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A recent study on another topic brought out a possible explanation as to why we tend to make use of cultural aspects of others for our own needs and requirements, etc. Often in martial arts we see slight references toward certain cultural use of Asian cultures and beliefs especially as they may or may not apply in martial arts dojo, training halls.
This usage in most cases is sporadic and interspersed with more English and American cultural beliefs. We use the karate-gi, we use terms and phrases with the assumption we know what they mean and their intent in training, practice and applications. We count in Japanese, we read and quote Asian morally driven “Meme’s or quotes” for inspiration often without knowing their true intent and meaning - we more often than not make assumptions and those are driven not by true understanding of Asian cultural beliefs but our own beliefs and perceptions and perspectives and so on.
When I read the following I actually said, “Wow, this could very well be true and explain it all.” The following italicized is that quote:
There is a concept that cultural studies theorist, “Bell Hooks,” termed “eating the other,” in which “the other” - the mysterious, the unknown, the exotic - is employed to add “spice” to everyday life. The goal is not true understanding or appreciation of the Other, but an enhancement of one’s own situation, an experiential vacation yielding the conceptual equivalent of a piece of mass-produced Indian pottery and slideshow to impress the neighbors. It’s bits of authentic culture recontextualized for a bored white mainstream’s use.
The recent trends in the use of Japanese characters, i.e., such as printed on t-shirts, etc., are divorced from their original linguistic meaning and exploited solely for the decorative aesthetics. The Japanese also use English in their pop-culture signifying not a true engagement with American culture but a simulation of it. Borrowed currency in a solely Japanese exchange, a conversation that does not extend outside the countries borders.
What is happening here is a type of cultural artifact - organic expressions of a particular people, situated in a particular time and place - are being divorced of their meaning in order to be used as a metaphor for something else.
Americanized cultures of Martial Artis takes Asian cultures, takes each artifact, and strips it of its original meaning until it is just an object (“it doesn’t mean what you think”), which is used to signify something else entirely (often to suit the person or organization or an agenda, etc.) - into something, we are to believe, entirely new. Like America’s recent obsession with yoga (without the Buddhist spirituality), the result is entertaining but curiously empty.
This merging seems to be less between American and Japanese/Okinawan that it is between east and west in the broadest possible sense. As in many situations in which you lose the particulars, the result is a vague approximation of nothing at all. Again: pretty, but ultimately without meaning. What it does end up accomplishing - and very well - is a sense of difference. Use of Asian culture without context may be empty, but it works. It tells us that this world is different.
Using what is “Other” as a metaphor for difference is not, in itself, wrong. Metaphor is an essential part of living, whether you are tired as a dog, happy as a lam or as honest as the day is long. It is healthy, vibrant, creative; it lets us make new connections and discover new insights. The metaphor sets the stage for a richly imagined social order, the difference it implies making it easier for us to see our own situation more clearly. - Leigh A. Wright, Asian Objects in Space
This can be why so much of what is historically relevant as to the birth and growth of martial arts in all its forms has been created from each culture’s extraction of other cultural influences to create a true and “Different” form that exists and lasts simply because of its “Metaphorical Worth” to each successive group. Like Okinawan’s pulled in from the Chinese (and others), the Japanese pulled in from China and Okinawa (and others) to the Americans pulling in what they wanted from those early training years of karate, etc. to create what we now call “Martial Arts.” Where Martial Arts takes on a new and unique meaning at each iteration throughout its history.
What I like most about the quote is the last sentence the expresses the positive aspects of such approaches to furthering our martial arts, or cultural beliefs, prowess, knowledge and understanding.
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