Chinese

* On Fox Spirits
* King of the Nine Mountains

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On Fox Spirits

An essay by Galen Jang (the original webpage is no longer available except through the archive.org Wayback Machine)

All that I have learned about fox spirits are from magazine articles as well as stories from my grandparents, so this is by no way an authorative account. Anyone who knows more is welcome to contribute.

Fox spirits occupies the same mythological niche as the faerie in Western mythology. They are beautiful beyond endurance, elusive, powerful, mischievous and vindictive. In Chinese mythology, the human form is the pinnacle of creation. All animals, and sometimes plants seek to achieve human form on their way to immortality. Of these animals, foxes seem to succeed the most. They do this by abosrbing the essence of the moon and the sun. Some folklores maintain that fox achieves this by conducting rites of worhip during full moons. After a few centuries, they will acquire the ability to change into human form.

Most fox spirits in stories are female. They usually appear as extremely beautiful woman. The male fox spirits, rare as they are, appear either as erudite and handsome men or wise old men. You can tell a fox spirit from a human from their tails. Some of them have not quite mastered the human form. While the body looks human enough, the tail remains. They solve the problem by tucking their tail inside their pants. The ones who did master the human shape can be enticed to show their true form by getting them drunk. So if your friend remain human after a good night of drinking, you can believe that he’s human. 🙂 If they are killed, they revert to their original form. It’s the women who were dangerous. They usually seek to copulate with human males. They use the sexual act itself to absorb their partner’s energy in order to add to their own powers. Such relationships, if prolonged, result in sickness and eventually death for the man. So, if you see a beautiful woman who wants to have sex with you for no reason, watch out!

Most fox spirits are not as brazen as that. The fox spirits ordinary people have experienced are much more elusive. They live in the attics or some deserted room in a large house. You never see them. You know they’re there because of the noises they make. The difference between fox spirits noises and ghost noises is, of course, fox spirits make the noises day and night! Sometimes the fox spirits throw things, such as rocks and tiles, into the yard or against the door. You know people aren’t responsible for the disturbance because you can’t see anybody around the house. When a family is haunted by a fox spirit, they set up a shrine in the abandoned attic. Incense sticks are burned regularly. Sometimes food is also offered. Things usually quiet down after that. Most of the time, the fox spirits leave their landlords alone if the landlords leave them alone. Sometimes, the fox spirits will even take care of any thief or burglar who are foolish to rob such a house.

Pu Sung-Lin said that the belief of fox spirits were limited mainly to northern China. In southern China, the main belief is in a much more malevolent sort of spirit called Wu Tong. I will translate a Wu Tong story later. The spirit in the story “Story of Tseng Shi” may be a Wu Tong. However, the belief of Wu Tong seems to have died away in the south in the last two centuries. My grandparents grew up in Fujian which is defiitely southern China, yet the only spirit they know about is the fox spirit. The malevolent Wu Tong lost the war for the belief of human beings. Will the fox spirits now lose the belief of the human beings as well?

King of the Nine Mountains

Translated from Liao Tsai Chi Yi, found on Galen Jang’s now-defunct page (available at archive.org’s Wayback Machine).

There was a man surnamed Li living in T’sao Chou. He possessed the greatest wealth in town. Behind his mansion, he had an empty lot which was going to waste. One day, an old man came to him and offered to rent the property with one hundred pieces of gold. Li refused on the ground that the lot had no house on it. The old man said “Please accept the money and don’t worry about the rest.” Li didn’t understand, but he accepted the money just to see what would happen. After several days, the old man came to him and said “I already moved in, but we’re so busy setting up our new household that we neglected good manners. Today, my children shall prepare a banquet for you, the landlord. We hope you will grace us with your presence.” Li went to the lot and, to his surprise,discovered a brand new mansion there. As he entered, he saw that the inside was lavishly decorated and furnished. Jugs of wine lined the walkways and the scents of good tea wafted from the kitchen. As the banquet began, he was toasted by the old man. The wine tasted of the finest vintage. He saw and heard many men, women and children, maybe more than a hundred in total, living in the mansion. He then knew they could not be ordinary human beings, but fox spirits. As he returned from the banquet, he returned with death in his heart. He bought sulfur and other flammable material from the city market and, with the help of his servants, secretly placed them all around the new mansion. When he was finished, he ignited it. The fire blazed and sent black smoke upward toward the heavens like a black and evil mushroom. The smell of burning flesh and the screams of the dying filled the senses. When the fire died, he and his servants went into the wreckage. There they found the charred bodies of hundreds of dead foxes. While he was inspecting the carnage, the old man entered the mansion. The old man’s face was contorted with grief and anger. He said “I have never wronged you. I gave you hundreds pieces of gold in good faith. That is not a niggardy amount of money. How can you bury your conscience and slaughter us! I must avenge the cruel deaths of my family.” Then the old man left. Li thought the old man would just try some supernatural tricks on his family, such as throwing bricks at his house, but years passed and nothing happened.

