I found it!
The research paper on the Martial Arts that I wrote in 1997. I can't believe that 3 1/2" floppy disc still works! I can't believe the 10 year old external floppy disc drive plugged into a 2016 iMac could read it.
At the time of the writing I had no idea whatsoever that I'd be training in a karate dojo in Japan a mere 18 months later. The idea that I'd come here as an English Teacher was even further removed! Alas both happened, and this paper does much to shed light on the driving force of my desire to embark on this path that I'm still trekking.
I love the physical aspects of training in the martial arts, but from the time of writing the research paper over two decades ago right up to the present moment the physical training's been intermeshed with a spiritual quest of sorts. Funny in looking back on it--seeing what's remained unchanged and what I now view differently over those two decades--the most important lesson, or perhaps epiphany even, has been this realization:
What I'm searching for is what I'm searching with.
It was a desire to write about my experiences with martial arts in California and Japan that got me to digging through boxes hoping to find this and I'll be danged if I didn't find it! (for all I knew it was in one of the few remaining boxes in my parents' attic 5,500 miles away) Still tickled pink over finding it I am. I thought it'd be a good reread to get me started only to decide to copy and paste here once rereading it after so many years. So for anyone interested in a city college research paper on the spiritual benefits of training in martial arts, that's what follows this little intro. It was a fitting find since it mentions my first karate senseis as well as the English teacher who gave me the skills and confidence to train in the martial arts and accept an English teaching job in Japan.
In time get to part II of this--to my original idea of writing about the various martial arts I've trained in, what the training's like in different styles and dojos here in Japan compared with how it was for me at The Rising Sun in Fresno, CA.
Final note: I cringed when reading this and seeing that I mistakenly wrote that Bruce Lee did karate. He didn't. He created his own style of Kung Fu which, if I remember correctly he didn't even want to name but eventually did: Jeet Kun Do (his style of Kung Fu). I mentioned that name in the paper but the untrained eye will think it's karate that he or Jackie Chan did/do instead of Kung Fu. Karate and Kung Fu are of course two separate arts from two different countries. So big mistake there, but they are both martial arts with benefits that go beyond the physical and can be traced back to the same origins.
So that's that. Here's a writing sample of mine from 20+ years ago.
Stay tuned for Martial Arts part II
Stay tuned for Martial Arts part II
Martial Arts: More Than Physical
by
Casey Henry
English IA
R. Spight
April 28, 1997
Imagine for a moment that you are walking to your car in a parking lot late at night when all of a sudden you are pushed down and robbed of your purse or wallet. Do you think this would be an incentive to begin martial arts training? Now imagine a different kind of threat. This time the mugger is your own thinking robbing you of positive thoughts and high self-esteem. Perhaps this is due to problems in the family, at work, or by other stressful situations in life. Do you feel you would seek martial arts training to help you find peace of mind in this scenario? The martial arts are very popular for fighting and self defense techniques, but I feel they should also be equally recognized for the mental, emotional, and spiritual values that they offer.
Webster’s dictionary defines the word “martial” as warlike. Most of the martial arts schools that are teaching students in the U.S. today have a Japanese ancestry. Military, or warrior, artists that practiced in Japan’s history were swordsmen, called strategists, archers, spearmen, halberdiers, and marksmen (Musashi 46). Karate also originated in Japan’s history and now is the martial art that is popular in the U.S. Karate is a martial art with no weapons. Karate literally is kara, which means empty, and te, which means hands: empty hands (Funakoshi, My Way 33).
Bruce Lee helped to popularize karate in the early 1970's by bringing movies to the U.S. that were filled with karate fighting. His amazing abilities reaffirmed how physically powerful karate is, but unfortunately his thoughts on other gifts of karate were not made as popular. One must research his work to find that he felt karate was an “art of the soul”. He believed that “Jeet kun do is enlightenment”, a way of life that helps one develop will power, control, and intuition (Lee 11,12 ). These are the things that I feel karate could offer to a depressed or angry person, but that person is more likely to hear of the physical side of karate than how it could help with negative emotions. That is just the way it is. What you see on T.V. or the movie screen is all physical. The physical is only the “tip of the iceberg” though; karate is “many faceted” and has much more to offer (Cho).
