An interesting connection between Budo and Bharatiya tradition

There are two concepts that are taught in the Bujinkan system of martial arts which are very simple to state but extremely difficult to express and achieve. The two concepts are “Connect” and “Control”. These concepts are mentioned to everyone practicing in the Bujinkan from their early days as practitioners and fairly often. But they are only expected to be practiced in earnest after several years of experience. Let me attempt to express what these concepts mean (at least to me), how they are intended to be understood and the context for the same.

I will start with the concept of “Connect”. There are four other concepts that have been shared as part of the training in the Bujinkan over the last seven or eight years. I have heard these from my teacher and mentors who in turn have heard the same from Soke Hatsumi Sensei back in Japan. These concepts are,

• Do not use strength (Chikara Janai)
• Do not fight (Tatakai wa Janai)
• Match the Uke/opponent (Awaseru)
• Do not sever the connection (En no Kirinai)

The original Japanese phrases that convey the idea are also mentioned above. There are several practitioners with vastly greater experience than I that have written about and explain each in detail. I would encourage everyone to read the same. I am not going into the etymology of the same and will stick to learning from my own personal training and experience.

When the statements “do not use strength” and “do not fight” are mentioned, they do not in any way denote or promote pacifism. They are referring to how one should not have an ego driving their actions in the fight. Using one’s physical strength might win an individual some fights. But it will not necessarily win all fights. One will always face opponents who possess greater physical strength. In a situation where there are multiple opponents, it is highly unlikely that one’s physical strength will match up to the combined strength of the opponents. Further, physical strength will wane to varying degrees for individuals with age. The well-known and obvious solution to this is the development of skill through a lot of training. Martial skills developed through training augment existing strength and also help overcome the strength of the opponent. It is also a means to reduce one’s own dependence on strength.

With the development of “skill” and a drop in the reliance on strength, one aspect that usually comes up in many martial arts, including the Bujinkan is to “use the opponent’s strength or intention against herself/himself”. This leads into the notion of “not fighting the opponent”. There are also statements that state, “Do not trouble the Uke (opponent)”, “Don’t do anything the opponent does not want to do”, “Let the opponent fight herself/himself”.  All of these lead to the same aspect relating to a physical conflict; “even when in a fight, do not fight”. So, what does this mean?

Based on what I have understood, this refers more to one’s state of mind in a fight than the physical actions in a fight. It has more to do with not looking to do violence against an opponent and not refraining from the same. I have delved deeper into this aspect in my older article, “Ahimsa and the Martial Arts – Part 1”, the link to which is present in the notes to this article, seen below. Not fighting an opponent, in simple terms, means that causing harm to the opponent should not be the objective, surviving the fight with as little damage to oneself is.

The moment the objective relates to the opponent, like “causing harm to the attacker” or “winning against the uke”, the ego takes over and becomes a motive which leads one to focus on a specific outcome. This is because winning or getting the opponent to fall or be locked or hit or get injured have specific definitions which need a series of actions, all of which the opponent will also strive to counter while trying to cause harm to the defender (tori). Getting these actions right is very difficult and leads to a slippery slope which might not be possible to overcome.

However, if survival is the only objective, one only needs to focus on not letting the attack succeed. This makes a lot more space available in a fight. Also, the attacker needs to do all the work, while the defender only needs to get into a safe space, albeit continuously. This moving to a safe position opens up the opportunity to gradually move in a way that causes the opponent to just wear out and stop the attacks or lose the ability to do so, which could be due to losing her or his balance, getting hit due to being open while attacking and the like. Either way, the danger due to the attack is mitigated. In short, while only the uke was attacking, the defender (tori) was only staying alive and not fighting, even if it does not appear so to an outside observer. It was all in the state of mind.

Thus, not using strength is about using skill in a conflict and not fighting is about not having an objective vis-a-vis the opponent, but instead moving to stay in the safest possible space during a conflict. Thus, the skills to develop are, to move oneself physically to a safe place and to not have malice towards the opponent.

There are two parts to developing the ability to move in a manner that allows one to be safe. The first of course, is a lot of training, years of practice and experimentation with different people of varying levels of experience in physical conflicts. This includes armed and unarmed fights with and without armour, depending on what is available. In the Bujinkan, this generally does not include modern day firearms and historical weapons which are discharged. But there are other martial arts that do include these, based on the little that I know of these artforms.

