A quiet, humble, meditative book with short chapters of the author's musings about his journey learning martial arts, including his training classes with Bruce Lee. Combine with Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel and The Martial Way by Forrest Morgan for a useful collection of books that help a curious reader apply Zen insights to daily life.
Notes:
* "The Zen of martial arts de-emphasizes the power of the intellect and extolls that of intuitive action. Its ultimate aim is to free the individual from anger, illusion, and false passion."
* Bronislaw Kaper, the film composer, called out the author on his hostile technique as a journalist, suggesting he study karate: "The exercise might help you slim down and allow you to work off some of your hostilities."
* His first teacher distinguishes between "showing" versus "sharing" an art: "by sharing it with you, you will not only retain it forever, but I, too, will improve." The concept of the teacher learning from the lesson he gives.
* A dojo is a miniature environment of confined conflict where our opponent helps us understand ourselves more fully.
* "There is a Buddhist saying that anyplace can be a dojo."
* "The martial arts Sensei is very much like the Zen master; he has not sought out the student, nor does he prevent him from leaving. If the student wants some guidance in climbing the steep path to expertise, the instructor is willing to act as a guide on the condition that student be prepared to take care of himself along the way. The instructor's function is to delegate to the student exactly those tasks which he is capable of mastering, and then to leave him as much as possible to himself and his inner abilities. The student may follow in the footsteps of his guide or choosing alternate path--the choice is his." <--this quote reminds me tremendously of my experiences teaching people investing.
* "The philosophy of the [zen] arts is not meant to be over-intellectualized; it is meant to be experienced. Thus, inevitably, words will convey only part of the meaning."
* "I have come to see that enlightenment simply means recognizing the inherent harmony of ordinary life."
Empty Your Cup
* The story of the master overfilling a teacup in front of an overconfident professor: "The cup is overfull, no more we'll go in." "Like this cup," the master said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you then unless you first enter your cup?" Useful metaphor for avoiding overconfidence, avoiding epistemic arrogance, staying in your circle of competence, avoiding Dunning-Kruger.
* Bruce Lee when teaching the author, when receiving pushback from the author in training: "at least empty your cup and try."
* "When you seek it, you cannot find it."
--Zen riddle
Process not product
* "You will never learn to do any endeavor properly unless you are willing to give yourself time. I think you were to custom to having everything come easily to you, but this is not the way of life or of the martial arts."
* The author has a "deadline"--he sets an amount of time to learn hapkido. The moment he lets go of this arbitrary deadline and embraces the process rather than the end, he can learn more fluidly. In other words consider the concept of "deadline pressure" as a sort of Western imposition of ideas about how things should be done, false notions of productivity, etc.
Seize the moment
* Learning to live in the present, not the future or past. Having your mind here rather than elsewhere. "Zen teaches that life must be seized at the moment. By living in the present you are in full contact with yourself and your environment, your energy is not dissipated and is always available."
* "I realized how often while working I allowed my mind to wander thus, dissipating both energy and concentration."
Conquer haste
* "I did what I would have done had I been alone. I put the letter aside until I had conquered haste. Then when I set my hand to it, I opened it as though it were something precious." Master Han, discussing a letter that he eagerly anticipated from his family in Korea, and how he was able to wait until finishing a (relatively unimportant) meeting before reaching to read it.
* "Those who are patient in the trivial things in life and control themselves will one day have the same mastery in great and important things."
Know your limits
* "You will never learn anything new unless you are ready to accept yourself with your limitations."
--Bruce Lee to the author.
* "But the fact still remains that my real competition is the advancing years." "Stop comparing yourself at forty-five with the man you were at twenty or thirty," Bruce answered. "The past is an illusion. You must learn to live in the present and accept yourself for what you are now."
Even the masters have masters
* "Staircases with landings": plateaus where you experience significant frustration and discouragement.
* Recognize how little you know compared to true masters.
* Exposure to someone much better than you helps you improve.
Lengthen your line
* "It is always better to improve and strengthen your own line or knowledge than to try and cut your opponent's line. Think about what I have just said." On playing to your own best ability rather than trying to worsen your opponent's play.
