In the Bujinkan, we learn of the Gojo. Gojo, as I understand it, means “five treasures”. Here the word “treasure” could mean what we call, “pearls of wisdom”. So, the Gojo are five precepts of wisdom. In other words, they could be guiding principles of life. The five Gojo, in the order I have learnt them are as mentioned below. I am documenting how I understand these, with examples and analogies from Hindu culture and the history of life on Earth.
Fumetsu no fusei
Mamichi no jikai
Shizen no niniku
Shizen no choetsu
Komyo no satori
Fumetsu no fusei
Fumetsu no fusei is translated as “Give and give” or as “endless giving”. This generally means one needs to remember to always be ready to give away things and not hold on to them. It does not, however, relate to generosity. The giving is not exactly related to or proportionate to the need of another, though it could be, but that is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition.
To elucidate this further, remember the story of Karna. He was tricked into giving away his divine armour, which likely would have resulted in the outcome of the Kurukshetra war being that the Kauravas won. He was made aware that he was going to be tricked and yet, chose to give away the armour, because he had made a vow to always give whatever was requested after morning oblations, and when the same was asked for, despite being aware of the motivations and the possible result, he still gave away the armour.
Indra in disguise asks for Karna’s divine armour. Image credit – “Mahabharta 32 – The Fall of Bheeshma”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
There is also the situation with Bheeshma, who had two opportunities to break his vow of celibacy. One during the episode with Amba and more importantly when his stepmother Satyavati herself asked Bheeshma to relinquish the vow. This was a case where the cause of the vow was asking the vow to be broken for the purposes of the greater good. If perhaps Bheeshma has broken his vow, the miseries of the Mahabharata might have been mitigated.
Devavrata becomes Bheeshma, Image credit – “Nahusha” published by Amar Chitra Katha
So, with these two episodes in mind, what does Fumetsu no fusei mean, or teach? This could be two-fold, one in a more generic way and one perhaps specific to the martial arts.
The first generic one is where “give” could be “give-up”, more like, “let go” or “don’t be afraid to give up”. This give up could be applied to anything. In both the episodes mentioned above, Karna and Bheeshma could have chosen to give up the vow, not the armour or the need for celibacy. They could have let go of the need to be seen to be beholden to a promise or be honourable. This of course could have been possible if they saw the need to break the vow as the best option for a suitable course of action. Did they instead choose the path of honour as that fed the ego? Does this mean endless giving is referring to always being aware of things that feed the ego and letting them go, because that could lead to a better path in life, or in a given situation?
Image credit – “Mahabharata 2 – Bheeshma’s Vow” published by Amar Chitra Katha
The second meaning a little more specific to the martial arts is where one is told to not actively resist the opponent or more expansively to “not trouble” the opponent. Here, allowing the opponent to carry through with an attack while realigning oneself to safe position or place, is giving the opponent the opportunity to do what he or set out to in the first place, which is the attack. This realignment (kamae?) gives one an opportunity to use the opponent’s movement against him or herself or at least get to a safe position which might make the opponent less sure of or less willing to commit to the next attack. So, one gives up the need to fight the strength of the opponent while giving the opponent the opportunity to go through with the attack, while still not incurring any harm to oneself, this is endless giving. And since happens perpetually in an attack and hence is analogous to all conflict in life, this is “give and give’. Of course, all of this sounds wonderful, but is unimaginably difficult to implement in a real fight, let alone life.
Mamichi no jikai
Mamichi no jikai translates to “following the right path” or “being on the right path”. I have also sometimes heard it called the “righteous path” instead of the “right path”. This second gojo seems like a reminder of the first one and a pointer to the third one, kind of like “remember the first rule, and don’t forget to read the third rule”. I say this as, perhaps the right path is to follow the principle of endless giving all through one’s life. But as already noted, practicing endless giving is so hard that it is better not attempted. Thus, maybe it is more “enduring” the first principle than “following” it. And this points to the third gojo.
Shizen no niniku
Shizen no Niniku translates to “the perseverance of nature” or “make perseverance like that of nature your armour”. To endure anything, one needs perseverance. That said, how can one perceive the perseverance of nature? Perhaps nature is the entire ecosystem of the earth or maybe the universe. If we just consider the Earth and evolution of life here, that might be an instance of perseverance, extraordinary perseverance. Consider just two of the great extinctions of life in the past. The extinction at the end of the Cretaceous era resulted in the extinction of over 70% of all lifeforms on land. The dinosaurs, pterosaurs and saurians of the seas went extinct. But a remnant of them endured and became the birds of today. Tiny mammals of that age exploded onto all environments and created the richness of life of today.
The extinction at the end of the Permian era saw the extinction of over 90% of the lifeforms on earth. Mammal like reptiles that ruled all environments during that age were replaced by the dinosaurs, until the mammals came back millions of years later. Reptiles like crocodiles have been around in all of these ages, changing their sizes and shapes to suit the environment, and eating everything from other mammal like reptile to the mammals of today!
So, life endured, never went extinct, though forms of life did. This is like letting go or giving up that which needs to be let go of, given the circumstances. The perseverance here is to do what needs to be done, survive however possible, do what can be done, and change (evolve) endlessly. So, as the second gojo points out, this relentless enduring and evolving to survive through perseverance is perhaps the right path (or is this the meaning of righteous?!).
If the perseverance is not obvious, just consider the time scales, the Permian and Cretaceous are not even encompassing of the origin of life. That is well over 2 BILLION years ago. The Permian was between 250 and 300 million years ago, and the Cretaceous was roughly between 150 to 65 million years ago! Crocodile like reptilians have thus endured for 300 MILLION years! Mammals came back after 200 MILLION years to reclaim all environments while being in the shadow of the dinosaurs for all that LONG time! Now that is what embodies perseverance and endurance!
Above – Mugger or Marsh Crocodile
Shizen no choetsu
Shizen no choetsu is translated as “transcendence of nature”. This is like a reminder to not miss out on the nuance of the third gojo. While it is easy to be impressed with the vastness of time and the awesomeness of the endurance observed in the third gojo, consider what it took to actually endure during all that time! And that is “transcendence”.
Crocodile like reptiles, or crocodilians endured for 300 million years, but not specific crocodile species (or alligator or gharial or caiman species). Some species survived, but not as the same, they evolved and changed and became new species.
Dinosaurs are gone, but birds thrive today, and they are modern dinosaurs. But they are not dinosaurs, they are descendants of descendants. They evolved through many stages into the existing forms. This is an even greater change than the crocodilians. The crocodilians of today bear a resemblance to the crocodilians of old, but the birds bear no resemblance to dinosaurs, barring a few with a handful of species of the past. But in both cases the scale (size not the scales of the skin) of the creatures has changed in ways that are hard to conceive!
Now consider the mammals. Do any of the mammals of today bring to mind the sail backed Dimetrodon, which was a mammal like reptile (synapsid) of the early Permian. Absolutely none. Considering even a smaller time scale, the ancestors of whales were amphibious, large otter sized creatures, and lived supposedly lived at the edges of swamps. They were mammals for sure and lived after the end of the Cretaceous. But between then and now, some of them became the Blue Whale. From the size of a large otter to the size of a Boeing 747. Imagine that!
Now all of this is gradual evolution over time, doing what needs to be done; eat, reproduce, hide, hunt, survive. But over time, advantages are found, niches explored and exploited, and over millions of years, the original creature has morphed into something that would never recognize its ancestor and vice versa. This evolution, where the past or original specimens are unrecognizable as being related, is transcendence. Transcendence as result of relentless endurance through perseverance to survive, all the while doing just what needs to be done.
Thus, transcending is evolving to perhaps not being able to recognize the old self, or even remembering the old one. There is no sense of achievement at having evolved, it is just a new self, suited to survive in a new ecosystem. The new form cannot remember the old one to have pride or even learn from the transcendence, for the next evolution (read transcendence) likely will have no learning or similarity to the previous iteration. So, just follow the path you see 😊 and the learning will come. The path is to just do what needs to be done and letting go of that which needs letting go of. Maybe then, is not knowing transcendence and not having the need to know fumetsu no fusei? And only this leads to the right path? For even having a need to hold on to learning, is not being able to let go. We might have to accept that it is necessary to let go of the need to remember our learning or even think learning is important! Or does just staying the path of perseverance while letting go of that which needs to be let go, lead to learning without trying and is that a transcendence by itself?
Dimetrodon, mammal-like synapsid to Elephant, modern mammal
Komyo no satori
The last gojo is “Komyo no satori”. This translates to “the light of wisdom”. This seems to be a wink to make you realize that the end is not really the end. If the path lasts all life long and at its end there is no need for wisdom, what is the purpose of wisdom, let alone a light that perhaps signifies the gaining of it (like the light bulb in comic books 😊). Perhaps this just means one realizes that there is no end, and one has to follow the other concepts that have already been realized and that realization is wisdom in itself. Maybe it just means you smile and realize that the journey was the light and wisdom is the continuation of it without any grouse at having to endure further.
The wisdom was always in one, if one had to endure and if transcendence results in the loss of that wisdom, then that is something to give away as well, and then go again. 😊
Image credit – “Tales of Humour 3”, published by Amar Chitra Katha
The other day my dad and I were watching news on TV. It was bombastic bordering on self-righteous like it is quite a lot of times. But as always it did trigger a conversation about politicians in our country. One thing that is true of us Indians is that almost always people living in one state cannot understand the political choices of our fellow citizens living in another state. We cannot understand why a particular leader or party holds sway in a given state or even a given region. This is not surprising, as people in one region cannot have the context or circumstances of people in another and therefore do not understand the politics of another state.
But one thing that is true is that every party and leader faces a debacle due to an aggregation of what citizens see as mistakes. Leaders and parties are not penalized for one or two mistakes, especially not if they are seen to be a consequence of poor information availability or consequences of well-intentioned decisions that did not pan out as expected. They are voted out however when a sum of decisions of either an individual or a party result in trouble or a lack of improvement for people or when a series of actions are seen, which are seen as deliberately bad or biased.
During our conversation, one proverb came up, “Paapada koda tumba beku”. This is in Kannada. The same in Hindi roughly translates to “Paap ka ghada bharna hai”. This essentially means that one’s vessel bearing one’s misdeeds needs to overflow for that person to pay for said misdeeds. This is a summation of what was expressed in the previous paragraph. Politicians and political parties in India are made to pay when a series of their wrong actions and decisions come home to roost. In other words, their “paapada koda tumba beku”.
From the little that I know this proverb is in reference to the incident in the Mahabharata during the Rajasooya Yajna by Yudishtira. Shishupaala was killed by Krishna during the Yajna. Krishna had made a promise to Shishupaala’s mother that he would forgive a hundred misdeeds of Shishupaala before he faced the consequences of the same. True to his word, Krishna accepted a hundred insults to himself and other attendees at the Yajna before he slew Shishupaala with his Sudarshana chakra. He also made Shisupaala aware of the misdeed limit running out and that he was in danger. But Shishupaala did not heed the warning and paid for it with his life. In other words, when his “paapada koda” was full, he faced the consequences of the same.
With that long winded introduction, I get to the point I was intending to make all along. When we train the Bujinkan (or any other martial art I suspect) in class, we are often shown a form by our teacher(s). As students we then replicate the form to the best of our abilities based on our experience in the dojo. A lot of the time, teachers are teaching concepts with specific forms. These concepts can be expressed with many different forms. For example, our teacher might say, “do not break connection with the uke”, or “En no Kirinai” in Japanese. When training this concept, the form shown by the teacher will almost never work for the student. For the form ends when the uke ceases to be uke, in other words, uke chooses to stop attacking and retreats or calls for an end to that particular interaction with tori. Uke will choose to call an end to the interaction when she or he can no longer take it from the tori, or if she or he realizes that the tori is incapable of protecting her or himself in a meaningful manner.