Then tens of thousands of bandits gathered in a nearby mountain. The local officials could not gather enough forces to suppress them. Li worried about the safety of his large family as well as his rather large fortune. Then an astrologer who called himself the Old Man of Southern Mountain arrived at the town. The astrologer became famous because he seemed to know everything and everything he predicted came true. Li invited the astrologer to his home and asked his future fortunes. The astrologer stood up from his seat in respect and said “This is the true emperor!” Li was both afraid and astonished. Then he accused the astrologer of lying. The astrologer said “Since ancient times, all the dynasties are founded by emperors who came from common birth. Who among them are born emperor?” Li began to believe him. The astrologer offered to became Li’s military advisor and asked him to prepare armor and weapons. Li worried that no one will follow him. The astrologer said “I will go into the mountains and speak for the true emperor. I shall tell them of your grand destiny and the bandits will surely follow you.” Li became glad and sent the astrologer along. Li than began to prepare as the astrologer instructed. The astrologer returned a few days later and said “Your great prestige, plus my tongue have convinced all the bandits to follow you.” Li looked outside and saw thousands ready to follow him, so he made the astrologer into his chief advisor. He then made a great banner, proclaiming his own imperial status. He then fortified his positions in the mountains and the sound of his name shook the neighboring prefectures. When the prefecture sent an army against, Li’s army, the astrologer led the defense and easily destroyed the small government army. The prefecturl magistrate became sorely afraid and asked for help from the principality magistrate. The principality magistrate dispatched a larger and better equipped army. That army went into an ambush prepared by the astrologer and was again destroyed. The prestige of Li became great and his army swelled. He then styled himself the King of Nine Mountains. The astrologer told Li that the army needed horses. He told Li of a caravan transporting imperial horses from the capital. Li ambushed the caravan and took all the horses. His prestige swelled still more and so did his pride. Li now gave the astrologer the title of Lord Protector. As for himself, he believed that he would soon wear the dragon robe. The provincial governor was very alarmed by his robbery of the imperial horses. He received reinforcement from the imperial government. He divided his army into six columns and attacked Tsao Chou. The banner of the imperial army filled the mountain valleys around the King’s fortress. The King of Nine Mountains became afraid and asked the astrologer for more advise, but his subordinates could not find the astrologer. The great king looked down on his enemies and said “I never realized how powerful the imperial government is.” Soon, his fortress was broken and he was captured. Because he commited the crime of attempted usurpation as well as banditry, Li and his entire family were executed. It was only then he realized that the astrologer was the old fox he betrayed.
Commentary from Historian of the Strange

When a man and his family goes into banditry, does he deserve death? Even if he deserves death, does his family deserve death too? Yet the scheme of the fox is indeed cunning . When there is no seed, even the best irrigation could not bring forth growth. Look at the way Li exterminated the family of fox spirits From his cruelty we know that he already has the heart of a bandit, so the old fox merely helps that heart to grow in order to achieve vengeance. Suppose someone comes up to you and says “You’re the true emperor.” I’m sure you will run away in fear. When a person hears that he may commit an act which will result in the death of his entire family and yet he listens to it gladly, then how can he blame anyone when his family dies? Yet, some people still make this kind of mistake. The first time they hear something that will harm them in the long run, they became angry, then doubtful, then gullible, until they lose their honor, their fortune and their lives.

[url=http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_chinese.html]http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_chinese.html[/url]

French

* The Fox and the Little Prince
* Reynard the Fox and Isengrin the Wolf
* Reynard the Fox – a Medieval Tale Retold

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The Fox and the Little Prince
From Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince
Courtesty a reader submission (thanks, Shoku Shitsu!)