The second aspect is to move exactly when necessary and neither too early nor too late. Moving too early means the opponent can correct or change the attack and moving too late means facing the brunt of the attack. Moving at the right time, or more practically, moving as close to the right time as possible, depends on realizing when the attack is coming and having a sense of what the attack is aiming to do. This knowledge of course, is not exact and the prediction of the same is not a precise science. It is a feeling one gets by being in a conflict and over time becomes a “gut feel” or “intuition”. Thus, knowing the timing and danger of any attack is about being aware of the opponent with the experience of having been mindful of many other opponents in the past.

All of this, in concert, means that one should be able to get a read on the opponent while being in the fight. In simpler terms, one needs to be able to “connect” with the opponent to be able to identify when to move and where to move, to stay safe during a physical conflict. If one can largely be able to connect with the opponent and move as required to stay safe, one will have matched the movement of the opponent and thus mitigated the threat posed by one. This is what is meant by the third concept above, which is “Awaseru”, or, to match the opponent.

If one does achieve Awaseru, the next harder concept reveals itself. This is to keep the connection and not lose it. This concept of keeping the connection is called “En no kirinai”, which roughly translates to “do not sever the connection”. If one can connect with the opponent and match her or his movement, the realization of the same, as soon as it occurs, triggers the possibility of breaking the connection as well.

Awaseru, when it does happen, allows one to reduce risk to oneself while the opponent is expending efforts to reverse this and in all likelihood exposing herself or himself to an attack. This might happen over the course of two or three attacks. Once an opening is exposed, there are two possible situations. The first is to exploit the opening to end the fight if possible. But then, this exploitation of an opening might not work as expected because the opponent is very good or too tenacious. In either case, the fight might not end. This is the second situation.

When the fight does not end, the defender should not press the attack unless there is another clear option to do so. If the attack is pressed without a certainty of success (which is very difficult) the uke and tori have switched roles and the opponent can now exploit openings the defender offers. So, not only has the connection been lost, but the opponent can now apply awaseru!

So, if the opponent continues the fight despite realizing one is exploiting openings he or she is revealing, the connection needs to be maintained, matching needs to continue, until a time when the fight logically ends. The realization of awaseru being successful leads to a heady feeling and a possible superiority complex of being able to carry out a successful counterattack. This needs to be guarded against and awaseru needs to hold firm. This, is En no Kirinai in practice. Of course, all this is easy to put into words, but much harder to practice, for identifying when a fight starts or ends is entirely subjective and depends on the fighters and the situation (space and time) the fight is occurring in. The fight only ends when the combatants genuinely are no longer trying to cause physical harm to each other. The connection with the opponent needs to continue until this happens and even possibly after, to ensure that the lull in the fight is not the opponent regrouping for another attack.

This continuous connect with the opponent is Shatrubodha. And Shatrubodha allows control of various kinds, both on the self and the opponent(s). This is good segue to explore the concept of Shatrubodha in greater detail. A last observation before we switch though.

The first two concepts of not using strength and not fighting are not relevant in the context of sport combat. A fight as part of a sport has many rules to protect the fighters, like time limits, a referee, a scoring system, a defined space for the fight, emergency personnel on standby and most importantly weight categories and segregation between the fighters on the basis of gender*. So, the use of strength is completely valid and fighting is the objective. These aspects relate only to a situation where there are no rules protecting individuals. Of course, this does not preclude using skill in conjunction with strength and this happens all the time. The other two concepts of matching the opponent and keeping the connection is valid irrespective of whether the fight is a sport or not. Great sportspersons use these concepts to achieve great heights in their respective fields. These concepts are useful even in non-combat sports, like cricket, badminton, tennis etc, where matching with the opponent and realizing what they might do, due a connection, helps a great deal.

Shatrubodha is a word I have heard from time to time in India over the last year or so. It is generally used by the non-left way of thinking. I heard it on YouTube first and then saw it on a few sites online. It is said by some that it was used by Chanakya in his exposition on statecraft. But I am not sure of this and have not researched if he really used it as part of his work, the Arthashastra. Nor have I spent time verifying if there is anyone who has firmly linked this concept of Shatrubodha to Chanakya.

Shatrubodha, or Shatrubodh (as it might be pronounced by speakers of Hindi) means “a sense of the enemy”. “Shatru” means enemy and “Bodh” is a little harder to translate. It could mean “a sense of”, but I have also seen it translated as “knowledge” or “perception” or even as “information”. Based on these, I opine that “Shatrubodha” could be considered as “knowing the enemy”. It could also be worded as “having a perception of the enemy” or “being aware of the enemy”.

