This Column was published in 2009, shortly after the publication of my book, Warrior Mind. One of the pictures in my own book was a bit of a shock..
Z A N S H I N
by Dick Morgan
On
Unflattering Photos, and Mindfulness
I am very proud of my new book, Warrior Mind, except for one
page. On page 153, there is a picture of
a well executed seonage throw in a
beautiful setting: Pacific Rim Dojang.
The form of the throw is perfect; the setting classically
traditional. One can see the Kanji script on the wall, the weapons
rack in the background, the rice-paper screens reflected in the mirror, each of
the students kneeling in the traditional seiza position—all but one—me. In the background you can see me sitting
cross-legged and hunchbacked, an almost imperceptible anomaly, caught forever
by the camera in a moment of incomplete attention. What this picture may say to others is that
I’m getting older, and it’s increasingly difficult to sit for very long in the
manner of the younger students. But to
me it says that my attention wavered, and that my training is nowhere near
done.
Attentiveness
is the real practice. Technique is
merely a medium in which we can practice what Grandmaster Garrison calls mindfulness,
or being completely aware of your surroundings, and your potential interaction
with it, each moment. Without this awareness, martial technique is
useless. Because of reaction time lag,
unless you are paying attention and anticipating the potential need for action,
your technique will likely be too late.
At our most
recent WOMAF seminar, Portland Police Officer Mike Stradley taught the students police cuffing
techniques. While the methods of
applying handcuffs were very intense, the most interesting lesson was what Mike
had to say about what went on in the police officer’s mind beforehand. Officer Stradley said he is respectful of
each person he has to take into custody, yet he also keeps himself in
continuous strategic position, mindful of every nuance of the social
interaction, on the very edge of killing them if he has to. He says an officer never knows the mindset of
the person he has detained, and that person may suddenly become a deadly
threat. Unless an officer is paying
complete attention and ready to react to anything instantly, he (or she) may
lose his (or her) life. In police work,
there is no “do over.”
That shift, from cordial to deadly,
is a decision every police officer has to experience and a riddle he must solve
each time he encounters someone he must question or detain. His training must prepare him for quick
decisions, possibly based on scant information and inadequate time for
evaluation. What prepares him for this?
Physical training in defense
techniques helps. One must be completely
absorbed in the moment to be successful at randori. But Mr. Stradley’s training is different than
our traditional dojang training. He
practices only a few favorite techniques that have worked for him countless
times in the field. I once asked him how
many techniques he knows. He answered,
“Five, maybe six. But I know them very
well. They have to work on the person no
matter who they are, otherwise I have to shoot them.”
Another aspect of the police
officer’s necessary mindset is a thorough understanding of escalating
strategies. He must transition
seamlessly from cordial talking to physical control, to tasing, baton use,
beanbag rounds, or deadly rapid-fire 9mm rounds as necessary. Mr. Stradley once told me that whatever level
of resistance his charge takes the confrontation to, he must take it one level
further. If his charge takes a swing,
the officer will take him down and may break a few bones. If his charge draws a knife, the officer will
draw his gun. If the charge draws a gun,
the officer will almost certainly shoot him.
Stradley said there is no “fair” in fighting. On the street, it isn’t about fighting; it’s
about winning.
Whether you are a police officer or
not, an important aspect of your martial readiness is your knowledge of who you
are and what values you stand for. Aside
from defending yourself against harm, under what circumstances would you act
physically, perhaps violently, to bring about a desired resolution of
conflict? The police have an advantage
here. They are required to be very
knowledgeable of the law. But the average citizen may find himself in a
situation in which he must decide for himself what is right and what he must do
about it without a handbook to guide him.
A thoroughly examined set of personal ethics will help. In times of social extremity, there is rarely
time to figure out what is the right or how to behave. Your brain is likely to
be agitated and irrational anyway. You
must know immediately and instinctively how to act or it will be too late. You must work out how you will act in
various situations ahead of time.
Martial arts practice is a way of approaching that process.
And finally, whether you are a police
officer or not, in a time of social extremity, you must be able to remain
calm. Only a calm mind can be completely
attentive to the moment’s needs. The
agitated mind is one that is focused on itself instead of the surrounding
situation. A mind which has lost its
calmness is one that has disconnected.
Calmness thus becomes a spiritual prerequisite. Control of our breathing is how we train to
remain calm, and thus becomes a spiritual exercise.
Grandmaster Garrison recently handed
me this quote, which he had found and knew I would appreciate:
““Breathing is the vehicle of spiritual
experience, the mediator between body and mind.
It is the first step towards the transformation of the body from the
state of a more or less passively and unconsciously functioning physical organ
into a vehicle or tool of a perfectly developed and enlightened mind.”
-- from The Three Pillars of Zen – by Kapleau
Physical technique is important to
practice. But we must never forget that
what we are really practicing is a way of thinking, a way of relating to the
world we live in. Mindfulness is
choosing to relate to the world on one’s own terms. We practice our attentiveness, review our
possible strategies, clarify our ethics, and guard our calmness by controlling
our breathing. As long as we are still
breathing, our training is not done.
“Pointing a gun is easy. Deciding
to pull the trigger is very hard.”
-- Grandmaster
S.C. Kim
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