Kokoro o karanisuru [心を空にする]
Sora [空] Kimi no [君の] Kokoro [心]
Be mushin, sit mokuso, be like water.
Water seeks its place; it becomes it.
Water flows, or it becomes.
Be like (the nature of) water, reflect on this my padawan.
Notation: as I continue my studies I find notes, writing, help me reach my own understanding of my way of karate, or martial discipline, and the article here is that effort. Mistakes, changes and omissions are mine and mine alone, like (the nature of) water, I seek my place and my nature.
Work on your body and mind through research, education, understanding and experiencing life; evolve and change to develop potential, be like (the nature of) water.
Handwriting; communication; emotional understanding and maturity; in short, a well rounded person of character and maturity.
Be your true nature, being like (the nature of) water!
- Water is like heaven and earth;
- Water flows fast and water flows slow;
- Water seeks all sides and water seeks all places;
- Water senses all possibilities and water seeks all possibilities;
- Water seeks balance in all things;
- Water stands in stillness and reflects like a mirror;
- Water becomes rough and hides the calmness beneath its surface;
- Water understands its purpose and water symbolizes the great tai chi;
- Water goes with it’s true nature and water does not fight its nature;
- Water can be contained and water always finds its path to freedom;
- Water is undeterred and water can erode granite;
Water is:
- Soft yet powerfully hard;
- Natural yet easily directed;
- Detached yet flowing with nature;
- In short, essential to life.
To be like (the nature of) water, is to be in the flow like (the nature of) water.
Water always keeps moving, even still waters are being revitalized from waters deep; springs, rains, and snowmelts.
Water benefits all, it remains in the lowest places (seeks its own level), and overcomes all obstacles and barriers. Water is the symbol of Tao or “the way.” Water forms into the shapes and voids of all things.
Bruce Lee’s “water training and practice,” is heightening awareness, tempering our methodologies and seeking our own path.
Presence and Awareness: (Sonzai-kan to ishiki [存在感と意識]) to be present in a state of awareness is the way.
Water responds and water reacts naturally to its environment. Water does not react, water merely responds to fill its needs and potential. Water doesn’t react impulsively but merely responds.
Water is always present, in the now, and exists moment to moment.
Water is fluid or pliable, it responds to its environment and the obstacles that environment presents.
“Living Water (Ikite iru mizu [生きている水]);” like the flow of a stream or the ebb and flow of the ocean waves; “Like flowing water, life is perpetual movement.”
Water flows and the water changes.
Water is soft and pliable and tempers the hardest steel of the katana, sword 🗡️.
To be like water is to temper into steel our minds and bodies, thus our spirit and still allow its pliability that is symbolized in the making of the Japanese sword of the samurai.
In Chinese philosophy, water (Chinese: 水; pinyin: shuǐ) is the low point of the matter, or the matter's dying or hiding stage. Water is the fifth stage of Wu Xing, the five elements. Water is the most yin in character of the five elements. Its motion is downward and inward, and its energy is stillness and conserving.
Water is associated with the color black, with the planet Mercury, with the moon (which was believed to cause the dew to fall at night), with night, with the north, with winter or cold weather, and with the Black Tortoise (Xuan Wu) in the Chinese constellation Four Symbols.
Water is representative of intelligence and wisdom, flexibility, softness, and pliancy; however, an overabundance of the element is said to cause difficulty in choosing something and sticking to it. In the same way, water can be fluid and weak, but can also wield great power when it floods and overwhelms the land. In Chinese medicine, water is believed to govern the kidney and urinary bladder, and is associated with the ears and bones. The negative emotion associated with water is fear/anxiety, while the positive emotion is calmness.
Waters natural state is calm and serene but if the wind kicks up (or any natural agitation occurs) water changes Ti fill and fit whatever state of nature results.
The colours black, blue, and grey also represent water.
In the regenerative cycle of the Wu Xing, metal engenders water, as it traps falling water from a source, and water begets wood as "rain or dew makes plant life flourish"
In the conquest cycle, water overcomes fire, as "nothing will put out a fire as quickly as water". Earthovercomes water as earth-built canals direct the flow, and soil absorbs water.
