Lecture Notes: Martial Arts Philosophy

Key Concepts

Unacting Acting

• Combination of natural instinct and control
• Balance between the two is crucial
• Extremes lead to unscientific or mechanical behavior
• Ideal is "unnatural naturalness" or "natural unnaturalness"

Style and Growth

• Rejects fixed styles as they limit growth
• Emphasizes continuous movement and development
• Metaphor: "running water never grows stale"
• Continuous flow akin to philosophy and art

Honest Self-Expression

• Martial arts as a means of honest self-expression
• Challenges of true self-expression
• Avoiding pretentiousness and phoniness
• Importance of genuine and deliberate actions

Training and Reflexes

• Constant training to achieve readiness
• Reflexes should be immediate and purposeful
• Determination and commitment in actions
• Integrating mind and body into one

Water Metaphor

• "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water"
• Adaptability and versatility of water
• Becoming one with surroundings
• Water can flow or crash; be adaptable like water