AT WHAT PRICE?

 By Phillip Starr

Over the decades that I've been involved in the martial ways, I've watched as many of its traditions have been cast aside (or ignored) by many contemporary teachers and students (largely Western). This is, I feel, a shame because there are real reasons for certain traditions. We Westerners often tend to look down on such things as having little, if any, real value and the times in which we live don't seem to hold things like tradition in very high regard. Sadly, I think this has contributed considerably to the deterioration of the martial ways.

In our quest for what's “new and improved” and what we believe is “practical and realistic”, we are losing the real spirit of the martial arts. And much more. I used to tell my students if all they were interested in was self-defense – something that was new and improved, and practical - they should buy a firearm. There's no centuries-old traditions for this device and it is very practical. No argument there!

But what we do isn't merely for self-defense; it's an ART that dates back hundreds of years. There are actually valid reasons for many of the “traditions” but they're hard for the casual observer to see. But they're important and some of them contain what we might call “secrets.”

Take iaido (the art of drawing and cutting with the Japanese sword), for instance. It looks simple enough to do; you simply grasp the scabbard with your left hand and draw/cut with your right, right? No. It isn't nearly that simple. For example, the hakama (what looks like a long skirt worn by practitioners of several traditional Japanese martial arts) must be worn and tied just so. “Why?”, many Westerners would ask. “It's just part of the training uniform, after all.”

Actually, it's much more than that; the cloth cords that are used to ties it round your waist are actually used to SUPPORT the sword! If they're worn incorrectly, the sheathed sword can easily slip into an unsupported position, making it difficult (and slow) to draw. Back in the day, that would mean the difference between life and losing important body parts. The tradition of donning the hakama (which can take more than a year to learn to do properly) is actually a secret to acquiring real skill in the art. Who woulda thunk? Certainly not a Westerner.

I encourage you to study the traditions of your chosen art and strive to find out the WHY as well as the HOW.