So, there is no “form” in this situation. There is a continuous flow of physical and intellectual movement until one of the two practitioners calls it off. In other words, when one has had enough. There may be no misdeeds here for a “paapada koda”, but there is a “koda” of ability and tolerance beyond which an uke or tori can take no more or do no more. Until this happens, the flow of movement does not end and one must keep going, do what needs to be done and then the next and the next and the next. And this must be done however it can be done, even if one is now beyond the original “form” that was demonstrated by the teacher to elucidate the concept in the first place.
Notes:
Uke – a practitioner who initiates the attack (mostly during a training session)
Tori – a practitioner who defends against an attack (mostly during a training session), so as to practice a form or concept.
Both the above roles are temporary and for reference purposes only. Neither is true in a real fight or duel.
Paapa / Paap – Misdeed or Sin in Kannada / Hindi, root from Sanskirt if I am not wrong
Koda / Ghada – Vessel in Kannada / Hindi
Tumba beku / Bharna Hai – “Should fill up” or “Should overflow” in Kannada / Hindi
Chakravyuha (Moving spiral formation) carved on the Hoysaleshwara temple wall, Halebidu, Karnataka
Vyuha is generally identified as a formation for battle. This is something most of us learn from our reading of Amar Chitra Katha comics as kids. We all know that the Chakravyuha was deadly from the Kurukshetra war. We have also heard the names of several other vyuha from the same war, Vajra vyuha, Shakata vyuha, Makara vyuha, Krauncha vyuha, Suchi vyuha, Sarvatobhadra vyuha and many others. What we do not know is the specific advantages and disadvantages of each of these and when they are supposed to be used. Was it at the discretion of the senapati, or raja or were other criteria considered? Like geography, the weather, number and quality of troops and equipment at hand? We do not have, or at least I have not heard of any military manual describing these aspects.
What I find mind boggling is how were these vyuha or formations achieved? How much training of troops is needed to get them into that specific formation? How long does it take? What high levels of discipline is needed to hold these vyuha? And can all troops form all vyuha or was there any specialization? For example, the most popular Chakra vyuha was supposed to be a continuously moving spiral. How was the positioning of the troops decided? And who coordinated the movement? How was communication achieved if a vyuha was fraying at some point or if reinforcements were needed at some point in the vyuha? When was the decision made to abandon a given vyuha and how was that communicated? What were the criteria to decide if the vyuha was ready and if it was successful? Was there some analysis post the use of a vyuha to see if could be improved? There are no ready answers to any of these questions that I know of.
Ardha Chandra Vyuha (Half moon formation) on the left and Makara Vyuha (Crocodile formation) on the right
Now, there is this concept of Taijutsu that many Japanese Martial Arts use. The different art forms might use different terms for it, but the concept is the same. In modern day parlance, it is translated for simplicity as body movement or prosaically “art of the body”. Tai meaning body and Justsu meaning “Art of”. But I have been told by my teachers that originally Tai meant a unit of troops and all their equipment like armour, weapons, rations and also their horses or beasts of burden if they had any. So, Taijutsu was meant in the past to mean “Art of a Unit” where a unit is a body of troops. I have heard it said that a Tai was generally meant to be a squad of soldiers, a squad being a smaller unit than a platoon. So Taijutsu was all about working as a team with all that they had access to. One can assume that since there was a specific term for this, it was meant for teams to work together efficiently and effectively.
In the modern day when we train traditional martial arts, we do not really use those concepts for professional fighting, but for various other purposes ranging from entertainment to personal development and everything in-between. Hence, when Taijutsu is used in a modern day martial arts class (teaching Japanese martial arts), it means move your body as one (not a unit of troops moving as one, but your body as one). That means, your core moves and your limbs, neck and head move with it, there are no twists and limb movements that are unnecessary (or stand-alone). This is taught to help keep one’s balance, so as to be more effective in any movement that is carried out, be it with or without weapons (traditional weapons in the context of a class). An example of this would be a punch where only the hand moves and the hips are not lowered or the legs are not in the correct position. This punch would be far less effective compared to one executed with correct movement of the legs and hips which make the punch a lot more devastating.
We also know that there are several martial art forms around the world and they were all used effectively at a given time and place. The fact that they were effective generally means that the practitioners of the art form were trained it its use. This means having some form of Taijutsu, irrespective of the term used for the same. And each of these were designed to give the practitioners of the art form an advantage in the purpose for the use of the art (be it in a narrow palace corridor, in a wooded area, on a boat, as a bodyguard, with large field weapons etc).
With this introduction, we can finally move ahead with what I was thinking. 😊
Each school or art form or ryuha has specific tenets relating to Taijutsu. For example, the Takagi Yoshin Ryu, which we were training when these thoughts came to mind, has among its tenets, the following principles.
Stacking the opponent’s hips
Using leverage against the opponent’s joints
Moving in a direction perpendicular to the opponent’s direction
Moving forward and not backward while facing an opponent
Also, from what I have learnt, the Takagi Yoshin Ryu was developed as a school mainly used by bodyguard. Hence, they disarmed and immobilized opponents as against killing them. Perhaps this was to gather information later or to not spill blood in the presence of one’s lord or any other reason. To disarm and immobilize opponents, the tenets mentioned above were built into their Taijutsu.
From my experience with the training of Takagi Yoshin Ryu, it is designed to use the structure of uke’s body and hence a really skilled and experienced practitioner of this Ryu can fight an opponent without the active use of eyesight. This Ryu is a Jutaijutsu and hence fighting happens in close quarters and thus, one can feel the tensions and hence intentions of the uke and counter the same by reading the uke’s joints and body movement. The right distances to achieve a strike or lock are also determined by this feeling. So, over time, the feeling and flow of the Uke (opponent) becomes the driving force for a practitioner and not just the tenets. The tenets lead to the feeling and vice versa in a virtuous cycle. Now, let us expand the same concept to a Vyuha. Was an experienced Senapati (Commander-in-chief of the army) or Raja (King) able to read an enemy’s battle tactics and his own troops requirements the same way one is supposed to read an opponent in Takagi Yoshin Ryu? This is not easy and requires a lot of training time to express successfully in one-on-one combat. So, how much skill, ability, training and natural affinity for the feeling of a battle and battlefield should a practitioner of Taijutsu at the level of a large body of troops need?! This is a question and a matter of awe at the same time. What kind of training and experience would the development of such abilities involve? Where does one begin (as it clearly happened a lot in the past and still happens today)? How did the evolution of information gathering, and technology influence this practice and its evolution? These are questions I do not have answers to, just points to ponder about.
Padmavyuha (Lotus formation), Shakatavyuha (Cart formation) and Suchivyuha (Needle formation) – 3 merged into one, top image
Notes:
The above comic book images are from my personally owned books.
The images of the vyuha are representative only, they are not to be considered exact.
Remember that part of the Ramayana where Rama has to shoot Vali from hiding, while the latter duels Sugreeva? This sequence brings so many thoughts, what an incredible archer Rama should have been, to be able to shoot one of the duelists, while the duelists did not position themselves in any predictable manner! Or was Sugreeva moving in a specific manner in the duel so as to allow Rama a clear shot at Vali while ensuring he is out of the way of the arrow; how difficult must this have been, while fighting for one’s life and also knowing you could be shot by an arrow intended for your opponent.
A few months ago*, we were applying the feeling and concepts of the Takagi Yoshin Ryu with the Sanshin no Kata and Kunai Waza feeling. This was then added to the Japanese poem about a lack of dualities and how to keep the heart in the place of nothingness to start on the path to wisdom. This was the first time we had heard the poem in its entirety and that too in an artwork created by Nagato Sensei. We had until now only heard the first of the four lines of the poem, “Kyojaku jugo arubekarazu”.
During this training, I observed my teacher Shiva actively let go of all body tension and cause severe problems to the attacker (Uke). He was constantly dropping out of any uke nagashi or movement he made, and this caused serious impediments to the ability and will of the Uke to keep up the attack, and this was clearly visible in a Jutaijutsu like situation. This observation and learning are what prompted the train of thought I am expressing in this article.
So, back to the Ramayana. It is known (I mean from other stories in the Hindu scriptures) that Vali was a warrior of unparalleled strength and skill. He was invincible one on one, there is no doubt there at all. Vali defeated Ravana in single combat so effortlessly, it was not even a fight, just a humiliation for Ravana. And Ravana was as fearsome a warrior as one can imagine. Also, Vali had a boon which rendered his opponent at 50% of his or her fighting ability, and the remaining 50% got added to Vali’s own fighting ability. So, an opponent, the moment he or she chose to become Vali’s opponent was diminished while facing an opponent vastly superior to what one might have been prepared to face.
An aside here, a whole article can be considered to discuss how an opponent’s ability reduces by 50%, from a martial arts perspective, at least from a Bujinkan perspective as I see it.
It is also known that Sugreeva could not take on Vali in a war, where armies would be involved. Sugreeva was a fugitive in Vali’s kingdom and had a band of followers, not an army. Further, he would not have gone to war even if he could, for he did not want a civil war. He only wanted his wife back (held captive as a wife by Vali) and Vali eliminated for the person he had become post the Dundhubi episode. So, it was always going to be single combat between Sugreeva and Vali. Vali himself was never going to shrink away from a duel, such was his justified confidence in his own ability. So, he would not use his troops to cheat and eliminate or capture Sugreeva without defeating him in the duel.
Sugreeva also knew he could not defeat Vali in single combat (Dwand or Dwandwa yuddha). This situation set up the need to eliminate Vali by stealth. We also know that Rama was extraordinary as a warrior. And superlative as an archer. Of course, Vali was a fantastic archer as well, but the duel between him and Sugreeva did not involve bows and arrows. Also, Rama was also really strong, as seen from the ease with which he moved Dundhubi’s skeleton. His strength is also demonstrated when his one arrow felled seven coconut trees. His archery skill is also shown earlier in the Ramayana where he is the best at not only hitting the target but also with the speed of reloading, shooting and restringing his bow.
So, Rama is the perfect choice for taking the shot while the duel takes place. There is also an additional complexity in the situation. Vali and Sugreeva, being brothers, resemble each other very closely. In the first duel between Vali and Sugreeva, Rama cannot decide who to shoot due to this resemblance. Sugreeva has to flee for his life, abandoning the duel. Vali seems to have been satisfied with his victory and his brother’s humiliation and not expanded efforts to eliminate his brother and his band in a great way after this first duel.
With all this as background, let us look at the second duel. This time Sugreeva wore a garland to allow Rama to distinguish him from his brother. Also, I have not heard of, read of or seen any specify strategy planned ahead of the duel that would allow Rama to shoot Vali with minimal risk to Sugreeva. I also do not know if the duel was nudged by Sugreeva by his movements to maneuver Vali to a position where he would be a target while reducing risk to himself.
I also do not know what Vali’s state of mind was or his method of fighting in the second duel. With that said, imagine how incredible this shot that Rama took was. He had only one shot. Clearly the duel was far enough away that he could not distinguish Sugreeva without the garland. The shot had to ensure it hit its target in the midst of a dynamic duel. A fight between two accomplished warriors (Sugreeva was a great warrior, inferior only to Rama, Vali, Ravana and the other superlatives) sees the two always in motion. Neither stands still even if not in contact, to achieve an advantageous position or posture. In this dynamic situation, ensuring that an arrow hits its target before he moves while also being sure that that the arrow does not hit the other person, who might occupy the same position where the target was just a moment ago is scary to even think about!
