchor which we can see and touch and experience firsthand.