Do not disturb
* On the difference between spending time and wasting time: "To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. We are spending it during lessons just as we are spending it now in conversation. To waste time is to expended thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever."
--Bruce Lee
* "I will not permit people to steal my time. I have limited my friends to those people with whom time passes happily."
--screenwriter Stirling Silliphant, teaching Bruce Lee how certain people, by wasting your time, or by passing time unhappily with you, are literally taking your existence from you.
Active inactivity
* Consciously doing nothing. Leaving room for empty space.
* The concept of doing nothing--which has nothing to do with just not doing something--is also an activity and an exercise.
Inactive activity
* Respectfully reading the intentions of your opponent, staying patient, interpreting his signals. The power of controlled patience. Being patient and seeking a solution or an opening.
Extend your ki
* "Ki, the invisible life force or energy that cannot be seen but that most martial artists, especially aikidoists, train to develop."
* Everyone has it to some extent--even a baby. Have you ever tried to pick up a child or a dog or did not want to be lifted? The child seems heavier when it is not cooperating, but when the child wants to be picked up at he feels lighter. That's because the mind is truly a source of power, and when mind and body are coordinated, ki manifests itself. With practice you can turn ki on at will."
Zen breathing
* Belly breathing.
* "Imagine that the air you are breathing is fog, and visualize it coming through your nose and throat into the lower abdomen. Let it circulate there and through your body and your limbs. Visualize it as it travels around the various channels and meridians of your body. When you exhale, see the fog leaving your mouth."
* "I remember how fast I was by the fact that even such a simple thing is breathing was subject to being relearned and mastered."
Go with the current
* "The principle of avoiding conflict and never opposing an aggressor's strength head-on is the essence of aikido. We apply the same principle to problems that arise in life. The skilled aikidoist is as elusive as the truth of Zen; he makes himself into a koan--a puzzle which slips away the more one tries to solve it. He is like water and that he falls through the fingers of those who try to clutch him."
* "Softness triumphs over hardness, feebleness over strength. What is more malleable is always superior over that which is immovable. This is the principle of controlling things by going along with them, of mastery through adaptation."
--Lao-Tzu
Anger without action
* "It's not bad to have aggressive or hostile thoughts and feelings towards others. When you acknowledge these feelings you no longer have to pretend to be that what you are not. You can learn to accept these moods. What is bad, however, is letting them dictate your nature."
* "The angry man will defeat himself in battle as well as in life."
--Samurai maxim
Recognize a true threat
* Discerning false images of strength (like browbeaters, musclemen, arrogant intellectuals) from true strength.
* Your "circle": whether someone is in your circle and can cause you harm, or not in your circle at all. Maintaining control and distance.
* "To avoid being intimidated, think more and react less."
Kime: tighten your mind
* An unfocused or loose mind wastes energy
* On those days when I have worked with total concentration, I have accomplished more and ended the day less tired than on days when I was easily distracted.
Mushin: let your mind flow
* "It" killed him (or "it" shot, see Zen In The Art of Archery): acting without conscious awareness. You just act. A state of no-mind, "when the actor is separate from the act and no thoughts interfere with action because the unconscious act is the most free and uninhibited."
* "When mushin functions, the Mind moves from one activity to another, blowing like a stream of water and filling every space."
* "The Mind must always be in a state of flowing, for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death."
* "When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the unconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the unconscious that strikes."
--From Takuan
* "The instant you become conscious of trying for harmony and make an effort to achieve it, that very thought interrupts the flow and the mind blocks. Now you have the key to the ancient Zen riddle: when you seek it, you cannot find it."
Instinctive action
* A state of awareness like a sixth sense, a total involvement in environment.
Un-thinking pain
* Effective ways of coping with injuries and pain. Regulating your breathing and fixing your mind and your eyes on something else, elsewhere. "Without mind there cannot be pain."
* The author has a muscle pull in his back with such great pain that he collapses, but then begins analyzing the pain itself, savoring it, attempting to assign it a taste, a smell, and to visualize it in color. "Although the pain still existed, it quickly seemed less intense because my brain was investigating it."