If the duel was with spears or some other long weapon, the situation might have been easier for Rama because a pole weapon puts a lot of space between the duelists, more than sufficient for an archer as good as Rama. Bur from what I know, the duel was with either gadas (maces) or an unarmed fight (grappling and striking). The gada is not a long weapon and does not put the opponents at a distance that is safe for one from an archer, not to mention unarmed combat, which puts far smaller space between the two.
So, Rama had to not just take a shot, but understand Vali in this specific duel! How difficult is that! If Vali was being nonchalant and letting Sugreeva do the work and fall into strikes or locks, he would have to predict Vali’s nonchalance! If Vali was angry at a second duel in a short span of time and against an opponent who ran away the last time, would he be aggressive and go for the kill and thus ensure a short duel? If this was true, Rama had to be sure to predict Vali’s next attack to take the shot at the right time, considering any delay might spell doom for Sugreeva. And he had to do this with only one reference fight to go by! However much Rama had heard of Vali’s fighting, he had seen him fight only once! So, getting the right shot by going with the flow of a fight he was not involved in; can anyone imagine that! And in a life-or-death situation for his friend; Rama would be considered divine for this ability alone, let alone all his other qualities as a human being! Yes, I am aware of all the exclamation marks in this paragraph, this is how awesome the situation was.
Now let us look at this situation from Sugreeva’s perspective. We do not know if there was a plan beyond Rama killing Vali while he dueled Sugreeva. Sugreeva has received a hiding and barely got away with his life in the first duel. So, what levels of faith mush he have had in Rama to try the same thing again! Imagine this, he was wearing a garland to distinguish himself from Vali. But we do not know what the garland was made of. If it was any regular garland, how much effort would he have to expend to ensure it was not ripped off his neck? And worse still, the garland gave extra holding space for Vali, who was already the superior fighter. Would this be a fatal disadvantage?
Next, how did Sugreeva feel about Rama taking a shot at Vali? How nervous would even a great warrior feel knowing that the slightest error from Rama might end up killing him and not his opponent? Would this knowledge affect his fighting style? And would this change result in Vali realizing something was wrong? And if that had to be overcome, would any change he made to his fighting movement result in a fatal error? Again, this was the second time he was putting himself in harm’s way in a short span of time. If he had a plan and this was also known to Rama, would that even come to pass? What changes in Vali’s state of mind and fighting style would render their plan useless or would that be an advantage?
We can see a lot of questions come up in the mind of any martial artist as we see above. Given all this, both Sugreeva and Rama would have had to go with the flow of the duel and implicitly trust each other’s ability. “NO PRESSURE” in all caps does begin to express the extraordinary danger that Sugreeva was in and hence the expectation from Rama. Did Sugreeva have any sacrificial moves to render Vali open to Rama’s shot? We do not know. But we do know that the plan succeeded. Sugreeva survived, Rama’s shot was successful and fatal for Vali. This achievement in itself calls for reverence not just in Rama, but in Sugreeva’s judgement of people’s abilities and his own skill as a warrior (he had Hanuman in his band after all, that should have been a dead giveaway 😊). Also, as a martial artist, it kind of encompasses the meaning of the “Kyojaku jugo…” poem. Both Rama and Sugreeva had to let go of so many necessities for a PLAN to succeed and trust to just an objective (Vali’s death) and a path (there will be a duel and a shot in stealth at Vali). There could have been no option for any detailing, just a lot of faith in each other and the need to achieve the objective. How incredibly cool is that?
*This article was written back in the beginning of June 2022, before I had started a blog.
Happy New Year everyone! Considering it is the beginning of a new year, this topic seemed natural. 🙂
How often do martial artists with some experience have trouble training with beginners? Fairly often, I would think. This is especially true as you cannot hurt them initially. Add to this the fact that one is probably trying to demonstrate a defined technique with specific moves to the beginner or on a beginner, and this problem is very apparent.
In the initial years of training any martial art, we all learn set movements and movement patterns to enable us to learn further techniques and concepts of said art. These are the basic building blocks for one to learn the essence of the martial art in further years of training. The basics for any martial art are a consequence of heritage. They originate from its history and evolve over time based on the purpose of the martial art in the time during which they are trained, the societal culture they are trained in and the purpose they are trained for. This is true for both unarmed and armed martial arts.
In some ways, the basics are a form of indoctrination, and they are specific to each martial art form. And the basics for each martial art are a result of the heritage of that martial art, or a lack of it. Martial arts in their advanced stages emphasize unlearning. This is to ensure practitioners know that dependence on the basics in the exact form they were taught as beginners need not work in any real scenario or when some of the rules applied during basics training are removed. If the martial art itself does not emphasize this, many martial artists realize and practice this with experience. This is due to exposure to real life and other martial art forms and modern technology that renders basics ineffective if not downright dangerous. This is the usual antidote to the indoctrination of the basics. This is not to say that martial artists give up on the basics. They practice the same, but know what their purpose is, while also understanding the need for adaptation and not relying on the basics blindly.
An aside, real life and real fight have the same term in the Bujinkan, Jissen, in Japanese (though the Kanji might differ). This is because living a normal life is as filled with challenges as a much shorter fight may be.
One of the things that is taught as part of the basics is how to attack. Each martial art has its own specific nuances of the basic attack. And this basic attack is the initiation of the defined movement set for the basic defensive manoeuvres. This is true as most martial arts have defence as a primary motive. Beginners never get the initial attack right, for they either are not confident of doing the same, or simply do not know how to attack as expected for the basics. It is also possible that they do not want to hurt a senior or the teacher demonstrating the form, or are just not ready to accept that they might be the attacker, even if it is just practice in a safe environment.
Additionally, beginners might have already seen the end result of the set movement or kata or waza and might not want to be at the receiving end of it, for lack of faith in their own abilities to not get hurt or because they do not yet know that the demonstrator can protect them from injury or simply because they are afraid of pain and assumed humiliation (of ending up on the floor in an undignified manner or just plain defeat). It is also possible that enduring the pain in graduated levels is the lesson and they do not want that specific lesson on that particular day at that particular time. In all, a lot of mental blocks prevent beginners from carrying out the attack as expected.
Now, considering that the basic kata is designed around the attack (or a series of those) and its (or their) consequences, the lack of a “correct” attack mitigates the performance of the kata. In this way, the beginner has effectively defeated the kata by not attacking “correctly”. Not attacking correctly is another way of saying, “changing the attack”. In other words, as an advanced practitioner, since you had a preconceived set of movements to execute and could not adapt to the changed attack, the kata either failed or was less than efficient, or plain ineffective. Thus, the advanced teaching of “adapting to the situation” (read changed attack) could not be applied as the objective was to perform a defined kata and that could not happen as the defined attack was not available in the first place. This is a problem that is faced by advanced practitioners while training with or teaching beginners. This problem is also true with not just attacks, but also with basic defensive movements.
Beginners do not attack as expected, and if attacked, do not defend as defined for that specific attack. This means advanced practitioners cannot be effective against beginners without applying the concepts of adapting at all times and unlearning of set kata or waza. In other words, when the attacker has no idea how he or she is attacking (like beginners), one cannot expect to know how to defend against the attack and one must be in the moment to survive the same. This leads us to the purpose for this article.
Sakkijutsu is a key concept that advanced practitioners in the Bujinkan are expected to practice. This is to develop one’s intuitive abilities to the extent that one that does not need to analyse them or mistrust them, and more importantly to act on them. This is not magic, but more a consequence of years of training time. With a lot of experience in physical training one gains an ability for the “feel” of a fight. This in turn helps one to intuit a likely threatening movement and the need to move to mitigate the same. This is not to say one can see the future or be sure where the attack is coming from. It is more a need to change position to protect oneself. Also, this is not true just for the Bujinkan. Nor is it true just in the martial arts. It is relevant for any conflict management scenario in life, beyond physical fights. Many martial artists eventually develop the intuitive ability due to experience, even if it does not bear a specific name in said martial art.
Now consider a scenario where two experienced martial artists are either fighting or training with each other. If both have developed abilities with Sakkijutsu, will they both not be able to intuit an attack from the other, even if not the exact attack, the end of the same and the time of the attack? If yes, how is this loophole to be overcome?
Here is a fun fact. There is story in an old Flash Gordon comic called “The Trial on Mars” which depicts this exact scenario.The image at the beginning and the two below are from that comic.
My teacher sometimes says, “Because you know it, your opponent knows it” and conversely “If Uke (opponent) knows it, you know it”. He is referring to having a specific motive or a planned kata in mind, not every random movement that might happen. This is the problem statement. As a solution, he used to state, “At the very last instant before you carry out the movement, don’t do what you were going to do, or change what you were going to do”. This idea was used as a stepping stone to learn to unlearn waza and kata. This was to overcome your Uke “realizing” what you are up to. Of course, this again is not magic. It is just a gateway to un-conditioning our training and following of the basics. My teacher’s statements are self-explanatory, but doing it in practice was and is very difficult, for it means not only being more nimble in the body, for it takes effort to change what one was doing time after time, but also to tell your mind to stop focusing on a specific action and outcome. As an example, think of all the times a practitioner was confused when you named a technique and did it very differently to what it was originally described as..
If one can achieve the ability to control oneself from doing what one had planned, even if it was a for just a few moments prior to making the move, the statement used earlier changes to, “If you do not know what you are going to do (or can do), how can Uke know what you are going to do?” This is specifically true when training with another practitioner with a lot of martial arts’ experience. And this brings us full circle.
If you can ensure that you cannot know what you are doing, you have taken yourself back to being a beginner, who also has no clue what to do. And just like a beginner can cause you trouble with weird and uncharacteristic moves (“without the indoctrination”), so can you cause trouble for the opponent, despite the years of training. This would achieve the “Way of the Beginner”!
“The way of the Beginner” is how I think of it. It encompasses “learning to unlearn” and “being in the moment” (Nakaima). Before expanding on these two points, I use a quote yet again. I have been told by my mentors that Soke Hatsumi Masaaki has stated in the past that, “techniques will get you killed in a real fight” and that “the book will not fight for you”. What Sensei means in the two statements is that one should not depend on waza or kata as they are not defined and learnt to work in a real fight. These should be used to learn to move one’s body in a manner that is safest in a given situation and perhaps also give one an edge over the opponent.
When one learns to not depend on the kata and focuses on the concepts of the same, that is unlearning and the means to do that was what I referred to when I mentioned the statements of my teacher. Once we are fine with unlearning and no longer expect kata and waza to work, we are forced to be “in the moment”. This is more about mindfulness and doing only that which is necessary in that instant.
We do not need to be in a real fight to do this. Even if we are doing Randori with fellow practitioners or more interestingly, with multiple opponents, we can experience this (as most waza and kata are defined against a single opponent). We can also experience this by training with armour on, for armour negates many attacks. One added advantage of overcoming our own plans and intentions in a movement is that we create an expectation in the Uke’s Sakkijutsu and by changing at the last instant, we are creating an opening against that expectation and perhaps a Suki (opening) in the Uke’s moves. This of course, also might cause an experienced Uke, during Randori, to do something we never thought possible and that in turn forces something that could only happen in that instant, which is the definition of “being in the moment”. This whole back and forth flow with Uke(s), is like a negotiation, which is what the objective is when applying learnings from the Bujinkan, in conflict management in life beyond the dojo.
