May
28
The Way of the Warrior
I brought a friend to my dojo today. She had never done any martial arts before. I briefed her on how to enter, and then showed her where to sit to watch. After warm-up exercises, I began to teach her a technique. Sensei said to me “Not yet. She must learn to break-fall first. Go practice with Black-belt-san.” So, I went to practice with the black-belt. As Black-belt and I practiced, I overheard Sensei speak with my friend.”
“Do you want to practice?”
“I guess I’ll try.”
“No. There will be none of that. You must be clear. Do you or do you not want to practice?”
“Well, something simple.”
“Nothing is simple. First, you must learn how to breakfall.”
And then I landed, break-falling from Black-belt having thrown me off balance, and I didn’t hear her response. But throughout the rest of the session, if I looked out of the corner of my eye, I saw her sitting on the sidelines.
After practice, walking from the dojo, she said to me “I understood then that in budo there is no choice in between doing and not doing. There is no ‘just trying.’ I wanted to practice, and I should have been clearer.”
And I remembered the character Yoda in Star Wars, and his caricatured embodiment of the warrior. But it was true: do or do not, there is no try.
“Sorry. My fault.” I said. “I should have told you beforehand. Sensei is a personable man, but on this point he is a stickler.”
And in the end, we agreed that it was a learning experience, and it was good.
Experiment
When was the last time you thought or said “I’ll try” with regard to something? Notice how you feel inside. Notice the texture of the feeling.
Now, think “I will do.” and notice how the feeling changes. Notice how the texture changes. Notice any subtle changes in posture. Isn’t it interesting how easily you can bring about a feeling of certainty? Isn’t it interesting how people will often use the same mental power to create a feeling of uncertainty?
Do or do not. There is no try. And there is no failure: only Learning.
