Martial Arts, from game to philosophy
Kenji Tokitsu
A Master 8 th Dan is well respected in the world of kendo. He will not simply fight with quality and effectiveness of the highest level, but he will also train you to feel your opponent and yourself. He will teach you the technique of the body along with that of perception, this will take you to a kind of philosophy.
But when you ask to Masters: “what are the motivations that have led you to practice kendo?” Almost everyone will answer: “When I was a little child, I played samurai.”
Not just in Kendo, but in most martial arts, game is behind the development of children, who will grow up having fun, while developing their movement skills and their sensitivity thanks to game.
The martial arts philosophy is rooted in the body through game, which is the beginning of practice. Over time the contents of game change. It ‘s like climbing a mountain.
Here is a story .
You live in Paris and you want to reach the summit of Mont Blanc. In TGV you imagine the Mont Blanc, watching the landscape scroll through the window. Arriving in Chamonix, you are at the foot of Mont Blanc and you admire the scenery. You begin to rise. Climbing up to a thousand meters, the landscape will change gradually. Arriving at two thousand and then three thousand meters, your vision will change constantly. Once on top, you will find yet another view, totally different from the one that you could imagine from Chamonix and Paris.
Until the moment of reaching the top, you go on imagining what could be the panoramic landscape from such a height. But it is just when you reach the top, that you actually see the landscape that lies beneath you.
What you actually see and feel now, has nothing to do with what you had thought possible, when you where in Chamonix or in Paris, during the train ride, and even while climbing the mountain. Yet you’re still the same person.
I think that this situation is comparable to fighting games and martial arts.
An adult 30 or 40 years old can not have fun in the same manner as frank and candid as a children of 10 years playing the fight, as the interest and the prospect will change with age.
What is important is to be able to create an opening for personal developments, both at the level of technique and of reflection.
At this point, I have to look critically at the current trend of Judo. Since all the athletes retire at an age, when they can no longer compete in combat sports, but it is precisely at the time they reach that age, that they could actually search for the martial skills of Judo.
It is a pity, just as if you would stop and go back, when you got only half way to the summit of Mont Blanc.
We still have much to think on how we conceive and practice martial arts in our time.