Le Petite Prince, there was a very important story that the little prince told the aviator. The Little Prince was a child from another very small planet, and when he was bored, sad, or tired of his red rose bossing him around…he would hop on comets and visit other planets. Each planet had a differnt person on it that confused him: greedy, selfish, angry, skinflints or non-imaginative grown ups. The main thread that runs in the entire story and why the Little Prince continues to love and explore is taught to him by NOT a human or a plant, but a red fox. The Little Prince was in a French countryside, and wandered through a feild. He hadn’t seen anyone for miles, and the last person he talked to was a grown up that told him to go away, since he was so busy. So the Little Prince is all alone in this meadow, in the middle of noplace, lonely, bored, and sad. All of a sudden, a small tuft of gold and red fur peaks up behind the grass mounds, and the Little Prince asks the air….”Who’s there?”
A very reluctant fox peaks his head up better for the Prince to see him. Of course, the The Little Prince never saw a fox, and was curious. “What are you? You’re Pretty to look at.” The Fox is puzzled, and asks the boy: “You don’t know what I am? You’re not sent by the farmer to trick me?” The Little Prince looks confused now, and shakes his head. The fox continues: “I’m a Fox. Who are you?” The Fox maintains his distance….not going close to the Little Prince at all. The Prince tells the fox who he is, and where he is from; a small planet very very far away. The fox looks at him as if he just told him an ordinary fact. The Fox asks: “are there any farmers where you live?” the Prince says no. The Fox asks: “are there any guns?” The Prince says no,”Just me, my little plants, my small volcanoes, and my Red Rose under glass.” The fox smiles, and says: “That sounds perfect. Are there any chickens?” The Prince says no. The fox says: “Well, no place is perfect then.” The Little Prince get restless, and asks if he can pet the fox. The fox tells him no. “I can’t be petted or played with, and you can never be more than an aquaintance.”
Sad, but not discouraged, the Little Prince asks the fox why, because he’s lonely, and hasn’t had anyone to talk with or play with him in ages. The Fox shakes his head, and says: “I’m not tame. I can’t trust anyone, and all I care about right now is hunting chickens, so I don’t have time to be tamed.” The Little Prince asks what “tame” means. The Fox smiles, and explains:” It takes a very long time. It can’t be done in minutes. You’d have to invest a lot of your free time, and sacrifice your own wishes to succed. You need to show you’re trustworthy and special. ” The Little Prince doesn’t understand. He asks, ” What do you mean special? What do you mean time, and trustworthy?” The Fox continues:
” It means, you have to make a promise. And keep it everyday. It’s a sacrifice, but I suppose hunting chickens will bore me soon, and you have free time to spare, so…I’ll let you tame me. You must come here, to this meadow everyday at the same time. Sit at the edge of that feild at that same time, in the same spot. I will stay here, in my spot everyday, at the same time. Soon, I will come closer. But you will stay in your spot, and will not move. One day, I’ll be right in front of you. Then, perhaps the next day after that, I will talk with you. And everyday after that we will talk. Then, I will let you pet me. Then…one day…I will play with you.”
The Little Prince shakes his head. “Why would it take so long? I’m lonely now.”
The Fox answers, “You won’t understand now. But if you keep your promise, and show up here everyday, and sit there at the same time everday, I will one day have something to look foward to, as will you.”
The Little Prince reluctantly agrees, having nothing else to do, and being curious just the same.
The next day, he comes to the feild and sits in a spot. The Fox shows up a little later, sitting far at the other end of the meadow, by he trees
hidden from the The Little Prince’s gaze. This continues for a week, then 2, finally after about a month or so, the Little Prince and the Fox are playing, and good freinds. They talk about everything and nothing…they run around and play tag and other games…The Little Prince tells the Fox about his Red Rose on his tiny planet; he reveals how she is cruel to him, snobby, and selfish. She only opens her petals for him, and depsite how rude she is sometimes, he still has to take care of her, and he still is overjoyed when he is by her.He then tells of his anger when he realzied she lied to him. She told him she was the only rose of her kind, that no other flower was as beautiful as her. But he saw a whole garden filled with red roses JUSt like her! He was hurt, and knows how sad she’ll be to know she’s not special at all. The Fox listens to all of this, and everyday, when their visit is over, he leaves to his den. weeks pass…
The next time they meet, The Fox tells the Little Prince he can no longer come to the field and see him anymore.
The Little Prince is frantic, afraid he said something to hurt the fox’s feelings.
The Fox shakes his head. “There is no use to cry…or beg me to stay. You’ve tamed me, and now I have to return to the wild again. I won’t ever be the same again, because out of all the humans, you have treated me the kindest. I promised you I would tell you why we had to take so long to tame me…Men have forgotten that ‘what is essential to life, cannot be observed by the eye. ‘ Only what we feel in our hearts is what lasts, what’s real. By taming me, you made this time special to me, on what would ordinarliy be just another day, or you–just another human. You are now special to me, the way your Rose is special to you. No one can understand this, because over all the humans in the world, you are the only one I befreinded, the only one I will remember. Now, everyday at the same time I will think of you. And everyday at the same time, you will think about me. Never let anyone tell you your rose is ordinary, for only she has tamed you, and only you are special to her, thus, she is unique to your heart.”
The Little Prince cried and cried, not wanting to part with his new freind. He asked, “What is the meaning of making friends that you tame if you lose them?”
The Fox replied one last time, “It will always matter to me. Remember, ‘what is essential in life cannot by observed by the eye.’ ” And then, the fox smiled, then ran off into the forest again, this time, not to return….
And the Little Prince left the feild sadly…and for a few days, he returned, looking to see if teh Fox would be there again by chance. Finally, he moves on to the next place…and comes to the same garden of roses he found that day… He stands defiantley at them all:
“All of you are useless, ugly, and ordinary! My rose is the most beautiful and unique flower in the universe, and she is specail to me, and I to her…!