That brings me to the end to this musing. May we all be beginners to one concept or the other all our lives, at least in the Dojo of the Bujinkan. Wishing you all a happy year ahead and also wishing we can emulate the “Way of the Beginner” in our lives.
The Ashta Siddhi are regarded with great reverence in Hindu culture. “Ashta” means eight, “Siddhi” is an ability or skill, but could also be termed as a power. Siddhi is something that is achieved through Saadhana, which is thorough and sustained practice. Many of the great Gods and Goddesses from Hindu scripture and the epics are said to have achieved the Ashta Siddhi. These include various forms of the Devi, Ganesha, Krishna, and most popularly, Lord Hanuman had all mastered the Ashta Siddhi.
The Ashta Siddhi are as defined below.
Anima – The ability to make one’s self very small
Mahima – The ability to make one’s self very large
Laghima – The ability to make one’s self very light
Garima – The ability to make one’s self very heavy
Praapti – The ability to get or obtain whatever one wants
Praakaamya – The ability to acquire or achieve anything one wants
Vashitva – The ability to control anything or everything
Eeshitva – The ability to be superior to everything or attain Godhood
From a cursory look at the eight abilities mentioned above, it is easy to notice how they are related in pairs and complement each other.
Anima and Mahima are related to the physical volume of the person with the ability.
Laghima and Garima are related to the physical mass of the person with the ability.
Praapti and Praakaamya go hand in hand since one has to be able to acquire to obtain something and one should be able to receive something that is acquired.
Vashitva and Eeshitva are related because to be able to control everything is to be a God, and to be a God requires the ability to control everything.
Another aspect to consider with relation to the Ashta Siddhi is the fact that these abilities are associated with the Gods in Hindu culture. This generally suggests two things. One is that these abilities are not attainable by normal mortal humans. The second is that these are fantastical and since they are associated with religion and the Gods, they are all fantasy. Both of these are valid.
Some of the definitions used for Anima mention that it is the ability to shrink one’s self to atomic sizes and the Mahima is to be able to expand one’s self infinitely. An example of Anima is when Hanuman shrank himself to the size of a fly when he slew Mahiravana to save Rama and Lakshmana from being sacrificed. Similarly an example of Mahima is when Hanuman expanded his size to be able to lift a mountain to save Laskhmana during the war in Lanka. This definitely is beyond what normal humans can ever do.
Similarly, one of the definitions of Laghima is to be able to make oneself as light as air! Praapti and Praakaamya by definition seem magical. How can one obtain anything one wants or acquire anything one wants! All normal humans have limitations and constraints. The last two abilities again, by definition are to achieve divinity and thus, are beyond normal humans.
Of course, there are people who do say that these are abilities that can be and are achieved through prolonged and intense yoga and yogic practices. I am not aware of anyone who has ever been able to demonstrate these abilities as defined in the absolute superhuman sense. If there are people with such abilities, they have kept themselves from the public eye.
With this introduction, I would like to look at a few concepts from Budo and the martial arts which explain the eight abilities in a more mundane manner. These concepts are analogous to the Ashta Siddhi, but only as they would be used in a fight between humans or in a situation needing conflict management among normal humans.
Fair warning, these concepts from Budo are very simple in some cases and relevant only in a fight, not even remotely are they magical, but are certainly based on common sense. Also, the analogues from Budo might not pair up as neatly as the original eight, nor would they be as neatly flowing from one to the other like the original eight. They just go to show that the same (or at least similar) concepts exist in both cases, while one is preserved with magical stories, the other through living martial art forms that have a long history and lineage. Perhaps the use of stories is what allowed the Ashta Siddhi to be so neatly flowing from one to another? One can only speculate.
Anima and Garima
The concept of Anima and Garima go hand in hand in reality. When one lowers her or his core (essentially one’s centre of gravity), the person feels heavier to anyone trying to dislodge them from that specific posture. This is true in all martial arts and sports and it is common sense for all humans. This is also at the root of all kamae, or physical posture in the basics of Budo.
What one has done in lowering her or his core is most likely widen one’s stance, by increasing the distance one’s feet and bent the knees, thus also reducing the height. So, the “size” of the person has reduced in one of the 3 axes (consider it the Z axis) while also seemingly increased the weight with the same mass. So, in effect, one has become smaller and heavier at the same time.
Thus, these two are really easy to understand. If a martial artist trains her or his core and leg strength and the ability to move her or his feet easily irrespective of physical size, both Anima and Garima are achieved. The speed of movement of the legs also depends on the martial artist not resting on the heels and instead learning to use the ball of the feet and the toes to hold their weight.
Image credit – “The Ramayana” published by Amar Chitra Katha
Of course, reducing one’s size also includes being able to go down on the knees, falling and getting up, sitting down and getting up as well. It also includes being able to change the angle of one’s self in relation to the attacker. For example, turning one’s side to the attacker exposes a far smaller surface area open to the attack (this is making one’s self smaller in either the X or Y axes). This is like a primary tenet of the “Totoku Hyoshi no Kamae” (the posture to protect oneself by making oneself as small as possible to use whatever one’s weapon is, as a shield).
There are a few other concepts that come to mind as going hand in hand with the Siddhis of Anima and Garima. One relating to Garima is the concept of Fudo, which translates to “Immovable”. To be immovable one needs to be of great mass, or more realistically, be able to manoeuvre one’s size and weight as required by the situation to prevent one’s footing or balance from being taken by the opponent. Here, I am not considering the use of Fudo in relation to one’s spirit or attitude.
Image credit – “The Ramayana” published by Amar Chitra Katha
In the Bujinkan, we study the Gyokko Ryu. The origin of this school is supposedly by a Chinese princess and was to be applied by a small person for defence in the somewhat smaller confines of an indoor setting. Complementing this, the theme of the year for the year 2015 in the Bujinkan, was “Goshinjutsu”. This translates as “self-protection” (NOT self-defence). One of the things taught as part of this theme was to be able to protect one’s self while not being big and strong. Soke Hatsumi Masaaki emphasized that all practitioners should learn to move and fight like women; he meant that one should learn to be able move and fight like a generally smaller and less strong person against any size of opponent. This concept holds true irrespective of whether one is a man or a woman, young or old. The Gyokko Ryu, by virtue of its origins emphasizes that one should be able to keep one’s size small and heavy (when necessary). This is to not only present a smaller target (bundle of opportunities) to the opponent, but also to not be constrained by one’s size in any space (a large person might not be able to move freely indoors). This also means that any attack on an opponent will require generating power with a shorter strike range.
Mahima and Laghima
Mahima and Laghima, as a converse of Anima and Garima, go hand in hand, though not exactly. While lowering one’s core or centre of gravity increases stability, this is detrimental to quick movement. Stability generates an inertia against movement and so adds a little extra effort to move. This is great for training though, and with time, it might be mitigated to quite an extent.
But then, one needs to understand Mahima not as an opposite of Anima, but as a transformation of the body. If one needs to perform a roll, a human being has to reduce her or his size in the vertical direction or Z axis and increase size in the horizontal direction, at the beginning of and during the roll, depending on how far the roll needs to be. So, in a real scenario where there is no magic and no spontaneous shrinking or expanding happens at a cellular level, Mahima and Anima are complementing each other, where a reduction is size in one axis results in an increase in another.
Laghima on the other hand is not really about a change in the size or shape or even posture, but more about control of one’s own body. This again relates to the extent of, duration of and quality of training a martial artist has put in. The ability to use the toes and ball of the feet as against the heels, the strength in the core and control of the same, ability to move the entire body as one, control of the facea, all of these play a role in the ability of the martial artist to achieve Laghima in her or his movements.
One of the definitions of Laghima is to be very light and be able to float, like on air***. In Budo, there is a concept called Ishito Bashi. This refers to the stones skipping on water. This concept captures the essence of Laghima very well. Stones being heavier than water should skink, but then, when they strike the surface at a specific angle and velocity, they can and do bounce off the surface multiple times. This does not mean the skipping stone is lighter than water, but can surely behave that way under the right circumstances. In this same manner, a martial artist is taught to be able to be extremely responsive to an attacker’s movements, and even intentions.
Image credit – “The Ramayana” published by Amar Chitra Katha
This concept means a martial artist (Budoka) should not be stiff in the body and fixated in her or his intended movements. But instead, should be able to respond to the opponent (not just react). This requires being light on the feet and flexible in the body and mind. This also leads to additional concepts like “listening with the whole body” and training one’s intuitive abilities in a conflict management scenario. In other words by not being tied down by a stiff body and preconceived notions in the mind, one is extremely light and able to respond almost instantaneously to an opponent, making it seem like one is impossible to hit or respond to, for the opponent gets no feedback at all to form an attack. To put it in a poetic manner, a Budoka can, with lots of good training, “float on the intentions of the opponent”, just as a stone can skip on water. This is just a practical application to someone saying you should be light as the air and impossible to either catch or hit.
Having considered the concept of rendering oneself incapable of being attacked by being light, it must be understood that the same can be achieved through armour. This is using technology to augment physical abilities or making up for the lack of the same, or both in some cases. Armour protects the body and can allow one to get away with not being able to be light and move very efficiently. But armour also makes one heavier, and also larger. Think of all the body armour used in the past; samurai armour, full plate harness, or even modern day body armour. All of these make a person larger (in volume). Add a helmet to this and even the height is increased. Overall, a person appears more substantial in armour.
In the Bujinkan, we train the Kukishinden Ryu, a martial school which traditionally used armour. The use of the same necessitates a physical posture with any weapon to be larger than one when not using armour. For this reason, there is even a kamae (physical posture) called “Daijodan no kamae” which translates to “large high level posture”, the key here being the prefix “Dai” (large).
Image credit – “Mahabharata 20 – Arjuna’s Quest for Weapons” published by Amar Chitra Katha
This also shows how being large, or using Mahima, can also refer to just occupying greater space, like in armour. Hence, adding a weapon to the mix also achieves the same. This seems pretty similar to a country being considered powerful in the modern sense if it has the ability to strike far from its shores due to standoff range weapons and long range missiles. Or possess the ability to cripple other nations with armies of hackers in the cyberspace. The country can be small, but the “space” it controls (exercise influence over), geographical or cyber is “large”.
Praapti
The word “Praapti” and its forms are still used pretty often, compared to the terms for the other seven Siddhis. In Kannada for example, it could be “Avanige yenu praapta aayithu?” or “What did he get?” and in Hindi an example could be “Tumne kya praapt kiya?” or “What did you obtain?” As seen in these two examples, in common parlance “Praapti” means “get” or “obtain”. In either case, it boils down to “receiving” something.
The concept of “receiving” is literally the foundation of both the basics and advanced stages of the martial arts in the Bujinkan system. Ukemi and Uke Nagashi are the first things taught in the basics of the Bujinkan. Ukemi refers to “receiving the ground” and hence involves rolls and break falls. It has everything to do with how to injure oneself the least when one has to fall. Uke Nagashi refers to “receiving the uke (opponent)”. This deals with the different ways one can absorb, block, counter, deflect or evade an attack whether the attack is from a higher, lower or any other angle. So, literally, how one can obtain safety while being attacked or falling is the crux of this “receiving” and reiterates how one should be able to have “praapti” of safety.
Image credit – “Mahabharata 41 – The Ashwamedha Yajna” published by Amar Chitra Katha
At a more advanced level, as Nagato Sensei (One of the senior most teachers in the Bujinkan) says, everything begins with Sakkijutsu. Sakkijutsu is about developing the intuitive ability in a fight (or any conflict management situation in daily life) to be able to move pre-emptively to either cause the opponent(s) to be in a disadvantageous position or to put one’s self in the safest or most advantageous position in relation to the opponent.
