Author: Mike Clarke
THE COLLINS DICTIONARY describes a fanatic thus: ‘Filled with abnormal enthusiasm’. For anyone who ‘walks the middle path’ of the Martial Arts, it is a condition that one should never find oneself in.
If a person can be described as fanatical about training then I would have to believe they are either new to Martial Arts, or they have, as they say, missed the plot. That’s not to say that some people don’t maintain a high degree of enthusiasm for their art over a long period of time. Far from it. Indeed, if it were not for such people we might not have anyone to show us the way. But you see, there is a big difference between someone who has a deep love for their art, and a person who is fanatical about it.
With love comes understanding, compassion, forgiveness. With fanaticism comes a kind of tunnel vision that excludes everything except the perceptions of the fanatic. This is as true in life as it is in the Martial Arts, for if you are a follower of Judo, Aikido, Karatedo or any other art that teaches more than just technique you are bound to follow the middle path. This is what the do means.
To love another person is to try to understand them and all their moods. To forgive them their faults, and to be compassionate should they need your help. If you love your art, the same is true towards other Martial Artists. If you know your art and feel secure with it, should it really be a problem to mix with others freely and openly? To try to understand their way of doing things instead of dismissing it out of hand? And to offer a helping hand should the need arise? I think not. You see, if you know your Art well there is no reason to feel threatened by someone else’s views or opinions.
However, if you have not come to understand the art you practise then you might feel it needs defending. This is a common reaction among beginners who, rather childishly, become infatuated with their newly discovered Martial Art. Beginners, and I include myself when I was one, do not understand just what it is they have found when they first walk into a Dojo. They probably think they do, but we who have trained longer know that they do not. For the concepts within any Martial Art are deep and need time to
understand. Even if we look on Martial Arts as nothing more than methods of combat, it would still be beyond the realms of understanding for all those who did not have firsthand experience of fighting. And I believe that the vast majority of people who turn up for training in the arts, are people who are looking for ways to avoid fighting.
So how does someone become a fanatic? Well I think it has to do with a lack of education. Ignorance is bliss, or so people would have us believe, but we as Martial Artists should never be happy with such a statement. To be ignorant in either good manners or the techniques of one’s art is not the sign of a Budoka. Academic ability is not the same as intelligence, so please do not get the two things confused. It is always easier to be lazy. It is always easier to miss training. In fact, it is almost always easier to do the wrong thing instead of the right thing. A person with any intelligence knows when they are in the wrong. The benefit we get from training is to develop the strength of character to do something about it. But this is a skill that is not easily acquired, nor is it something that comes quickly. In this lies one of the reasons for lifelong training.
Some people unfortunately give way to their weaker side. They stay with their art because often their ego tells them it is the only place they will receive the adulation they crave. To foster an environment where their ego can live and grow, such people open a dojo, or even more than one. They gather around them people who know no better. Often it’s children who are the target, for such minds are easily led. There’s that word again. Often fanatical people are outwardly powerful, loud and aggressive. Sometimes they appear to be just the opposite … but their true nature is often seen in moments of stress or confrontation.
One of the clear signs of a fanatic is their inability to let things go by if they feel they can get one over on someone else. If they read something in a magazine they often feel they have to write in and put things straight. Often by doing this they show themselves for what they truly are. For their lack of understanding on the subject of which they are speaking is often profound, and as such their statements are seen as unbalanced. This is due to their ignorance and their laziness.
As we grow we must all accept criticism. To the well-balanced person this is not such a hard thing to understand. It is, after all, a way of keeping us on the path we wish to follow. From day one we accept criticism from our Sensei. His, or her, criticism is always constructive. If it is not perhaps you should take another look at the person who is teaching you and ask yourself if you would like to be more like them. If the answer is yes, that’s fine. But if it’s no, then leave and find another teacher. A fanatic finds criticism very hard to take even when it is constructive. In fact, to some people there is no such thing as constructive criticism; all criticism is bad and should be silenced quickly. This is often done with sarcastic remarks about the person to which they refer, or the style they are commenting on. Again, this is a very unbalanced way to conduct one’s life and is to be avoided at all costs by sincere Martial Artists.
One fanatic in England wrote to a magazine declaring that his sty Ie was really a missionary style. Inferring that all other styles had got it wrong and his would eventually lead everyone else out of darkness and into the light. As he said, “He would climb a rockface just to teach to the followers of this style”. The ‘converted’ I think he described them as. Such statements one might expect from a person with very little training and understanding, but sadly that man holds a 5th Dan grade in Karate, fully endorsed by the
people who profess to be in charge of things.
On page twenty of his book The Essence Of Okinawan Karatedo, Shoshin Nagamine Sensei quotes a verse from a poem:
No matter how you may excel in the art of Te (Karate)
And in your scholastic endeavours, Nothing is more important than your behaviour
And your humanity as observed in daily life.