Reynard the Fox and Isengrin the Wolf

(submitted by Jamie Kakacek)

Reynard the Fox wanted a drink. It was hot and he had been running all day.
It was night when he came across a well; there was a big moon in the sky. The Fox could see a bucket at the top of the well. But there was no water in the bucket.
Reynard looked into the well and could see the water at the bottom. The Fox jumped into the bucket and down he went to the bottom of the well. And as the bucket went down into the well, the other bucket came up to the top of the well.
The Fox drank all the water he wanted. Then he found that he could not get out of the well. The other bucket had gone to the top of the well.
“If someone would only get into the bucket at the top of the well,” said Reynard to himself, “that bucket would come down to the bottom of the well and the bucket that I am in would go to the top.”
It was while Reynard was talking to himself that Isengrim the Wolf looked over the edge of the well.
“I thought I heard someone talking down there,” said Isengrim.
“Hello, my good friend,” called Reynard.
“What are you doing down in the well?” asked Isengrim.
“I am having a great feast,” called Reynard. “Can’t you see the big cheese I am eating? It is so big that I cannot eat all of it.”
Isengrim the Wolf looked into the well. He saw the reflection of the big yellow moon and he thought it was a big cheese.
“Get into the bucket and come down and have a feast with me,” called Reynard.
Reynard had played many tricks on Isengrim and the wolf did not trust him. He looked down into the well again. There he saw what he thought was a big yellow cheese. And he began to want some of that cheese very much.
“On your way home,” called Reynard, “stop at my house and send my wife and children to me I would like them to have some of this cheese.”
“I would like to have some of that cheese, too,” said Isengrim. And the wolf got into the bucket.
Down went Isengrim to the bottom of the well. And as he went down to the bottom, the bucket with Reynard in it came to the top.
“Have a good feast on the cheese!” called Reynard.
When the bucket reached the top of the well the fox jumped out and ran home.
Isengrim, at the bottom of the well, howled and howled. Some farmers came and threw stones down into the well. When morning came, Isengrim the Wolf was dead.

External Resource: Reynard the Fox – a Medieval Tale Retold by David Dickenson

A collection and retelling of several Reynard the Fox stories. Some text available on-line,. the rest is available for order on CD-ROM via the website.

[url=http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_french.html]http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_french.html[/url]

German

Fox Hill near Dodow
* The Skinned Goat
* The Fox and the Hare in Winter
* The Fox and the Wolf

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Fox Hill near Dodow

[url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html#bartsch181]http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html#bartsch181[/url]

The Skinned Goat

There once lived a father an his son, and they had a goat. The boy had to drive her to the pasture every day. But this goat was an old hag. In the evening the father used to ask her, if she had enough to eat and drink. But she always answered, “How can I have had enough to eat and to drink, if I have not even seen one stalk of grass and one drop of water?” Then the son always got a sound beating.