In order to be able to use intuition to one’s advantage, there are two things that are needed. First, one must have a lot of experience in training, of trusting one’s intuition and facing the consequences of failing to do so. The second relates to what we discussed with respect to Laghima, to be able to listen to the opponent and her or his surroundings to be able to intuit their intention and moves. The first of these two is about receiving knowledge and experience (Gyan aur anubhav “praapt” karo – in Hindi). The second is about receiving information from the opponent and surroundings, even when it is not explicit. Here, Praapti is all about obtaining the ability to survive, through safety and perhaps success. This is something everyone does at all times in life. We use experience to be great in any field and usually this is because we can read the situation and be in the right place at the right time. Perhaps this is a precursor to being lucky.
Praakaamya
This is the Siddhi that, from my perspective, belies any direct correlation with a concept in Budo. Praakaamya means the ability to acquire anything. Because this article is in English, there is one question that would surely come up. What is the difference between “obtain” and “acquire”? The general understanding would be that “acquire” implies more effort on the part of the person who gets something, as against “obtain” which could be either effort or any other means, like finding, being gifted and such. This is why I have understood “Praapti” to mean “receive” more than to “obtain”. So, by my interpretation, while “Praapti” is to receive, “Praakaamya” is to be able to take. So, with respect to “Praapti”, the person receiving is, to an extent passive, while with “Praakaamya” the person taking is, to an extent, active. Also, like Praapti, Praakaamya also relates to life in general, not specifically to a fight.
With this basic detail about Praakaamya Siddhi, let us look at some concepts from conflict management, war strategies and a situation where individuals are fighting. In any conflict, if one has all the information about the abilities, numbers and position of an opponent(s), and also knows everything about one’s own strengths, skills, numbers and positions, the opponent can always be overcome. This is true if the same information is not available to the opponent.
In Budo, we learn two concepts, one called “Yoyu” and another called “Kurai Dori”. Yoyu refers to having a surplus of everything. Kurai Dori refers to strategic positioning. If one has a surplus of information, experience and skill, once can always achieve a favourable strategic position against an opponent, and cause the opponent to be in a disadvantageous situation or maybe defeated. Also, if one is able to achieve favourable a strategic position, gathering surplus information might become easier. These two are thus, complementary.
Image credit – “Mahabharata 41 – The Ashwamedha Yajna” published by Amar Chitra Katha
With the Siddhi of Praapti, one has all the skills, experience and also all the information about the opponent. With the trained intuitive** abilities, if the opponent knows or plans somethings (or even thinks it!), so does the one defending. So, with Praapti achieved, one has everything needed to always achieve a successful strategic position against an opponent. Thus, Kurai Dori is a variant of Praakaaamya in a conflict. If one can “acquire” a strategic position, once can acquire a surplus of everything, including information, so “Yoyu” is achieved. With these two concepts applied in practice, anything can be achieved, and thus anything can be acquired. In this way “Praapti” and “Praakaamya” form a virtuous cycle, as do “Yoyu” and “Kurai Dori” Thus, “Yoyu” and “Kurai Dori” are a fair approximation of Praakaamya. Of course, this needs a foundation in Praapti, represented by Sakkijutsu, Ukemi, Uke Nagashi and other layers of training.
Vashitva
Before delving into Vasitva and its antecedents in Budo, I need to clarify something here. As I have been writing this article, I realize that I have to clarify the progression of the eight Siddhis. They are not acquired linearly. It is at best circular. The eight Siddhis complement and enable each other. It is not like eight different weapons being acquired. It is more akin to having a weapons platform, like a fighter aircraft, whose sensor package, weapons array and engine behaviour are variable and mission specific. The airframe with its stealth abilities is like one of the Siddhis, while what this platform carries are the rest.
The above point was important as we discuss the last two Siddhis. I have seen some mention Vashitva first, and some others mention Eeshitva. Personally, I feel Vashitva should be before Eeshitva for reasons I hope will be clear in a bit.
In Indian vernacular languages, “Vashikarana” means to be able to hypnotize and thus control someone. “Vasha” means control. Thus “Vashitva” means “to be able to control”. So, the seventh Siddhi is to be able to control an opponent(s) or just about anything on the planet, like plants, birds, insects and animals. When speaking of control, it is vital to mention that one should not let oneself be controlled and also ensure the following two. One should not let on that he or she is not being controlled and if possible, also make the opponent believe that they are in control.
Image credit – “Hanuman to the Rescue – Tales of Hanuman” published by Amar Chitra Katha
In the Bujinkan, there is a trinity of concepts, “Toatejutsu”, “Shinenjutsu” and “Fudo Kana Shibari”. “Toatejutsu” refers to “striking from a distance”, “Shinenjutsu” refers to “capturing the soul/spirit of the opponent” and “Fudo Kana Shibari” refers to “an unshakable iron grip”. The three used together refers to “Striking from a distance to capture the soul/spirit of the opponent in an unshakable iron grip”. The soul or spirit here refers to the fighting spirit or the will to fight of the opponent(s). If this is achieved, Vashitva is as well.
The path to achieving the three concepts mentioned above and therefore Vashitva, is found in some of the themes of the year in the Bujinkan in the past 20 years. The themes I am referring to are, “Kasumi no Ho”, “Kuki Taisho” and “Menkyo kaiden”. “Kasumi no ho” refers to the “way of fog”, “Kuki taisho” refers to “the smile of the ninth demon” and Menkyo Kaiden refers to “confusing the opponent with conflicting signals”.
“Kasumi no ho” means moving in a way that causes confusion to the opponent, and hence affects either the will to fight of the opponent or causes the opponent’s plan of action and therefore the intent to falter due to induced self-doubt. “Kuki taisho” is about being so confident in one’s own ability and exuding menace without any action. This is an attitude to cultivate in oneself. This attitude is supposed to actively deter a fight or conflict from occurring because the opponent’s will to fight wilts before the fight ever begins. “Menkyo kaiden” is about messing with the opponent’s mind. This is roughly “kasumi no ho” with the will of the opponent (Kasumi no ho itself was related to physical movement). It can also be called “kuki taisho” applied repeatedly at varying intervals for varying durations. Of course, all these are layers added on top of one another, first achieve the physical and add the intellectual and emotional aspects to embellish the physical. As must be obvious by the objective of these three concepts, they lead to controlling the opponent’s will and his or her means to fight (this includes the plan of action). This is “Vashitva” 101.
I have to add here, specifically in relation to the Bujinkan system. The focus on “control” has been paramount since Hatsumi Sensei started his focus on Muto Dori from around 2018. Everything he has been teaching focuses on control. First, try to achieve complete control on oneself and then this will likely lead to control of the opponent(s). Of course, this is a wonderful concept, but frightfully hard to achieve, even just the first part about self-control. So, achievement of “Vashitva” is literally what Soke has been driving towards over the last few years.
I have one last point to consider with regard to “Vashitva”. If one can control one’s shape and size, weight and volume through the achievement of Anima, Mahima, Laghima and Garima, the first four Siddhis, one should be able to go anywhere and reach anywhere (specifically in the context of the martial arts or a fight, but in general as well). Then, that person should be able to obtain or receive anything and hence acquire anything. If one can have anything that is needed at will at and all times, through the achievement of the Siddhis of Praapti and Praakaamya, one has already achieved self-control and hence should be able to control everything and all opponents, thus achieving Vashitva. If one can control everything, then one can continue to obtain and acquire anything and thus perpetuate the ability to control one’s own mass and volume (it just means that newer means to achieve the first four Siddhis can always be discovered). This is what I was referring to when I suggested that the Siddhis are more circular rather than linear. They feed off and add to each other, completing the virtuous cycle. And this leads us to the eighth Siddhi.
Eeshitva
I have seen the meaning of this Siddhi as “the ability to force or influence anyone” or “absolute superiority” and even “the ability to restore life to the dead”. Personally, I feel all of these are underwhelming. Of course, if one can control everyone and everything, that person can indeed force or influence those under control. This is obviously absolute superiority. I will refer to the restoring of life later in this section. Also, I use the spelling as Eeshitva and not Ishitva like in many sources, as I feel that is more accurate in comparison with the spelling in vernacular Indian languages.
Eesha is another word for God. It is very similar to the word Eeshwara. Eeshwara could specifically refer to Lord Shiva or generally mean God. Eesha is also the Guardian of the North-Eastern direction. So, however it is seen, Eesha refers to God. So, Eeshitva is about achieving the ability to be like God, be it in a fight or conflict or any situation in general. In other words, to be able to lord over all problems, if not simply, everything.
The definition of Eeshitva makes it clear that it will always be a work in progress for all humans. No mortal can become a God for there is no definition of Godhood. I cannot think of any examples for Eeshitva from either daily life or the martial arts/sports worlds. Of course, one can think of martial artists like Miyamoto Musashi who never lost a duel, or Venus Williams at her peak or Dhirubhai Ambani when he grew his company with seemingly no end, to have achieved Eeshitva for a time in a given context. But this is very similar to achieving Vashitva where the aforementioned people could control all variables in a duel or on a tennis court or in the business ecosystem, for they definitely seemed to be in complete control of their respective environments. But none of them could be Godlike since they were all specialists in their respective fields, as are most people on Earth. No human can claim control on everything and hence Godhood.
The above clearly shows how Vashitva in all areas, automatically leads to Eeshitva. This is why I had mentioned earlier that I prefer to place Eeshitva as the eight Siddhi, after Vashitva, as this is a stepping stone to being Godlike.
Even though no human can likely achieve Godhood, I would to refer to concepts from Budo, which show that the pursuit of improvement and accepting natural principles are universal and guide one to at least be able to be a conduit to divine inspiration and action, even if not actual Gods.
In Budo there is a concept called “Kami Waza”. This means the technique of the Gods. It refers to moving a fight in a way that seems like one is being guided by or moved by the Gods themselves. You could say, the person who seems Godlike, has let the Gods let her or himself be controlled by the Gods. By removing oneself from the situation, space has been made in their body, mind and spirit to allow the Gods to be in control. This is to cause the opponents to no longer be able to be an opponent. The choice of words here are deliberate, I am saying the opponent no longer being able to be one, not that the opponent is defeated, hurt or affected by any malicious intent. So, for normal humans allowing for a space where Godlike movement can be achieved, that is Eeshitva on a small scale in a given context.
Image credit – “Hanuman to the Rescue – Tales of Hanuman” published by Amar Chitra Katha
Here is where I would to refer to defining Eeshitva as being able to bring people back from the dead. In reality, for humans, this is similar to protecting people from death. If one can end a conflict with the least harm to people and minimal or no loss of life, with the help of Gods if necessary, this is close to being Godlike. Weapons of deterrence in the modern world could arguably, in a twisted way, be an example of this. If one is extremely good in the context of a fight and the opponent cedes without fighting, it is a step towards Eeshitva.
In the Bujinkan, like with Vashitva, there were a couple of themes studied a few years ago that could be stepping stones towards Kami waza, or Eeshitva. One is “Jin ryu kaname omamuru” and the other is “Shingin budo”. “Jin ryu kaname omamuru” refers to being able to see the essence with the eyes of the Gods. It means being able to perceive the crux of anything almost instantly, like the Gods can. “Shingin budo” refers to moving in a martial way while being guided by the brilliant artistry of the Gods. This means one’s martial movement seems to be awesome like that of the Gods or at least like one is guided by them.
Both of the above emphasize that one can be Godlike only by allowing the Gods to either control them or more appropriately by one allowing oneself to be a conduit for the Gods. This means that one’s perception is so on the dot or martial movement is that incredibly good, that it seems they are a vessel for the Gods. This begs the question how does one allow oneself to be a conduit for the Gods?