Chinese are perceptive observers of nature: having a profound appreciation of water’s movement and temperaments while contemplating their relationship in the cosmos.
Water is believed to be the medium through which heaven communicates its judgment to the earth. The invisible force that governs the rise and fall of water between heaven and Earth is embodied in the mythical creature, the Chinese dragon. The Chinese dragon, combining the bodily features of a fish, a turtle, and a snake, is believed to be the living force that moves bodies of water. Not only is the dragon the symbol of the emperor in imperial China, but also a unique cultural, and spiritual identity of the nation.
The Chinese often use the term “Descendants of the Dragon” to refer to their ethnicity. Wherever there is the presence of water, there lives the dragon, who controls rain, thunder, storms, and flood. The Dragon is both benevolent and powerful, just like the force behind water that can both cause life to flourish and kill.
Dao: The highest virtue is like water
Water nourishes myriad creatures without contending with them
It flows to the low loathsome places
Therefore, it comes close to the way.
Live in accordance with the nature of things.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In action, watch the timing
No competition,
So no blame.
The mountain depicts stillness and the water represents change. Together, they are intimately entwined in the composition of the transience and continuity in nature.
Water is like the mirror that reflects the nature of the people who form their lives around the water. It does not take a brilliant mind to see the link between the dammed, polluted river courses and the wellbeing of the people today. As modern humans, we may feel superior walking on the frontline of evolution. We continue discovering new knowledge and inventing new technologies, but on the inside, we are all lost children, failing to remember our ancestors’ story: we all come from the same cosmic fluid.
Being water is to be at peace with where you are in the course of life.
Being water is to be fluid in circumstances involving others.
Being water is to heal life from its roots: water.
https://thegraduatepress.org/2021/03/02/be-water-the-ancient-chinese-way/
About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water. Water also exists in the air as water vapor, in rivers and lakes, in icecaps and glaciers, in the ground as soil moisture and in aquifers, and even in you and your dog. - https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth
Sixty percent of our bodies, in general, is made up of water.
On-Guard (ready posture): that position(ing) most favorable to the act (physical execution) of all methods and methodologies. Assuming positive relaxed state, yet, holding the dynamic tension most favorable to quick reaction time. In short, be like water (the nature of) my padawan (friend).
The ready posture is universal for it is a posture used in the street that puts a person in the best possible position to communicate and act, i.e., to let others know your capabilities and to let them know you are capable in regard to violence. They call it a bladed stance, do a bit of research on that under the heading of, “no nonsense self defense.”
The bladed posture is strong and allows instantaneous movement and adaptability in any direction.
The bladed stance is used in the Okinawan Isshinryu system. It is a slightly modified seisan stance Tatsuo-San understood from experience was best for defense, mobility and offense.
“Throw a log across a moving stream and water adapts. Water will spread and widen and deepen and work through any cracks or fissures it can until it finds a way through or creates an ecosystem all around and within. Water is responsive and alive.” - Shannon Lee: Be Like Water, My Friend!
Be Whole, My Friend
Tomoyo, kanzendearu koto [友よ、完全であること]
Yin/Yang is very important, understanding this symbol ☯️ (陰/陽), as representative for wholeness is very important.
(陰/陽) are complimentary of one another, NOT opposites. They work together to represent the whole of experience. Electricity ⚡️ is one whole that exists only because of its complimentary positive (+) negative (-) opposites. Characteristics that compliment each other in a harmonious way. Call it a symbiotic relationship.
Symbiosis (Kyōsei [共生]): mutually beneficial relationship between two entities.
(陰/陽) of Water:
- Gentle/Powerful
- Soft/Strong
- Flowing/Deep
When a balance is achieved within the interplay of extremes, peace and harmony is found. We find calmness.
The Chinese conceived of the entire universe as activated by two principles, (陰/陽), positive/negative; matter/energy; heavens/earth all conceived as one, or as two coexisting entities as one indivisible whole.
Bibliography:
Lee, Shannon. “Be Water, My Friend.” Flatiron Books, 1969
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