One day the father decided to find out for himself. He saw that after having eaten off three meadows and drunk up three ponds, she still pretended to be hungry. Now the old man decided to slaughter the goat.

He had already stuck and halfway skinned her, when he noticed his knife was getting blunt. He went into the house to sharpen it. No sooner had he gone than the goat got up and ran into the woods, where she hid in a foxhole.

When the fox came home and wanted to get into his hole, he was terribly frightened, for out of his hole there came a voice saying; “Halfway skinned and halfway killed, I am a piece of mutton. Come on in and I’ll eat you up!”

The fox was afraid and went right away to his brother-in-law, the bear, and told him about his grief. The bear went with him to the spot, got into the hole, but turned around immediately, when he heard the horrible words.

“I can’t do anything in this matter,” he said and ran away.

In his distress the fox went to the panther, then to the tiger, and finally to the lion. But none of them could help him, and they all took to their heels.

At last the fox met the bumblebee, to whom he poured out his complaints. The bumblebee said, “I will help you.”

“Bigger ones have tried in vain to help me, and you think you can do it?” replied the fox. But he obediently led the bumblebee to the hole. It flew buzzing inside, sat down on one of the skinned parts, and started stinging vigorously. The goat soon felt the pain and ran bleating out of the hole, where she fell again into the hands of her master, who had been looking for her, and so she was killed completely.

The Fox and the Hare in Winter

The Hare is able to support himself even in the coldest winter. He is satisfied with the buds he finds in hedges and shrubs.

One cold winter, the hare me the fox. Surprised, the fox asked the hare, “How fine and well fed you look! What are you living on these days? I am so hungry and I cannot find anything to eat.”

The hare replied, “I have been living on eggs of late.”

“On eggs! How on earth do you get them?” the fox wondered.

The hare answered, “This is what I do. There are women coming along here with basketfuls of eggs that they are taking to market. When I see a woman coming, I let myself fall flat on the ground before her, as if I were wounded by a shot. Then the woman puts her basket down in order to catch me and to take me to the market. Just as she thinks she had caught me, I stagger on for about ten steps and let myself fall to the ground again. I repeat this several times, until I am far away from the basket. Then I hurry back to the basket and carry it into the wood, and there I have enough food for a whole week.”

The fox replied, “I like that. Wouldn’t you help me get some eggs, too, in these hard times?”

“With great pleasure,” replied the hare, “if you will be kind enough to let me have my share.”

As agreed, they took their positions behind a bush on the road. The fox got a basketful of eggs in the described manner, and he hurried into the wood with it. The hare followed him in order to get his share. When he reached him, the fox had divided up the eggs into several little piles. The hare asked him with astonishment, “Why so many shares?”

Pointing to the different piles, the fox replied, “This one is for my father; this one for my mother; the other one is for my brother and my sister and the last one is mine.”

“And where is my share?” asked the hare in surprise.

“There is nothing left for you,” was the answer. Too weak to punish the fox, the hare left angrily. But decided to watch for a chance to pay back the fox.

After some time, the hare and the fox met again. It was very cold, and the earth was covered with snow. Again the fox wondered at the hare’s prosperous look, since he himself was suffering terribly from hunger. Thus he asked, “What are you living on now?”

“On fish,” the hare replied.

“Please,” said the fox, “couldn’t you let me have some as well to appease my hunger?”

The hare answered, “I shall help you once more. Not far from here by the castle, there is a fishpond. The inhabitants have made a hole in the ice in order to catch fish. In the evening I go there; I stand on the ice and put my little tail into the hole, and after some time, I draw it out and there are plenty of fish hanging on it.”

“Well,” replied the fox, “this sounds all right to me. With my long tail, I should be able to catch a lot.”

The hare said, “You will find me at the fishpond tonight.”

At night they met at the appointed place, and the hare said, “Sit down by the hole, put your tail into the water, and remain like this until I come back. I shall go over to the garden to eat some cabbage.”

The hare went away, and the fox remained there patiently, happily thinking of appeasing his gnawing hunger. After a while he tried pulling and found that his tail was getting heavy. But he continued to sit there, just as the hare had told him to do.

It was a long time before the hare came back and asked, “How are things going?”

The fox replied, “You have been away for a very long time. I have tried once, but my tail is so heavy that you will have to help me get it out.”

The hare said, “Pull hard!”