The Bujinkan system, time and again has emphasized that advanced practitioners should learn to unlearn, and strive to achieve self-control to control Uke (opponent). This means one should not be fixated on techniques and how they are done and should learn to adapt the same to the scenario. There is no need to be traditional and one should not celebrate a collection of techniques for their own sake. These should be a guide to natural movement. Natural movement just means doing the best thing that can be done in a given situation. This in turn means, one should be able to let go of intentions, plans, ego and emotions relating to a given scenario. This allows “Natural movement”. And when one is fully able to move naturally, one can hopefully find the best solutions at great speed, and this is akin to being guided by the Gods.
An example from Indian culture for letting go of oneself is how Lord Krishna does the only thing that is possible in his wars against Jarasandha. He did not fear disrepute when he ran away from the battlefield against Kaala Yavana, who in turn followed him to his death in a cave (this is a story beyond this article). He also decided to move his entire city state far away from Jarasandha’s neighbourhood and eventually Jarasandha was also slain off the battlefield. Using his ego against him was a big part of this, but again, this story is beyond the scope of this article.
Of course, just because the concepts exist, does not mean the path does. These concepts are difficult to practice to the point of impossibility, let alone achieve. And that brings me to end of this long winded look at the connections, from a personal perspective, between the classical Ashta Siddhi from Hindu culture and the concepts of Budo, specifically the Bujinkan system of martial arts.
Notes:
1. I sometimes use Bujinkan and Budo interchangeably. It is not really correct. But it is pretty representative. Apologies for this and a big thanks to my readers for bearing with me on this.
2. **Intuitive abilities are pretty synonymous with “mindfulness”
3. *** An example of this would be when Hanuman flew across the sea to Lanka and then to the Himalayas and back. Of course, this is an example of a God displaying a fantastic act, and not something that can ever be expected of humans.
4. I cannot think of any direct examples from stories in Hindu culture for Praapti and Praakaamya, without some personal interpretation being added. Praapti could be when Hanuman received the revelation of his forgotten powers from Jambawan exactly when he needed to be able to cross the sea to Lanka. Another example of Praapti that comes to mind is, when Yudishtira was distraught at not having starting capital for performing the Ashwamedha Yajna after the Kurukshetra war, Sage Veda Vyasa easily solved his problem by revealing the location of buried treasure that could pay for the entire enterprise. Thus, in both cases, Hanuman and Yudishtira had put themselves in a position where they could “receive” (obtain) exactly the solution they needed at the exact time when they needed it.
5. An example of Vashitva that comes to mind is that of Ravana. His capabilities were such that he could order the Sun around! When Hanuman was on his mission to bring the Sanjeevini plant to heal Lakshmana before the morning of the next day, Ravana ordered the Sun to rise earlier! Presumably to cause the temperature change to kill Lakshmana. This is control on a GRAND scale! But then, Hanuman, imprisoned the Sun temporarily to foil that! That is Eeshtiva, if ever there was an example of one.
A sword is a weapon. It is often said that, of all historical weapons, the sword is the only one which is specifically designed to be used only against other humans. All other weapons also double up as tools. A knife, an axe, a spear, a staff, bow and arrows, all of these are tools, which can be repurposed or “specialized” to be weapons. Even a serrated blade can be used as a saw. If you put a sword on top of a staff, the staff stops being a tool and gets relegated to being a weapon; as in the case of the glaive, naginata, kwan dao and such. Even if the sword blade is made long and flexible, it is only a weapon and not a tool, like with the aara or urumi, unless one can consider that wearing it as a belt (as it apparently was at times in history) is its use as a tool!
But then, if one changes the blade shape and makes it extremely curved and top heavy, or very wide and specialized for chopping, the sword takes a different name, a sickle in the former case and a machete in the latter. Of course, this name can differ with cultures. Either way, in this avatar, a sword does indeed become a tool, but it no longer is unambiguously just a sword anymore.
This being said, there is a very definite case where a sword becomes a tool. Consider all the very beautiful and ornate swords in the world. I do not mean the swords with very ornate, or bejeweled scabbards or hilts, made of precious materials, be it gold or silver or a combination. Hilts made of jade, quartz or rock crystal with jaw dropping carvings are also very prevalent.
The beautiful swords I consider here are the ones which have fully functional blades and can cut perfectly well but can also be considered as works of art at first glance. These might be swords that have blades with a mirror polish, blades with elegant “Damascus” (Wootz) patterns, blades with blue and gilt, and all the blades with intricate engravings, or all the blades with various combinations of the above.
Marry this sword art with the magnificent but functional hilts that bear elegant scroll work in gold or silver and then the shine of an enameled scabbard, and the sword transforms into a tool, Yes it is now undoubtedly a work of art, but it is also a tool.
This is the kind of sword that is gifted to a fellow king, a vital aristocrat or an opposing party at the signing of a treaty. This is the kind of artwork, once given as a gift, shows the honour that is being bestowed upon the recipient, for this is a sword that is one in a million, that took efforts and resources far beyond the ordinary to create (not make, but create). Add to the sheer beauty the fact that it can be used a weapon, and it is a weapon that is to be preserved and passed on an heirloom, something that comes to define the prestige of a family or clan!
Once this value is established in terms of honour and prestige, the sword becomes a tool. It is a tool that buys you an army, an alliance, or peace! This is not me stating it; I am borrowing a part of the above sentence from Ilya Alelseyev, on the “That Works” YouTube channel. Yes, you can call it currency since it “buys” you something, but then, it really is not. It is like a bottle opener, which opens the bottle of jointmanship, maybe camaraderie and even friendship. Thus, a sword becomes a tool through the realm of art. Perhaps when a blade smith works with a gold smith, the weapon becomes a tool. Perhaps this tool becomes a path to peace! An army or an alliance or a treaty acquired might lead to the prevention of or to the end of a conflict, by tilting the scales heavily in one’s favour, and discouraging another from considering a violent solution. And thus, the sword becomes a tool for peace. And this has been true for so much technology and art across human evolution. This perhaps is also the purpose of a sword. To be a tool for peace.
Shekhar Gupta (currently the Editor-in-Chief at “The Print”), a very experienced and eminent (according to most) journalist of India has a theory regarding the lifecycle of violence due to insurgencies. He calls it the “Bell Curve theory”. This theory of his is a part of the inspiration behind this article.
Of course, as the title suggests, this write-up is also inspired by the term “Saino Tamashii Utsuwa”. This was the “Theme of the year” in the Bujinkan system of martial arts, for the year 2009. Saino Tamashii Utsuwa translates as “Expand (or add on to – Tamashii) the vessel (Utsuwa – referring to the capacity of the vessel) of your abilities (Saino)”. In simpler terms it means expand your abilities or skill sets. Considering the Bujinkan is mainly a system of martial arts, this meant, improve your skills or fine-tune your skills, or increase your skill set. It also could mean improve your ability to withstand or endure anything (this could relate to the soul which might represent endurance, patience and other abilities that cannot be objectively measured, but subjectively assessed).
The “Bell curve” Mr.Gupta uses as part of his theory is the normal bell curve used in statistics. He observes, based on his several years of reporting on various insurgencies in India in its different parts that the violence due to these insurgencies follows a Bell Curve. These insurgencies include the ones in the North-East – in Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam, in the North – in Punjab and Kashmir and in the South, Centre and East of the country – in the Naxal affected states.
He observes that all these insurgencies start small, when they are not yet a matter of concern for the State (central and state governments). They then grow larger and more violent and eventually a peak of their violence is reached corresponding to the peak of the Bell curve. This is when the State has recognized the threat and trouble of the insurgency but the response to it has not yet reached the peak of its efficiency and effectiveness.
The next stage is when the response of the State, with its military, paramilitary, police, intelligence agencies, media narrative, revenue enforcement and logistics deprivation through all of the above, becomes overwhelming for the insurgents to handle. This forms the falling part of the bell curve, corresponding to the reduction and tapering of the violence. It also corresponds to the State and insurgents beginning a dialogue which eventually results in the end of the bell curve, when violence ends, and a political process begins with a permanent solution taking hold over time.
Sensei Hatsumi Masaaki, Soke of the Bujinkan system of martial arts (he has since handed over the 9 schools of martial arts that comprised the Bujinkan to different and new Sokes) had a system where he would announce a theme for every year. This indicated what the focus of training would be for the next year. This was a practice from around 1993 all the way till around 2016. After 2016, the generic focus has been “Muto Dori” until the pandemic disrupted normalcy.
Some of the themes were tangible and external, like a weapon (Bo, Yari, Naginata etc.) or a style of fighting (taihen jutsu, koppo jutsu, kosshi jutsu etc). But sometimes the theme was more abstract, a concept more than a physical aspect (Saino Tamashii Utsuwa, Rokkon Shoujo, Kihon Happo etc). The theme for the year 2009 was “Saino Tamashii Utsuwa” (sometimes also called “Saino Konki”).
The expectation for the year based on the theme was that the practitioners of Bujinkan improve their skills, in scale and scope. For example, if someone was good with the sword and not the spear, he or she was expected to improve with the spear while fine-tuning their skills with the sword and also to not let it diminish while the other skill is being enhanced. It was also expected that everyone also brush-up on to what they already knew but had lost partially over time. In other words, if the practitioner of Bujinkan is a vessel and that vessel is full to a point with certain skills, they were expected to not only add to the vessel, but also ensure that the size of the vessel increases and is added to, at the same time.
There is an obvious and simplistic observation to be made here. The bell curve looks like a mountain, but when it is turned around, it looks like a vessel. And any vessel is representative of potential or opportunity, as represented by the space in a vessel which can be filled.
This vessel that is represented by the “Utsuwa” in the theme, is also representative of the ability of the Indian State to always increase and improve its own capacity, in its soul and its abilities to deal with challenges of any nature as the State grows, ages and gains collective experience and wisdom. The challenges can be anything; economic, social, political, military or climatic. But here we look at this concept with reference to the insurgencies that Mr. Gupta refers to in his theory.
One should watch the videos on the YouTube channel of “The Print”, where Mr. Gupta explains the bell curve theory. He does a wonderful job of elucidating the same very eloquently. I will try and capture the key points from the theory here.
The early part of the bell curve is one where the State is not reacting to the insurgency as it does not seem much of a problem. But the problem and violence grow in brutality and in the number of incidences of violence. Eventually it reaches a peak when it seems that there will be no end to the increase in the violence. When things are at this peak, the State has already started responding, but while successful in many instances, it does not seem to be successful in reducing the instances of violence or mitigating the cause of the insurgency. This is true in all the following examples of insurgency against the Indian State.
The militancy in Punjab started in the early 1980s and was unabated all through that decade and it peaked in the years of 1991 and 1992. But it waned to being insignificant in the years after 1993. The militancy in the erstwhile J&K state started in 1989 and was unabated through the early 1990s. After this, the violence has diminished greatly. While it still exists today, it is a single burning home (a tragedy nonetheless) compared to the conflagration of the early 1990s.
The insurgencies in the Northeast started in late 1940s and are not yet completely over. But each state in the region had separate peaks and mitigation of the violence. Each state in the region also dealt with the local issues differently and at different periods of time. The insurgency in Mizoram peaked in the 60s and 70s and ended in the 80s. The same in Tripura ended in the 2000s. The insurgency in Assam was at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s and has abated to a large extent since. The insurgency in Nagaland has timelines similar that in Assam.