There is a growing population of martial artists that are as interested in focusing on building a strong spirit as they are on fighting techniques. As I researched different styles of karate I was pleased to find books and articles focused on freedom from vanity and on positive thoughts. Black belt George Leonard even calls his chosen art of aikido “the art of loving combat.” The founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba, told of this potentially deadly art as “profoundly spiritual” (White 132,136). Many of the people who have substantial martial arts training do not even pay attention to the movies that give karate a violent image. They are no longer interested in what appears to be “the epitome of violence”, of watching Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris bashing heads on the movie screen (White 123). Many martial artists in different styles of karate see greater things than fighting.
To some degree scores of Americans who flock to the movies to catch the most recent film by a famous martial artist are not being as exposed to violence as they have been in the past. This is due to the rising popularity of martial arts movie superstar Jackie Chan. Chan’s films are uniquely different than those of other famous martial artists like Steven Segal or Jean Claud Van Dam. The latter two always play super tough guys who smash anyone’s head in who gets in their way, often in very blood filled violent scenes. I feel this is a false portrayal of the true martial artist. Chan refuses to play such a character. The characters he plays are courteous, humble, and often comical. Yet he still performs amazing feats that reflect his spectacular physical martial arts abilities. He refuses to show sex and foul language in his movies, and he keeps violence to a minimum(Chan). This more closely mirrors the positive spirit of martial arts as a discipline than the other two. It is much more healthy and it is nice to see Chan becoming the most famous karate man of the big screen in this era where violence sells.
My primary conviction for wanting others to know of the deeper benefits of the martial arts is my own insight on what I have gained from my personal training. My quest began when I was eleven years old. I started training in what is now being seen as a formidable martial art in ultimate fighting contests in Japan and America. This is wrestling. I wrestled competitively almost year round for ten years. In hindsight I see how this developed my body and spirit, and left me wanting after my days of training ended. After a few years with minimal exposure to wrestling I decided to go in a new direction. I started training in karate. My first attempt at training was unsatisfactory. I chose a school at random and found out the hard way that not all karate schools are inclusive and practice the courtesy that was taught by the founders of karate. I felt awkward being in a karate dojo for the first time. No one went out of their way to welcome me at any of the classes after I had paid my dues. I quit going to this school and was unimpressed with my experience with karate.
About a year passed and I continued to try and fill a void with weight lifting and even competing in freestyle wrestling again. I knew that I needed something more available than wrestling had become to me, so I tried karate again. This time I was more careful in choosing a school to train at. I talked with many different instructors and watched their classes. I was more concerned with a positive atmosphere and the attitude of the instructor than I was with the style of karate being taught. My search ended when I met Greg Dow of the Rising Sun in Fresno. Sensei Dow believes that karate can be effective in preventing depression or low self-esteem because “it helps a person to be a fully rounded human being”. A karate workout gives a person a healthy break from their problems, and those problems often seem to subside due to the positive effects of training (Dow). He spoke to me of things like courtesy and learning to fight so I could avoid conflict. His other students welcomed me and went out of their way to help teach me movements before and after classes. I was taught to bow before entering and leaving the dojo and to other students to show respect and courtesy. My first test at The Rising Sun wasn’t even physical. I had to learn the dojo kun, a code of ethics, that consisted of manners, peace, drive, courage, and self improvement. Sensei Dow moved to Pacific Grove, Ca. and left The Rising Sun in the hands of two of his students of over twenty years, Sensei’s Cho and Hartung, but the teachings remain the same. I have stayed training there for over six years now, and I received by shodan (black belt) at this school. It is at the Rising Sun that I am learning the true spirit of karate.