But the fox could not get it out. He pulled as hard as he could, but the tail was frozen fast in the ice.
Now the hare approached with a stick, hit him over the head, crying, “This one is for my father; this one is for my mother; this one is for my brother and my sister; and the last one is for me!” He knocked him on the head from the right side and from the left, until the fox fell down dead.

The Fox and the Wolf

The fox and the wolf once divided the produce of their common work in a field. But the fox cheated the wolf when sifting the chaff from the corn: he kept the corn for himself and left the chaff for the wolf. The wolf was satisfied with this distribution, because his heap was bigger than that of the fox. Then they both went grinding. When the corn was being ground, the millstones noisily said, “cricks cracks,” but when the chaff was being ground, they only said very softly, “climm clamm,” so that the sound could barely be heard.

The wolf listened to this with astonishment. He could not explain it, and asked, “How is it that before the millstones said ‘cricks cracks’, whereas now they only whisper ‘climm clamm?’”

The sly fox gave him the advice, “Throw small stones and sand among it; then you can hear the grinding better!”
This is what the stupid wolf did. And hark! What a noise the millstones made now. They grated so loudly that one had to shut one’s ears. The wolf jumped for joy when he heard the millstones making more noise when grinding the chaff than when grinding the corn.

[url=http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_german.html]http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_german.html[/url]

Greek

Vulpinification’s story page used to contain a dozen or so of Aesop’s fables about foxes. Unfortunately, Vulpinification appears to be no more. You can still see what was there courtesy of the Wayback Machine.

[url=http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_greek.html]http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/myths_greek.html[/url]

Hace unos meses compré un dominio debido a algo que se menciono en la Fragua, acerca de métodos de reconstrucción , y de un fenómeno que en artes marciales es a veces referido como Ninja Blanco, la persona con entrenamiento que se encuentra privado de el, por alguna razón.

Originalmente se iban a hacer varias cosas con el dominio, pero solo Lux y Chipola hicieron algo en el mismo, por lo cual creo que será mejor redirigirlo a un subforo que he creado con el nombre notas de artes marciales, donde Fett Jango me hará favor de respaldar lo hecho al momento.

Los maestros del Budo dieron en llamar Seishin Tanren al proceso de la alquimia sutil del ser, comparandolo con las diferentes etapas de fragua y templado, de calcinacion e inmersion del metal bruto e nlas heladas y puras aguas de la verdad. Obra mistica que forja nuestra mente hasta otorgarle la belleza, la rectitud y el filo de un sable japones.
La busqueda de un paraiso perdido o de una realidad interior que unos llaman Grial y otros Satori,.

Proceso alquimico que hace de nosotros un Tatsujin, un hombre realizado, un hombre de Tao.

Todo lo relacionado al arte de enlazar las manos.

Qué es Shibumi

Shibumi, es un concepto tan correcto, que no tiene que ser audaz; tan sutil, que no tiene que ser bonito; tan verdadero, que no tiene que ser real. Shibumi es comprensión más que conocimiento. Silencio elocuente.

En el comportamiento, es modestia sin recato.

En el arte, es donde el espíritu de Shibumi toma la forma de Sabi; es elegante simplicidad. Brevedad articulada.

En la filosofía, en la que el Shibumi emerge como wabi, es un sosiego espiritual que no es pasivo; es el ser sin la angustia de la conversión.

Y hablando de la personalidad de un hombre, es… ¿Cómo podría explicarse? ¿Autoridad sin dominio? Algo parecido.

Estado del ser que no se adquiere, se descubre; simplicidad a la que se arriba después del conocimiento.

(Extracto del libro “Shibumi”, de Trevanian)

Un concepto básico dentro del Bujutsu

Esta idea salió ayer, después de que la persona que aparentemente tiene mayor tiempo de entrenamiento en Budo (que no Kendo) se le ocurrió convocar a una junta entre los estudiantes (sin el maestro) para comunicar su desagrado por no poder haber ido a una competencia de Kendo a Jalisco.

Únicamente le dije: En la poca expericenica que tengo puedo ver que hay dos formas de entrenarse, combatir contra otros, y combatir contra uno mismo, la preferencia por tal o cual “sistema” es muy personal.

Hubo una réplica, dándome a entender que el competir contra otros era necesario para darte cuenta de tus propios errores, y que si ganabas en un torneo, es porque ibas en buen camino, y si perdías tenías que entrenar más. Pero que no importaba ganar o perder y que el combatir contra otros y combatir contra uno mismo van de la mano….es decir incoherencia de ideas y mezcla de ideas por parte de la persona.

así que de regreso a casa, iba pensando un poco la idea y separando cosas.