The greatest internal security threat as described by Dr. Manmohan Singh, the activities of Naxals, is also still going on, but is much diminished from the last decade. Though extremely brutal acts still do occur against CRPF personnel, these are reducing in number. The scale of the Naxal problem is vastly greater than the other insurgencies. It encompasses several states. In the words of Mr. Modi, Naxal activities extend from Tirupati (in Andhra Pradesh) to Pashupati (the Pashupatinath temple in Nepal). But the number of districts affected by Naxal activities has reduced significantly in the 2010s.
Mr. Gupta explains that all of these have followed the bell curve and are at various stages on the downward trend currently. The reasons for this are many. Mr. Gupta explains a few of the reasons and some are evident from various media reports over the last few decades, which show the strategies deployed by the Indian State.
In many insurgencies, the Army was deployed initially to deal with the surging violence. The army itself was not trained to deal with insurgents as against conventional enemies. The Army itself had to learn the skills to deal with the problems and also put in place procedures and mechanisms to deal with the problem in different geographies of the country. This also meant they had to start schools in different parts of the country to train troops to deal with the different types of scenarios, in some cases learning from and sharing knowledge with Armed Forces of other countries. Overtime, State Police forces learned specialized skills to deal with the different types of insurgencies and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) also gained a lot of the skills to free up the Army for their more conventional roles.
All of this was backed by learning, building and putting in place structures and resources for continuously improving Intelligence Agencies which led to reducing casualties in the armed response units and reducing collateral damage in any operation. This also led to a greater understanding of what steps could be taken to mitigate the causes of the militancy and also open channels of communication with the insurgents.
With this started a virtuous cycle. The Indian State started with better transport and communication infrastructure which not only helped the armed units but also started off development opportunities in the areas affected by insurgencies. It helped affected communities, specifically tribals (adivasis), interact more with their fellow citizens. It brought better primary education to areas previously left behind. And this led to a greater understanding of the causes of the militancy and a fine tuning of the strategy to counter the same.
With better infrastructure, education and out-reach came the opportunity for more commercial development in underdeveloped areas, especially in the case of Naxal areas, where mining was always a huge opportunity. With development came the challenges of equitable distribution of the benefits, which is still a work in progress, but definitely forward progress.
Another area of the fight (skill set if you will) that the Indian State had to learn and fine tune all the time was the narrative battle and the response to it on many fronts (now there is a stream of economics called “Narrative Economics”!). The State had to firstly counter the narrative of grievances that the insurgency was peddling in almost all examples. This was to break the support the militant received from the locals, who would only do that if they saw examples of development and bought into the path of progress promised by the State. Also, the State had to convince its other citizens, who lived far away from the insurgency affected areas and were not affected by violence, that they were firstly not the villains of the story and that they were taking the right steps as the situation warranted.
An aside – Could the entire arena of narrative combat be akin to the concept of “Kyojitsu Tenkan Ho” that we train in the Bujinkan?
Once the State had better prepared armed units, intelligence gathering, infrastructure and narrative combat skills, it could choke the logistics of the militants, mainly because the support of locals in the supply chain diminished.
With all the above additions to a State’s abilities, the insurgency was now on the receiving end. This opened the door to creating amnesty and rehabilitation opportunities for militants that would surrender, give up arms and revert to the mainstream of the nation’s citizenry. Once the option of giving up arms without consequences was opened, the virtuous cycle gathered pace and led to greater interaction with inhabitants of the insurgency affected areas, and gave greater momentum to back channel communications which became full-fledged talks to end the insurgency. *This is like allowing an Uke the option of ukemi and disengagement from the fight.
Now that bringing people back from militancy has been mentioned, Mr. Gupta makes a very interesting observation. Apparently, the Indian state avoids killing the top leadership of an insurgency. It does eliminate lower level operatives when necessary, but does not go after the top leadership, because they are the ones who can be negotiated with and convinced to join mainstream politics. This method has apparently resulted in insurgent leaders in the North East, J&K and Punjab joining electoral politics and becoming ministers or even chief ministers in rare cases. Once this happens, the insurgency ends and political processes can take over. When a political process takes over, leaders are held responsible for development. This apparently leads to a populace getting addicted to peace, so long as there is a “peace dividend”.
The “peace dividend” refers to development that improves the quality of life and increases prosperity for a populace over time. This requires actions of the State that are not specific to countering an insurgency, but activities that are of great benefit to all the people in the country as a whole.
This includes activities where schemes of the State are delivered with not much leakage of benefits, and to the sections of a population that need them most. And if there is specific development like mining in an area with Naxal influence, the benefit from the mining should be visible and reach the locals of the area specifically. Of course, if this sounds like a welfare state, then the State needs continuous and large economic growth to have the resources to distribute. This should go hand in hand with protection of local cultures and the inhabitants should not be inundated with a migrant population, to alleviate fears of a way of life being threatened. This is true whether it is the North East, Punjab or J&K, for all parts of the country have a lot of pride in their respective ways of life.
These general development activities bring to mind two other concepts from the Martial Arts. One is “Rokkon Shoujo”, which means “clear laughter is the greatest reward”. This essentially means the focus should be on happiness, and the focus of a State’s activities should focus on the happiness of a populace. So, this is not specific to counter insurgency, but to general development as a whole.
The second is “Kaitatsu Gairoku”. This means “doing things indirectly”. It refers to a feint in the martial arts that could lead to creating an opening against an opponent. So, The State focuses on economic development, and its equitable distribution and this weakens insurgencies by its very nature. This is weakening an insurgency by focusing on something else. This is a classic example of defeating an insurgency with indirect actions.
Of course, Rokkon Shojo and Kaitatsu Gairoku are deeper concepts that need to be explored with separate articles with more clear examples. Nevertheless, these actions of the State go on to show that a State not only adds to its learning and experience with specific aspects relating to dealing with a violent insurgency, but also incorporates concepts that affect the solution to the violence without direct measures. This is similar to learning a concept in the martial arts as against a technique and applying it with any other weapon or technique.
In conclusion, each of the above points, is an ability learnt by a government, expanded upon with the past experience and knowledge (of previous administrations), by successive governments. To simplify, the Indian State can be considered the budoka and each of the strategies applied against an insurgency represents an increase in its Utsuwa of responses. The soft and hard strategies are the Saino, both of which are always being increased (tamashii).
Of course, all the learnings and techniques of the Indian State is not to imply that these are the only ones out there. Several countries have faced and either defeated or mitigated armed insurgencies of varying scales in the last century. These insurgencies were of both right and left wing extremists, a small number of examples of this are the Red Brigades in Italy, the Red Army Faction (Bader Meinhof Group) in West Germany, the OAS in France and the Provincial IRA in the UK. But the scale and number of violent insurgencies faced by the Indian State is vastly greater, as is its resolve (more space in the Utsuwa) to never give in, take all hits it has to (in lives, in the media, narratives, economy growth etc.) but always survive and emerge stronger – a much larger and accommodating vessel. Just living in this country, and knowing this history is a great walk through the concept of “Saino Tamashii Utsuwa” and motivation enough to practice the same, at least in the dojo.
*As mentioned in the article “Ahimsa and the Martial Arts – Part 3”
Indian Independence & the Revolutionary Movement – The Gift of Ukemi
Artwork by Shushma N
In the previous two write-ups in this series I have opined that Ahimsa is about not letting the opponent realize that he/she/they are being countered and making them retreat or just give up the fight/aggression that was initiated by the opponents’ side. I also opined that this concept can be applied not only to a one on one fight, but also to a large scale conflict spread across a vast geography (the example used was the Indian Freedom Struggle).
In this part of this series, the last one for now, I shall express a few of the remaining thoughts I have had over time with regard to Ahimsa in the martial arts and how the same is also evident ( at least to me) in the struggle for Indian independence from the British Raj. Of course, I need to reiterate here, the application of martial arts concepts is from my own perspective and with the benefit of hindsight.
When we train in the Bujinkan, after a considerable amount of training, we begin to realize that a lot of the times we support the opponent. This is very true in the Nage Waza or “throwing” related movements. “Support the opponent” here means that the opponent is not only being held up by the tensions in one’s (defender’s) own body, but also by being able to sense where the threat to him or herself is likely to come from based on the same. Here, “tensions in one’s own body” refers to the strength all of us use in defending against or resisting the attack of an opponent. Specifically, with relation to the Nage Waza and related concepts (maybe movements), when an opponent is being thrown, he or she can stop him or herself from falling by sensing (feeling) the resistance from the person executing the throw and latching onto the person based on that feedback. This is why we are taught that in the Nage Waza, we need to learn to “let the opponent fall” and how that should be enabled by gravity, not individual strength.
Once we understand (or at least say/accept) that a lot of throwing of opponents happens by letting the opponent fall, we need to learn what position and space we need to occupy in relation to a specific attack from an opponent. A specific set of movements might be needed to occupy the space and posture in relation to an attacker to take his or her balance and make them fall. This is the whole purpose of Nage Waza training.
Now, when seen from the perspective of an attacker, when he or she is falling, he or she will fall in a manner that will be least painful and causes least bodily harm due to the same. This is what we call Ukemi or “receiving the ground”. In common parlance, an attacker executes a break-fall or a roll while falling to come out of the fall unhurt or at least with minimal injury.
Consider a situation where an attacker either cannot perform a good ukemi or has only the option of an ukemi that will result in significant physical injury (or worse). This situation delays the attacker (Uke) from performing an ukemi to retreat from the attack he or she initiated. Often enough, in the absence of a good fall-back option like a break-fall or roll, the attacker will fight harder and try to force a tension in the defender’s body to latch on to, thus mitigating or nullifying the need for an ukemi. Therefore, the defender (Tori), by disallowing an ukemi for the attacker, might extend the fight by not allowing the Uke to retreat with an ukemi.
An aside – It can also be argued that the Tori becomes Uke in such a situation (denial of ukemi), especially if the Tori has to resort to use of physical strength that reverses the gained advantage with the earlier movement. Of course, very skilled practitioners can deny an ukemi and also prevent a fightback from the uke (this is a deserving discussion for different time). Here, at least in a practice scenario, the tori physically stops uke from falling, thus gaining the gratitude of the uke for the life-saving move. This “saving the uke” is an act of benevolence and also results in the ending of the current attack.
With this introduction in the background, I would like to recall a sentence I had read in a newspaper op-ed back when Operation Parakram was going on. This was the massive military build-up that India had used to retaliate against the attack on the Indian parliament back in December 2001. I do not recall the newspaper name, but I think it was The Hindu. The sentence said that one of the things that the Indian Government and the Military leadership was cognizant of was that they did not want to push the then Pakistani Dictatorship to think they did not have any wriggle room in the discussions with India. This feeling along with a belief that a massive invasion was imminent would push them to the wall. And the knowledge that Pakistan would not be able to win a conventional war against India along with no faith in negotiations would drive them towards the nuclear option in the war. This was something that India did not want, for it would adversely affect India and also not result in the scaling down of terrorism which was the objective of the military mobilization in the first place. In hindsight, India succeeded, to a limited extent, in getting Pakistan to act on terrorism emanating from its soil and there was no war. Op Parakram was called “gun-boat diplomacy” as well by some, for this reason.
But the key here is that the option of negotiation was the ukemi that the attacker could use to disengage and end the fight. The lack of this option would have resulted in a military conflict with unforeseeable consequences which need not have been favourable to either the attacker or defender.
I have used the above example because it perfectly encapsulates the use of diplomacy with military capabilities to achieve a strategic or geopolitical objective, with minimal or no use of the kinetic military option. And all this in a short time frame of less than a year.
