Space ("ma")

Sometimes we get stuck in a literal meaning. That tends to be a normal function for us and it is one that we as martial artist who practice a more combative form or even a traditional form should work to see and hear outside of that box.

Space involves personal space and personal space is not just that space around your body, the physical, but also a emotional/psychological and values space as well. Physical, psychological, and values - three critical space concepts that apply in martial practice.

When we consider space lets include a person's possessions - your clothes, your home, your furniture or even a particular piece of furniture, and so on. Then consider that our space around us physically extends outward making an invisible boundary - a boundary that triggers emotional and physical responses as one enters into that energy space where our personal rhythms are disturbed like a stone thrown into a clear calm pool of water - ripples.

When we speak of entering a person's space we must include the emotional space as well where such things as put-downs (dissing one), nosiness, unwanted advice, manipulation and just plain manipulation through supposition, etc. tend to cause ripples in our personal space, physical and psychological.

I would feel that a first line of defense in self-protection is an understanding of one's space and then honoring those spaces and any negative intrusions would result in a interruption of their space, rhythms and energies that would affect the emotional triggers that result in fear, anger, etc. This could mean an attack to protect what essentially is their personal belief space system.

Another aspect of space for us is: flight space, flight distance, critical distance (critical space and critical situations), personal distance, and social distance. This is a bit involved so recommend reading, at a minimum, the book by Edward T. Hall, "The Hidden Dimension," chapter II, Distance Regulation in Animals to get a better view of this aspect or just read Rory Miller's books on violence and violent people cause he covers all this stuff even if not directly named by the names I provided here.

Oh, before you go there .... as to the Animals in the titles don't be fooled into thinking this does not mean the human animal either. The more you learn, the more you know and I have realized how connected all this is to aggression, nature and the human drive toward aggressive behavior, environment, social groups, etc. which Mr. Miller teaches in his seminars and books.

p.s. In the study of Shikata I am finding that a good part of the Mother of Kata comes from the development of Kanji which is kata-ized to the extent that the strokes are governed by specific kata where even the "empty space" that surrounds the strokes is exacting and why they come to create the art of "Sho-Do or the Way of the Brush."