I still occasionally meet another person who claims knowledge of karate but talks only of physical movements. I will listen to someone bragging or showing off a skill and all I think of is the vanity that the early karate masters condemned (Funakoshi, My Way 101). I was saved from any chance of learning karate to be violent and vain by being required to read books by Gichen Funakoshi; the founder of my chosen style of shotokan. I was required to pass an oral test before obtaining a higher rank to show that I understood the true spirit of karate. It was through these requirements that I saw karate to be primarily a spiritual practice by way of the physical. It was around 600 AD that Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, traveled from west India to China to present lectures on Buddhism. He trekked this several-thousand-mile journey across the Himalayas and un-bridged rivers alone. His physical strength was awesome, so awesome that once in China a great multitude of his followers collapsed from exhaustion due to the harshness of his training. This inspired him to develop a method of training for the mind and body. He thought this was essential to attain the “essence of the way of Buddha” because “although the way of Buddha is preached for the soul, the body and soul are inseparable” (Funakoshi, Kyohan, 7). This training method eventually reached the Ryukyu islands and evolved into present day karate. I find it ironic that a primarily spiritual discipline has lost its soul for so many people who are still ignorant of its origin and more valuable benefits. They see only the physical.
A sense of calmness that comes from karate training definitely has a physical relatedness, but it is beyond physical (Hartung). This physical relatedness to healthier mind and emotions is even starting to be studied by psychotherapists as a healthy companion to verbal therapy. Training in the martial arts brings the physical and psychological states nearer. Both martial arts students and psychotherapy clients learn to understand and deal with resistance within themselves and in others. They learn to manage evasion and confrontation, and both groups also learn to cope with aggression and vulnerability. These similarities help bring about both physical and mental health more rapidly when the two practices are combined. There have been actual case studies of neurotic individuals improving their mental health greatly by linking martial arts training with verbal therapy. Of course a “good dojo” is needed where fellow students foster in each other experiences of growth and change (Weiser,118,124,126). If karate training can benefit the mind of a neurotic person, it would definitely help an individual experiencing minor depression or negative emotions.
The benefits of karate are more than self defense. Many of the movies portraying karate as violent, and people who brag of great karate feats are filled with vanity. True karate is emptying heart and mind of all earthly desire and vanity (Funakoshi, My Way 37). Even a deeper look at the name of the training hall will reveal more than fighting from the martial arts. Martial artists practice in a dojo. Many unknowingly translate this as “training hall.” Those who have studied find the true meaning which is “place of enlightenment” or a place to practice the way to enlightenment (White, 124). I’m sure there will always be false perceptions of the true nature of the martial arts, especially karate. I consider myself blessed to have seen beyond the physical. I received this insight through personal training and studying of the way where I found these words that best describe the art of the warrior.
“Karate-dō is a noble martial art, and the reader can rest assured that those who take pride in breaking boards or smashing tiles, or who boast of being able to perform outlandish feats like stripping flesh or plucking out ribs, really know nothing about karate. They are playing around in the leaves and branches of a great tree, without the slightest concept of the trunk” (Funakoshi, Nyūman).
Works Cited
Cho, William. Personal interview, 19 April 1997
Dow, Greg. Telephone interview, 4 May 1997
Funakoshi, Gichin, Karate-Dō Kyohan, Trans. Tsutomu Ohshima, New York, Kodansha International, 1973.
- - - . Karate-Dō My Way of Life, Trans. Tsutomu Ohshima, New York, Kodansha International, 1975.
- - . Preface to Karate-Dō Nyūman, Trans. John Teramoto, New York, Kodansha International, 1988.
Hartung, Bradley. Personal interview, 19 April 1997.
Jackie Chan Stuntman to Superstar A&E Television Network video biography, 1997.
Lee, Bruce, Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Santa Clarita, Ca. Ohara Publications, 1975.
Musashi, Miyamoto, A Book of Five Rings, Trans. Victor Harris, New York, Overlook Press, 1982.
Weiser, Mark, M.D., et al., Psychotherapeutic Aspects of the Martial Arts, American Journal of Psychotherapy, 49.1 (1995) 118-127.
White, John, et al., The Awakened Warrior. Ed. Rick Fields, New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1994.
Addendum:
My first karate senseis who I interviewed for this paper. Sensei Dow (left at his dojo in Pacific Grove) and L to R in the photo on the right is Sensei Cho, me, and Sensei Hartung. To this day I remain grateful for the instruction and inspiration they gave me. Osu!
Addendum:
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| Sensei Cho (L) me, Sensei Hartung (R) |
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| Sensei Dow (left) |
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