If we can look back towards the Indian Freedom Struggle with the above example and the use of ukemi in mind, some wonderful revelations are likely. This is especially true if we consider the work of a lot of new historians who are beginning to opine that Indian Independence from the British Raj was not just due to the Ahimsa (supposedly “non-violent”) and movement of the Indian National Congress (INC), but also due to the work of the armed Revolutionary Movement, the pinnacle of which was the Indian National Army (INA) under Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
It is well documented, and these days, pretty widely mentioned, that Clement Atlee, the PM of Britain when India won independence, stated that Gandhiji and the movement led by him (I suppose we could say the movement spearheaded by the INC?) was of very little relevance in the final British decision to leave India and acquiesce to Indian Independence. This statement is supposed to have been made when he was on a visit to India in 1956, when he was staying at the residence of the then Chief Justice of Bengal. Further, Clement Atlee is supposed to have credited the British decision to leave India to the spark lit by Netaji and the rebellion in the then Royal Indian Armed Forces (the greatest of which was the rebellion by the Royal Indian Navy in 1946).
So, Indian Independence was a consequence of the well-known Freedom Struggle and also loss of control of the armed forces in India. The rebellion in the armed forces after the end of the Second World War itself was triggered by the trials in the Red Fort of the prisoners of the INA. The INA being a product of the armed revolutionary movement, it is clear that the objective of this movement was always to turn the British Indian Army against the British. With the Army being staffed mostly by Indians with British leadership, the loss of control of the army was always going to be the end of the British Raj.
This idea of throwing the British out by subversion of the British Indian Army had been the same since the First War of Independence in 1857, which also occurred due to troops of the then East India Company (EIC) rebelling against the Company. After the failure in 1857, the idea was revived in the early 20th century with many events working towards the same goal, during the First World War which were not successful. Eventually, the same idea came to fruition after the Second World War. In the interim when the idea of subverting the army was on the back burner post the failed Mutiny of 1857, the INC was born in 1885 and initiated the parallel struggle for freedom through a political process, which is the better known “non-violent” movement.
For greater details about the revolutionary movement, I strongly suggest looking for and watching the talks given by Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal*. There are several of those on YouTube, all very interesting. This is one of my own main sources of knowledge about these aspects. There are others out there as well sharing the happenings of these times in differing ways**.
So, the armed revolutionary movement was instrumental in taking away the Indian Armed forces from the British, while Gandhiji and the INC were responsible for breaking the British moral high ground and belief in their own responsibility to civilize India after a Western model.
I have mentioned my thoughts on the use of the Ahimsa movement in using British moral superiority against themselves in a previous article***. In that article I have also mentioned that the Ahimsa movement provided a safety valve and a face saving exit out of India, for the British. This is exactly like keeping negotiations on during Op Parakram. In other words, the Ahimsa movement was the Ukemi allowance to the Nage Waza of the armed revolutionary movement.
The British were financially weak after the Second World War and the training and knowledge of weaponry they had imparted to Indian troops during the same had mitigated their technological superiority. And thus, with the loss of the Indian Armed Forces, their last tool to hold the country they had occupied over the last two centuries was taken away from them. This was them being subjected to an absolute bad-ass Nage Waza, a literal being “thrown out”!
This left them with taking the Ukemi option provided by the INC, for a face saving retreat, thus ending the struggle India had not asked for. The British were forced to negotiate earnestly with the INC about complete Independence and not just spare concessions like they had in the earlier decades. This allowed them to survive the “fall” due to the “Nage” of the revolutionary movement. They could hold on to the face saving belief in being civilized by acquiescing to the call for Indian Independence and over time sweep from the mind the fact of being “thrown” out.
So, the twin use of the revolutionary movement and the political movement of the INC were the Nage Waza and “allowed” Ukemi that showed the British the path of retreat, and nullified the aggression that led to the Freedom Struggle in India****.
Notes:
*Mr. Sanyal is the Principal Economic Advisor to the Govt. of India and a member of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council. He is also a wonderful historian who has written multiple books.
**One very recent book called “True to Their Salt” by Ravindra Rathee comes to mind. I have not read this book, only watched an interview with the author, about the book.
***Ahimsa and the Martial Arts – Part 2
****Does this have a parallel in the IRA / Sinn Fein tandem movement? Perhaps this is something to look at, for if true, would be a second use of the same Nage – Ukemi combination against the same colonizer.
Ahimsa & Indian Independence – Through the Eyes of Budo
I have opined in the previous part of this series, that Ahimsa is a martial arts concept where “one does not trouble the opponent”. It is a way of saying do not use force against an opponent. This is especially true if the opponent is stronger than oneself. Here strength includes access to greater resources, technical superiority, greater numbers or just greater physical strength and skill.
An extension of not using strength against a stronger opponent is generally using the opponent’s strength and skill against her or him. This generally means if an opponent is taller and larger, and thus generally stronger, one does not resist his or her strength and instead tries to maneuver to a position from where the opponent’s balance can be taken or a vulnerable opening accessed.
The same is true when one is fighting with non-projectile weapons, whether they are cut, thrust or bludgeon oriented. Here, the skill, speed, reach and favoured attack are points to consider as against strength. If the opponent uses a longer weapon, one tries to get in close to negate the reach and if the opponent favours a cut over a thrust, one tries to get to an angle where the cut becomes ineffective (or less effective at least). But if the opponent favours a thrust, one tries to get him/her to over reach or over commit or get out of line of the thrust, and thus try to get them off balance or leave an opening in the act of recovering one’s balance.
Could this way of dealing with opponents explain how Ahimsa works brilliantly as a weapon? Consider the Indian freedom struggle, the British Raj is the opponent. This opponent enjoys superiority in resource availability, economic prowess and technology. So, the opponent is “stronger” or “superior”. There was one other superiority that the Raj believed it enjoyed – moral or civilizational superiority. How does one use the opponent’s strength against itself?
Here the Raj’s knowledge of its civilizational superiority is the opening to its vulnerability. The Raj’s belief in its superiority in this sphere was so complete that it believed that it had a “duty” to civilize the Indian colony as evidenced by Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden”, among many other things.
Artwork by Shushma N
All martial manoeuvres, whether with a weapon or unarmed, require a specific type of movement. Similarly, nurturing a belief in civilizational superiority requires behaviours that reinforce this belief and thus makes them similar to any martial maneuver. Once a specificity is identified, a counter can be identified or devised. And this counter was Ahimsa, to break the belief in civilizational superiority, mainly by breaking any possibility to believe in moral superiority.
Ahimsa hinged on breaking specific rules, like not paying taxes or gathering in large numbers and disrupting some simple activity like flow of traffic on roads. It might just be gathering in large numbers and showing that some activity of the Raj is wrong. Thus, the first move is actually not Ahimsa in that one causes at least a minor inconvenience (though not trouble the opponent much). This triggered the Raj into a violent reaction to disrupt the gathering. But interestingly, the violence in the reaction is what is seen as the attack, not the provocation of the gathering!
So, the gathering following Ahimsa puts the opponent, the Raj, in a quandary. Do not react and let people around the world believe that it did not care about the points being aired by the gathering and seem insensitive and thus dictatorial, or disrupt the gathering quickly with violence believing that its civilizational superiority meant the grievances aired by the crowd was inherently wrong. Over time, this violence, when repeated often enough, will trigger the same observation that the Raj is uncaring and dictatorial as all they do is resort to violence! Thus, without realizing it, the very belief in civilization superiority leads to behaviour that breaks the same belief. The strength has now become the weakness!
This is the strength of Ahimsa! The Raj was not really troubled at all. It came and occupied a land, a sacred geography, a thriving civilization, and imposed itself on it. And this mistake was shown to it by gathering in numbers that did not trouble the Raj in any way, specifically not with violence, and thus not strength or any other parameter where the Raj held superiority. The gathering just occupied a space, and it turned out to the right space, for the Raj, despite overwhelming superiority, succumbed to a weakness created by itself.
An additional observation I think is true, is that the Indian National Congress (INC) and its Ahimsa based movements acted as a safety valve and an out for the Raj in the face of growing armed resistance over the course of the Second World War (WW2) and the subsequent mutiny in the Royal Indian armed forces. This armed resistance had never stopped since almost the beginning of the 20th century.
Consider this; the British Army faced a mutiny by the Royal Indian Navy in 1946. There were similar, but smaller mutinies by the other wings of the armed forces as well. The Indian wing of the Royal Armed Forces was larger than the same from Britain itself. Additionally, the Indian forces, being trained by the British themselves, were as capable militarily and technologically as the British troops themselves. So, the larger number and home ground advantage now mattered more than in the previous century. Also, the British Raj and the Empire in general was now severely weakened economically as well. It could no longer call on resources to hold on to the Indian colony like it managed until the first couple of decades of the 20th century. Thus, British superiority in military, technological and economic terms was also no longer present or was severely degraded to the point where it did not matter anymore.
(This is actually also a martial arts concept where one matches the opponent so closely that over time the opponent does not realize where he/she is being controlled by the one he/she was attacking. This is achieved by not troubling the opponent and following his/her movements so closely as to actually learn in the moment and use it against the opponent. This then translates to Ahimsa even in armed struggle! Perhaps this concept deserves a write up of its own for deeper exploration.)
Now that their superiority no longer existed, their belief in civilizational superiority allowed the Raj a graceful exit, a face-saving if ever there was one. The Raj negotiated an exit from India by dealing with the INC and Ahimsa practitioners, thus making it appear that they were only giving in to the popular call of the people of the country. This though, never fooled anyone, only allowing the Raj alone to retain its belief in civilizational superiority. Reiterating again, this belief in civilizational superiority was the weakness exploited to make them leave in the first place! Their strength was broken without them realizing that it was broken! This is the epitome of martial arts’ abilities. To make the opponent lose without realizing that he/she has lost and achieving the objective by making the opponent retreat by their own volition, not by an act of the defender.
Artwork by Shushma N
Thus, Ahimsa was indeed a weapon of extraordinary abilities; a true Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD)! It brought a global empire to its knees. It exploited the time and space with great precision (the world wars, railway technology, print media, global opinion, public opinion).
The sheer genius of this great WMD is the ability of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to bring in a critical mass of people in India to join in the Ahimsa movement against the Raj, making them just be in the right place at the right time to cause the Raj to react and thus damage itself a little more, until it could do nothing more than retreat. This is nothing short of an invulnerable Vyuha from the Hindu epics where the opponent gets trapped hopelessly with no hope of victory or even survival. It is exactly the same as getting into a position to expose an opponent’s vulnerability. It is almost a textbook example of using an opponent’s strength against him/herself.
Just imagine a martial arts concept designed to be demonstrated in a one on one duel being executed on a scale of the Indian population, which was around 350 million or so at the time of Indian Independence. The scale boggles the mind no end!
Add to this the fact that one man (at least in popular conception) could make a number as large as 350 million believe in one concept! Is this not social engineering on the grandest of scales? And this was done 70 odd years before social media, which brought the concept of social engineering to the fore.
In conclusion, Gandhiji, who is considered to the epitome of Ahimsa was perhaps an extraordinary martial artist! Of course, this is a statement made with the benefit of hindsight and perhaps Gandhiji did not ever consider himself a martial artist, but the notion is nevertheless worth considering. He fought and defeated the most powerful enemy ever, an evil empire that believed it was the greatest good ever. He facilitated the defeat of the empire by using the strength of empire against itself. He made the first move, but all that mattered was the empire’s counter, which, for all practical purposes became the first move that led to a devastating counter that was never sensed. The first move was a trap so effective and smart that no one ever realized that it was a martial manoeuvre at all!
Mundane Budo 