The progression and evolution of a martial artists.
(by Nathaniel L. Peat)

“If you sit, sit. If you stand, stand but never wobble. – Master Ummon”

It never fails when a new student begins training, they assume three things incorrectly. Firstly they believe they know how to breathe, secondly they think they know how to walk; and thirdly they think they are in control. From a martial point of view neither is true. When one examines the posture of an untrained beginner, it is some what obvious that they have never done martial arts before. The motion is one of putting weight forward off one foot and catching with the other. In this action they tend to push with the back foot and fall, stopping them selves with the front foot, which is placed in front of the point of balance. Further when punching they tend to over extend the arm, leading with the shoulder and body weight forward, ahead of the center of gravity. Thus, as they are moving forward they are off balance repeatedly.

The other common assumption is that they believe they are in control. It is only the immature that believe that they are in control. Only the young and untried will use words such as “never” and “I can’t”. The reality is this; that they are only in control of themselves, and even then that control is momentary and thin. Anything can happen. Between the level of brown to black belt, the student now begins to realise that they have acquired great knowledge, they now know how to move correctly and have learnt how to breathe and walk as a martial artist. They now have a completely different outlook, no longer actively seeking more knowledge from the teachers ahead of them, but instead trying to correct the basic knowledge they have already gained. Despite this great gain in information there is still a loss on how to assemble it correctly which causes frustration and disappointment due to the fact that they now face the long gap between brown and black belt. Their mind is like undisturbed water, when you disturb water it looses its reflectivity accuracy somewhat, the images it reflects become distorted. What I am saying here, is that, the mind is preoccupied with thoughts of defence and attack. When it is in this state they are unable to properly comprehend the opponent’s intentions, creating an opportunity for the opponent to pounce and could possibly mean defeat.

Sho dan - 'The beginning...'

As for the more experienced practitioner their breathing is much more controlled and their movement is even more accomplished. The Yudansha (Ranks above black belt) practitioner is in far greater rule over breathing, movement and thought. He controls his own spirit, he realises that conflict, battle, war is a life like game, although a deadly serious one. To be provoked to anger, rashness or wrath would cause the loss of judgment and defeat would most certainly follow close behind those actions. He is clever and smart he thinks before he moves and does not waste energy, but instead he uses it to his advantage. He seeks to finish quickly and fast to avoid prolonging the battle. The quest for knowledge becomes less and less as he realises that it is better to master one thing at a time.

He no longer actively seeks inspiration from the ones who walk before him realizing that the journey has now become his own, with an in depth understanding that his new inspiration must become himself, he now instead of inspiration seeks guidance from the teachers as he continues to strive towards mastery. Once he has reached this level of realisation fully, he has essentially achieved all the basic fundamental ability a Sensei can strictly teach him at this stage. The process of instruction and teaching must now evolve, into another level of self realisation, the Yudansha rank continually seeking guidance and correction, but understanding that the development must now more come from inside. The path of the warrior now becomes a lonely one. Sho-Dan ‘the beginning’.

Lao Tzu once said “Knowing others is wisdom, but knowing self is enlightenment”

As the practitioner progresses to the stage of mastery, everything has evolved into a new dimension. The movement is no longer visibly seen. He begins to move without appearing to move. They lure the opponent into a trap or into the weakest position and then they physically move, but to all that observe, they appear to not move. After years of practice and experience, everything begins to work almost in perfect harmony. Of course they will never get to the state of perfection, because perfection is a moving target, but they get as close to it as humanly possible. The masters mind is calm like an undisturbed body of water, the water is clear and pure. Smooth and extremely reflective, reflective water reflects accurately the image within its range. Like a mirror it sees everything. The mind of the master is kept calm, the comprehension of the opponents movements both mentally and spiritually alike are already predetermined with great clarity and accuracy into an immediate response. They have mastered movement, and thought over techniques and no longer think, but just move. No longer see but just act. No longer initiate but just wait.

Yamanaka Shihan – “If you see them move, it is already too late.”

In all of these stages of development from beginner to master, we collectively are much more than just a karate-ka much more than just a jujitsu-ka, we are more than just fighters, we are even more than martial artists, we are warriors. From the very beginning of the evolution, we have re-learnt how to walk, re-learnt how to breath re-learnt how to think and re-learnt how to move. We in essence have transitioned through various stages in our martial existence, we have not changed, the substance is the same it is only the growing that has changed and the stage of development (Shu-Ha-Ri). It is a continual transition of all aspects of self to become better at what we do. We are not just a person who knows how to kick fast or move without having to block. The true martial artist (warrior) is a person who knows things which go far deeper than just self defence, they are people who are able to walk into a room and change the mood, someone who is able to walk into a room of confusion and an immediate calm falls upon that room, they are people that do not show off with fancy words and elaborate displays of knowledge, they are people who are able to demand authority without having to say it, they are people that are humble in spirit. You know a true warrior not from the way they look, but from their presence.

The warrior is the ultimate fighter, the fighter that knows where he comes from. He knows he does not simply emerge from what he has made himself, but also what has been handed down to him and is accumulated inside the very cells he is made of. He recognizes everything that the ones that have walked before him have instilled in him, every bit of information from his father and mother and the friends and guides that surround him. He has become.

Being a martial artist is only 1 tenth of what makes up a warrior; it is only one part of the whole, it is what gives us the confidence to take on life. A true fighter, a true martial artist a true warrior knows that we do not go through life without teachers, or guides, the people we meet that are able to give us something internal that something extra to cause us to become our own greatest teachers. By simply being there, a teacher helps us to realise it is we, ourselves who teach us. Because a true warrior understands and knows that inside of everything very deep down locked away somewhere, that in fact there is a creator.

N. L. Peat (2004 ©)