* Treating pain with awareness and investigation, rather than avoidance or reactance.
Effortless effort
* "Relax. Stop straining. The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be."
* "Sparking": movement without conscious thought, the thought and the action must be simultaneous. "Stop caring." The author's sensei tells him. "It is the caring or desire which stands in the way of effortless effort."
* It's sometimes amusing to hear the pushback and the reactance from the author to advice from his teachers ("that's all well and good for you to say..."). I'm sure I'm like many readers where I see my own overconfidence and arrogance in comments like these when I'm being taught.
* "The last effort, the faster and more powerful you will be."
--Bruce Lee
Make a friend of fear
* "You cannot run away from fear in the dojang. In fact, it's a perfect place in which to learn to face fear. Most of the time we generate our own fears, and this is especially true when we confront an unfamiliar situation that shatters confidence. And this is what happened to you today."
Confident Seeing
* Visualizing precisely what you want.
* Billie Jean King: "Before the second serve I visualize it going in. I never permit myself to think for even a moment about the possibility of a double fault."
* Bruce Lee, when a negative thought enters his mind, visualizing it written on a piece of paper, then visualizing himself wadding the paper up into a tight ball, then setting it on fire and visualizing it burning to a crisp. "The negative thought is destroyed, never to enter my mind again."
* More visualization of healing of an injury (see also Peak Performance), imagining little men with mortar and cement and welding tools climbing around in the injured area, making repairs.
The power of focus
* "To generate great power you must first totally relax and gather your strength, and then concentrate your mind on all your strength on hitting your target."
--Bruce Lee
Multiple options
* Hyams tells an unfortunately apocryphal story about Mas Oyama, the famous master, bringing down a huge charging bull (most likely it was an ox or a steer according to reports of people who were there).
* "The karateist who has given the necessary years of exercise and meditation is a tranquil person. He is unafraid. He can be calm in a burning building."
--Mas Oyama
* The idea here is that this serenity comes from "fully extending yourself and what you do, knowing that you have done everything you are capable of doing."
* Considering your alternatives with a kind of detached calm. Making a decision and following through with it calmly. Responding to events without haste or passion, knowing you have more alternatives than you think you have.
Martial arts without Zen
* Two competing dojos, one poaching students from the other. "It is possible to master the physical techniques of the martial arts without understanding or absorbing the spiritual and philosophical basis of the arts."
* The author discovers that is martial arts training helped him in other life domains. He plays tennis better because he hits the ball without thought and can relax physically and mentally. He runs better because he's not concerned with running a certain distance or for an established length of time. Likewise with his work, he does it without conscious effort, and the work flows because he is not in conflict with it.
* Developing patience, more tolerance of others, and more self-confidence from the study of Zen in the martial arts. Losing one's combativeness. Accepting defeat as part of the learning process.
Karate without weapons
* The story of Matsumura and the engraver: "Today I am a wiser man than I was yesterday. I'm a human being and a human being is a vulnerable creature, who cannot possibly be perfect. After he dies, he returns to the elements--to the earth, to water, to fire, to wind, to air. Matter is void. All is vanity... Vanity is the only obstacle to life."
Winning by losing
* The author diffuses the hostility of another person, and does not act aggressively. He "won by losing."
* Confidence and pride even when you do not fight, the Chinese word "sai" or presence. A byproduct of self-confidence, something you project when you are certain of your ability.
Reading List:
Book of Ki by Koichi Tohei
Ki in Daily Life by Koichi Tohei
"Guiguzi," China's First Treatise on Rhetoric: A Critical Translation and Commentary
The Way of Chuang Tzu
Lao-Tzu and Taoism by Max Kaltenmark
*** Karate-Do: My Way of Life by Gichin Funakoshi
The Essence of Karate by Gichin Funakoshi
The Unfettered Mind: Writings of the Zen Master to the Sword Master by Takuan Soho
Mislaid in Hollywood by Joe Hyams
Bogie by Joe Hyams