When Shatrubodha is used in the context of an enemy of a nation or a culture or a civilization, it is used to mean that one should always keep an eye on the enemy however possible. It also means that one should study and research the enemy in all possibly ways, irrespective of whether the enemy is an individual, a group of people, another country, an organization or even just a value system or way of thinking that is inimical to one’s own culture and way of life.

From the perspective of martial arts practice, based on my personal experience with the Bujinkan, “Shatrubodha” is the same as having a feeling for what attack might originate from the opponent and when the same might happen. This is what allows us to practice the angle or distance to use and timing to apply in any movement that is made in defence or to protect against any attack. Over time this is what manifests as “Sakkijutsu” (intuitive ability) in martial movements.

Apart from the timing and distance, one other thing that is used in the martial arts is “rhythm”. Any training session or a fight between individuals or between groups has a rhythm. This is visible even in sport fighting and non-combat sports as well. There are intervals when the fight or action on the field is intense and at other times, it is visibly tentative when the two sides are probing and testing each other. There are times when one fighter is aggressive when she or he senses fatigue or confusion in the other and this could lead to an end of the fight or a change of pace if the aggression fails and the other fighter also senses the change in rhythm and changes tack.

This rhythm is keenly influenced by an awareness of the opponent, by having a perception of her or his intentions and by the experience of what she or he can throw at the defender. This sense of the opponent is Shatrubodha and is a vital part of the martial arts. It could even be expanded to say that this is very important in all conflict management situations, even if it is not related to physical conflicts, like a contentious business meeting, a dispute between relatives or friends and the like.

The “sense of the opponent” is something that needs to be obtained by being open to the opponent, her or his movement, rhythm, intentions and like. This being open to the opponent is nothing but the “connection” or “connect with the opponent” that we discussed earlier. It is not being open to the attack without any protection and thus being open to physical injury or worse.

Also, like we discussed earlier with the concept of “En no Kirinai”, this connection or Shatrubodha has to be incessant, or at least until a given fight or conflict is mitigated to an extent where the probability of any physical or other harm is miniscule. Further, being able to connect also requires not having an intention of hurting the opponent, in other words having no intention of fighting or employing strength and being able to match the opponent. So, Shatrubodha is not about defeating an enemy, but about being aware of the enemy at all times and ensuring self-protection.

We can now consider the other aspect that is key in the Bujinkan system of martial arts, which is “Control”. And “Control” begins with “Self-control”. The concepts of not fighting the opponent and not using strength against the same, is about exercising self-control. Further, matching the opponent and connecting with her or him or them while they try to do one harm is self-control that is very difficult to achieve. The urge to fight back to cause the opponent harm is extremely difficult to overcome. Hence, the need for self-control. The ability to achieve this self-control being very difficult is the reason why it is referred to as an important concept. It is a concept that one chases all through one’s training life and comes close to achieving but never does do consistently to one’s own satisfaction. This last bit is based on personal experience and there might be practitioners out there for whom this is child’s play.

Extending this a little further, the advantage of self-control and connecting with the opponent is that one is supposed to be able to nullify a fight with minimal effort, as against using strength or violence against the opponent. This is not to say that one should desist from violence even if that can save one’s life and is the only option that seems to be available. In such a situation one is of course free to adopt that approach and survive. The objective is simply that, to the extent possible one should try to minimize effort in a conflict by avoiding a fight and strength. Instead try to connect with the opponent and get the conflict to dissolve (this is not the same as defeating the opponent).

So, by controlling oneself, one gains the opportunity to achieve the first concept of “connect with the opponent”. Connecting with the opponent in turn leads to the advantages discussed earlier. A little extension here with regard to “self-control”. In order to control oneself, one needs to know one’s own desires and the need to act at certain triggers. This is the origin of deciding where one needs to control one’s actions and motivations. This act of knowing oneself is called “Swyambodha” or “Swayambodh”. This is the opposite of Shatrubodha. It means “knowing oneself” or “being aware of oneself”. So, Swayambodha and Shatrubodha lead to one another. Awareness of oneself allows self-control which allows connection with the opponent which leads to Shatrubodha, which leads to control of the conflict and hopefully its mitigation.

Like we discussed earlier, when one can match the opponent by connecting with her or him or them, one can move in a manner that minimizes the potential harm to oneself. If this can be done in a dynamic and consistent manner, the opponent has to expend a lot of effort in trying to cause harm to the defender. This effort on the part of the opponent reveals openings that can be exploited. Over time and multiple moves, this danger becomes apparent to the opponent as does the lack of success in the expended effort and hopefully leads to a diminishing of the motivation to press on with the attack. Of course, there is also the option of attacking the openings that are revealed and ending the fight. So, by connecting to the opponent, one can stay safe while making the opponent work hard and unsuccessfully. This is achieving control of the conflict situation; where one is safe and can create opportunities to end the conflict. Connection leads to control and this leads to an even better connect. So, it is a virtuous cycle.

