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Home > Archive > Yoga > July 2006 > Ahimsa, and sligtly off topic on karate (was Re: If everything is God,,, Bad is God to
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Ahimsa, and sligtly off topic on karate (was Re: If everything is God,,, Bad is God to
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| Richard Corfield 2006-07-26, 9:28 pm |
| On 2006-07-26, Sevenhundred Elves <sevenhundred@elves.invalid> wrote:
>
> Thanks. A great story. I get the point. Yet I have heard that the power
> of ahimsa at its peak is such that he who has truly integrated it in his
> character will not only be peaceful himself, but will also bring peace
> to those around him, even if they are robbers or wild animals.
>
An interesting example is when teaching karate. There are many ways to
get kids to settle down and behave, but the best I've found is to go
very calm. I've found the couple of times when I've done this that they
just follow surprisingly quickly.
Teaching karate is something that is fun in its own right, but quite
possible, to reconcile against ahimsa. Karate's moral code is as strong
as yoga's. I don't think this is the only similarity. Karate involves
physical, mental and breath training. "Becoming the Kata" is much a form
of meditation. Karate aims for one-pointedness and control over the mind,
even under the pressure of a fight, as much as it requires the ability to
perform the physical technique. Yoga and karate reinforce eachother here.
A post elsewhere here talked about ahimsa being strong where there is the
possibility of violance, where the practitioner has the choice. This is
very true in karate. The karateka, while being capable of inflicting great
harm, must be humble and respectful. While we learn to turn an incoming
strike into a broken limb we hope _never_ to have to use it. Grading is
up to the Sensei, and there is great emphasis on respect and etiquette.
The martial arts have their fair share of legends which try to teach
ahimsa - much like the snake story in a previous article. They generally
involve the martial artist managing to avoid the fight altogether, or
defeating the opponent while going out of their way to minimise harm.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard Corfield <Richard.Corfield@gmail.com>
_/ _/ _/ _/
_/_/ _/ _/ Time is a one way street,
_/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ except in the Twighlight Zone
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