The Energetic Qualities of Jiu Jitsu
a brief introduction to the two-fold qualities
The art of the martial arts is very much about the expression of movement and flow. When we compare martial arts to music, we can talk about things like rhythm and timing, or syncopation and harmony. Any of these comparisons are themselves worthy of a lengthy discussion.
But there’s also the musical concept of being “in the groove” which touches the energetic qualities of both arts. In music, that term implies a moment when the musicians and audience alike click, when everyone resonates in the precision of the beat. Not too far behind or in front of, but mysteriously on and in. When this musical event takes place a ‘moment’ occurs. A near-inexplicable turn, a within-ness and conducting of. An arriving. And it moves! It’s dynamic!
The martial arts, I came to learn, eventually delves deep into consciousness. Musicians, by comparison, learn that certain tones, timings, rhythms, melodies, changes or chords can strike their listeners strongly and emotionally. They may leap to their feet in joy, or slump in their chairs lost in tears and reminisces.
Martial arts works similarly deliberately on a subconscious level . Along the way, like the master musician, the martial artist may eventually become conscious of what makes these moments or events occur.
For the martial artist, we learn to ‘connect’ deeply within ourselves, to a spot that at first is frustratingly vague and highly elusive. We hear about from the early days of our training, this instruction to us to ‘center’.
"A warrior is always engaged in a life-and-death struggle for Peace." -Morihei Ueshiba aka O'Sensei or "Great Teacher"
We then learn to find that same spot in our attacker, even though they may not be aware of it themselves. Over a period of years we learn to do ‘center’ both statically and dynamically. In more advanced applications, we learn to do it multi-dimensionally, in the sense of learning to center physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. While the discussion of ‘centering’ is on the one hand a deeply objective, measurable (by martial arts standards) practice, it is simultaneously a highly subjective journey that’s been revealed through a steady pounding set of experiences.
What is ‘the Force?’ Where is ‘the groove?’
The martial artist learns to not only find all this, but to some extent dissect it, the better to interrupt and disturb the literal center of our attackers very being or essence. In many ways, it becomes an amazing study, but one that can also be deeply disturbing in the sense of shaking the fundamental cores of belief and reality.
It becomes, quite literally, a learning in the study of literally conducting the so-called universal flow. Conducting or channeling the universal flow.
Koichi Tohei
“A person who first sees a small man trained in aikido with mind and body coordinated throwing someone twice his size, or comfortably dealing with four or five other men probably considers it all very strange because he is thinking only in terms of the laws of the body and seeing it only with the body’s eyes. Were he to realize that the mind controls the body and view the case from the standpoint of the laws of the spirit, he would see that it is in no way marvelous.” — -Koichi Tohei, founder of The Ki Society
A two-fold description of the term ‘energy’
My personal practices are focused on maintaining a calm and flexible state of mind. In everyday life.
How does the martial artist convey this state of mind? Well, it is called by number of names, using various ways to describe it. The foremost description is the term ‘mushin’.
Mushin (無心); Japanese mushin; English translation “no mind”) is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat.They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. The term is shortened from mushin no shin (無心の心), a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and is also referred to as the state of “no-mindness”. That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus open to everything. It is somewhat analogous to flow experienced by artists deeply immersed in a creative process.
Martial artists also refer to energy as Ki, or Qi or Chi. Describing Ki succinctly can be a challenge, in much the same way as describing the word ‘spirit.’ Because there are many ways to use the term:
That’s a high-spirited horse.
Our team has a lot of spirit.
There’s real spirit in her art.
That was a spirited rendition of the symphony.
He’s really down in his spirits.
There’s nothing like a good round of spirits.
I don’t really believe in the spiritual.
From a basic point of view, the ‘energy’ of the martial arts can be said to incorporate both the mindset of the martial artist, as well as the energetic qualities of their ‘work’ or techniques. For example, when a really negative person walks into a room, he can bring the entire room down with his negative energy.
So the energy we are bringing to the table is one way of describing Ki. But there is also the energy that we put into things.
“You sure do put a lot into your work. It really shows.”
“You can really tell that baby feels her mother’s love.”
In this sense, Ki or energy is being described subjectively, with what we might term ‘tactile’ qualities.
Ki, or energy in the sense that a martial artist is describing it, is essentially two-fold. It encompasses our state of mind, and it infuses what we do.
A better example
A walk in the woods might provide us with a little better example. Because sometimes when we are walking through the woods or strolling down a trail we hear a sound. It may be a very small sound. And it causes us to pause.
Perhaps when that slight sound hits our ears we stop walking and suddenly become more alert. Because it is in that moment of alertness, when all of our senses instantly become still, when even our mind pauses and itself becomes still, it is in that moment that we are ‘empty’, so to speak. We are on ‘red-alert’ because in our alertness even our thoughts have paused. That ‘moment’ is mushin.