If one has heard many individuals and researchers associated with think tanks or evocative retired personnel from the defence services in India, they all emphasize on one thing. This is that people in defence planning need to, from time to time, research and document all the threats, both internal and external, to the country. Based on this assessment, they need to plan and devise strategies to counter each of these threats over time. Considering that these identified threats evolve continuously, one needs to cultivate and work with experts on each of these identified and potential threats. This is nothing but connecting with the enemies of the country to control the threats and identify ways to mitigate the same. The identification of the threat is Swyambodha here and gathering information about the threats, Shatrubodha. The fact that one studies the threats is the act of connecting with the opponent and devising mitigation plans is the control of the risk posed.

While the above is more of a strategic activity, practicing the same in one-on-one (maybe many-on-one) martial arts training sessions is tactical in nature. Of course, in the latter scenario, it has to happen during a fight while the former takes much longer and might last years or decades. The learning from the martial arts can be expanded to conflicts one faces in life, where it is well known that one should try putting oneself in the shoes of the other, to mitigate the conflict and this starts with a realization of one’s ego.

So, in conclusion, based on the above discussion,

Connect, Control = Shatrubodha (with Swayambodha as a precursor)

Notes:

1. As part of Bujinkan tradition, we have a Kamidana in the dojo. The Kamidana is an equivalent of the “Mantapa” which many Hindus have in their Pooja Rooms at home. In the Kamidana is kept a mirror, the Japanese word for which is “Kagame”. One of the reasons for this mirror being present is to remind oneself when one bows to the Kagame at the beginning of every training session, that one is bowing to oneself, as the superior warrior (or at least the spirit of one) resides within and the attempt is always to reveal and express the abilities/qualities of that warrior.
2. A SWOT analysis is similar to Swyambodha with a bit of Shatrubodha thrown in (The “T” in SWOT), while the model of Porter’s 5 Forces could be mainly Shatruboda with an element of Swayambodha thrown in (the aspects internal to the industry or the organization).
3. *There are of course mixed gender events these days, though they are far fewer than segregated events.
4. Some senior Budoka I have trained with feel that “self-control” is the only real control there is, for one can never control anything in this universe other than oneself.
5. A couple of interesting observations relating to Shatrubodha that I have seen in works of fiction are mentioned below.
   • In the final book of the expansive Fantasy series, “The Wheel of Time”, called “A Memory of Light”, one of the main characters, called Matrim Cauthon tells another character that he needs to go out into the battlefield and be in the thick of things to get a sense of the fighting. Matrim Cauton is the finest General in the land and he says this as he feels that he needs to understand the flow of the battle to identify the best moves to be made. This is as good a depiction of “Shatrubodha in flow” as I have ever seen. This could be because the author of the series, Robert Jordan (pen name of James Rigney Jr.) was a veteran himself.
   • In a book written by Fredrick Forsyth, I currently cannot recall which one, a character states something on the lines of Israel’s foreign policy being that there are no countries that are friends, only enemy states and neutral states, and so they will spy on everyone. This is a wonderful expression of always having a keen focus on Shatrubodha!
6. If one has heard Mr. Rajiv Malhotra (search his name on YouTube and Amazon to have a look at his vast body of work) speak, he often refers to how incredible the Shatrubodha of the USA is. He says that at any time, there are universities and think tanks in the US, which are generating what he calls “disaster literature” regarding other nations and cultures. Here, he refers to how closely institutions in the US study societies and nations other than themselves. They use these observations to generate data regarding the negatives of that civilization which can then be used for information and narrative warfare as and when needed, to further US interests. The above is perhaps similar to how the British back during the days of British Raj studied Indian culture with great interest and used that information not just to govern the country but also to control the populace, by dividing and ruling when necessary and by setting up narratives that showed British culture in a superior light compared to native traditions.
7. Seen below is the link to the article where I discuss my ideas about Ahimsa in greater detail. https://mundanebudo.com/2022/10/13/ahimsa-and-the-martial-arts-part-1/
8. Apologies for the wordiness of this article and repeating the same ideas over and over. The flow of a fight and the objectives therein were too important to not emphasize with repetition.