Boston Martial Arts Center 9/05/2011
I was reading an article about a Japanese Martial Arts Master Teacher who was 90 old. He was giving a presentation about his master’s ‘teachings’. He started to talk and said “I would like us students to find inspiration from our teachers.” Never did he speak of himself as being a Teacher or Master of martial arts, even at 90 years old, but instead he referred to himself as a student. A Master Teacher is one who has completed his life and therefore, there is no time left to learn. The path of Martial Arts is an ongoing process of self-introspection and physical training.
I still learn and talk to my teacher Mr. Stephen K. Hayes and, sometimes I visit his teacher in Japan, Dr. Hatsumi. I have been studying with Mr. Hayes for a better part of 29 years. Mr. Hayes will still make adjustments to my Taijutsu and provide pointers to guide my learning. Sometime in the last year I was training with Mr. Hayes in Kenjutsu, and I was moving to try and gain a position to penetrate and cut. I started my attack and was cut before I was able to move, all I could think of was “how did he know I was going to cut?” Mr. Hayes then went on to describe the position of the mind kamae in relation to what was going on. He then made some minor changes to my technique based on what I was doing wrong and we went on from there. I have to remind myself all the time of Shoshinsha – beginner’s mind.
A thought: The beginners mind represents a level of innocence with respect to learning. It does not mean that a person is not proficient in martial arts but rather that a person accepts teachings and observes from the environment without preconceptions. When very young children explore the world they do not have ideas of what is wrong, right, stronger, weaker. They are simply learning without overriding reality. When we stray from our thoughts, it can lead to significant misconceptions about reality as well as delusions about ourselves and our knowledge. In a true martial confrontation clarity of thought would have made the absolute difference between life and death.
Mark Davis
Boston Martial Arts Center