It is clear that the Martial Artists of the past put goodness of one’s character before the techniques of their art. To the masters of old the building of one’s character was the most important thing, not the acquisition of fighting ability alone. In those days one did not have Dan grades to stick on the end of one’s name and to profess one’s ability and status. It meant more to people what your were like as a person, and so by such yardstick was a person measured. Unfortunately this method is all but lost in modem society, and so it is all too easy to call yourself Master.
Funakoshi Gichin Sensei, the father of Shotokan Karatedo, writes on page 48 of his book, Karatedo Nyumon: “Be careful not to be like those who do not train sufficiently, yet become ‘masters’, because their talk resembles that of experts. From olden times these men have been called ‘Kuchi Bushi’, a derogatory term written with characters meaning Kuchi (mouth), and Bushi (warrior).
It is clear from the old master’s warning that such lazy people lived, and unfortunately taught Karate even then. But who can remember the Kuchi Bushi? When they died their lies and deception did not die with them. It was passed on down to the people who followed them, but they in turn were too busy looking after themselves to give any recognition to their teachers. And anyway, who would take them seriously if it were known who their teachers were?
A fanatic is a person who is easily led, and easily fooled. A person who probably knows they are not taken seriously and is angered by that fact. A person who couldn’t care less about other people or their feelings. A fanatic is a selfish, ugly individual who knows nothing – only how to please oneself. In short, a fanatic is not a person who follows the way of Martial Arts training regardless of style or art. There is no logic in a fanatic’s mind. They are, as the dictionary suggests, filled with abnormal enthusiasm. And it is that abnormal enthusiasm that fills their minds that denies them the opportunity to grasp the positive aspects of Martial Arts training. There is no room for anything in their minds other than things that support their abnormal enthusiasm.
It’s a sad fact that many people will see in this article things that will be familiar. Some may even feel the need to write in and put me straight. I’m sure that many will recognise others in the words I have written. But remember that you should look to yourself first before you look at others. As a Christian might say, “Let he who is without sin”, etc, etc.
In closing I would like to relate to you the words ofShigeru Egami Sensei, of the Shoto-Kan Dojo:
“Compassion and consideration for others are commonplace words, frequently used, but to put them into practice is extremely difficult. Before taking any action, it is of the greatest importance not only to take the other person’s position into consideration but to understand it fully. In fact, in coming to a perfect understanding ofthe other’s position you will achieve a unity with him, and words like victory and defeat will be seen as meaningless. This is the real secret of Karate, co-existing with your opponent. And when this is accomplished the understanding that human beings were made to cooperate with each other will become your own understanding. Practice will never be complete until this state of mind is achieved.
“Beginning in the training of one’s body, practice continues with the training of one’s spirit. Finally one realises that body and spirit are not two things, but one. This is true practice”.
To the fanatic, such wisdom is thrown to one side in the head-on rush for status and power. They become lost in their own world with its own disjointed logic. And they seem to forget quite easily that the style they practise, or the art they train in was probably founded, and in some cases still headed by, people of rea] wisdom.
If you do train in the Martial Arts then it is incumbent upon you to follow all of the teaching of your system, and not just the parts that suit you best. In Karatedo we have the Dojo-klln. How many, I wonder, know the klln of their schoo]? And of those who do know it, how many try to live by it?
I hope that only a few who read this are fanatics. I really do. However, I guess I will never know unless, feeling threatened, they decide to write in. But in the end it doesn’t matter. You know how you are yourself. But remember, we are told that we should always walk the middle path, and so if you hold views that are not open to reasonable discussion then maybe you should stop and see if you haven’t strayed from that path. If you can do that in a truthful way then I, for one, think you are truly making progress.
To be fanatical about your Martial Art, or anything for that malter, is to be unreasonable. And being unreasonable is not something we in the Martia] Arts should encourage. To have a high grade in a Martia] Art should indicate not only a person’s fighting or athletic ability. It should also mark a person as a leader of others. A fanatic can only indicate to others, there is no room for discussion. It’s their view, or nothing else. Such egotistical behaviour has no place within the Martial Arts. If it is there, and I for one believe it is, it is because we as Martial Artists allow it to be. That in itself is a sad indictment on us all.
All is not lost, however. As long as you yourself take care not to become fanatical, the reality will be passed onto the next generation of Budoka. In the early seventies, when I started training, it was said that only one in every 100 people would eventually make it to B]ack Be]t level. In those days of Bruce Lee and Kung-Fu, there were a lot more people training than there are today. And yet there seem to be many more Black Belt holders being passed out now than then. There is no doubt in my mind that it is easier in many cases today to acquire a B]ack Belt than it used to be. I ask myself, why? And when I look around at some of the so-called leaders of today and see how many only pay lip service to co-operation, while all the time they are quietly and fanatically pampering their own egos, I have my answer.
As always, the middle path will keep us from such diversions. All we have to do is stay on it. As all Martia] Arts are basically teaching the same message through self-effacement, it should not be too difficult to notice when we wander too far off the path. It just takes honesty, that’s all.