Y me vino a la mente lo que en el Hagakure y el mismo Musashi dice.

El camino del samurai es conocido como Bun Bu no Ichi (literalmente es Letras y Guerra son Uno), y es la única senda que es doble. Es decir, no puede uno ser 100% guerra, 100% competencia contra otros, 100% bruto salvaje, ni tampoco 100% paz, 100% competencia contra uno mismo, 100% educado y culto.
Es un convivir de esos dos opuestos que lleven a complementarse.

Los pensamientos meditativos pueden derivar en aletargamiento y autoengaño, BUN
Las acciones ritualizadas pueden derivar en ficciones y cosas alejadas de la realidad, BU
Las acciones ritualizadas deben dar pie a los pensamientos meditativos y viceversa, No Ichi
Acciones meditativas y pensamientos ritualizados. Bunbu no ichi

Así que enfocarse demasiado en competir, es igual a la falta de entrenamiento.

Es estúpido, mezquino y vulgar.

Sin ser consciente de ello, me he dado cuento que varias veces he estado en ese punto que en camino se llama Zero.

Literalmente zero es el punto en donde todo el entrenamiento de artes marciales se hace inútil, no sirve de maldita la cosa.

En términos de física newtoniana Zero, es el momento en que la fuerza de inercia permanece constante y no hay ningún factor que lo cambie.

Es decir, quedarse pasmado.

Tiempo atrás podría atribuir mi estado de Zero a que no llevaba ninguna forma de entrenamiento físico, mental o emocional. O como me decía mi madre, es que tienes corazón de pollo y no pudes hacerle daño a nadie.

Pero a últimas fechas me doy cuenta que sin quererlo he estado en Zero, siendo simplemente espectador y recibiendo un castigo. Congelado en el momento preciso en que hay que moverse.
Y puedo decir que la causa es falta de estímulo. Hay situaciones en donde el peligro es “más intenso” que en otras en donde es mas leve. Esa intensidad es la que termina por activar el modo de supervivencia que hace accesar a la memoria corporal.

Sin embargo, ahí esta la trampa, porque el peligro es el peligro y en cualquier momento la vida pasa a ser muerte.
La respuesta de acción se liga fisícamente con un ignitor, el oxígeno en la sangre. Este oxígeno se obtiene a través de la respiración y la mejor forma de conseguirlo es gritando.

Así de fácil.
Si además a este ignitor, se le agrega un “mensaje lógico emocional” obtenemos un medio eficaz para vencer a Zero.

No te des por vencido
Ni aun vencido
No te sientas esclavo
Ni aun esclavo
Tremulo de pavor
Piensate bravo
Y arremente sin temor
Ya malherido

Modalidad de combate

Bushido to ha
Shinu koto to mitsuketari
Shurado to ha
Taosu koto to mitsuketari
Ware Akkirasetsu tonari te
Men o mae no tekki
Subete wo
KIRU

Más les vale dejarme en PAZ!

Policía, POLICÍA!

El último nivel es cuando esto se hace de manera inconsciente, sin tener que repetir nada.

Vengo llegando del trabajo y recuerdo los comentarios raros de un tipo que insiste en decir que las sendas nobles forzosamente tienen que ver con la homosexualidad.
Me da risa, en realidad la gente al discutir o al encarar problemas, no puede disfrazar las verdaderas intenciones que tiene, y las ideas con las que simpatiza.
Al tratar de rebatir algo usan argumentos que van acorde con su forma de pensar, y tratan ante todo de imponer esa manera de ser, esa idea o esa conducta.
Pasa lo mismo con los delincuentes, personas que tratan de quitarle su dinero a otras, que tratan de imponerles un estado de miedo, buscando placer, o buscando alguna forma de solventar sus vicios.
Y las palabras quedan de lado y se pasa a la accion.
Por simple física elemental, cuando dos fuerzas colisionan hay una energia de repulsión, que puede o no afectar a las fuentes de esa fuerza. Y si las afecta, el daño no será grave.
¿Qué pasa si al momento del choque una de las fuerzas no hace nada?
Es arrasada.

Que hay violencia en las calles, que hay victimas y victimarios, claro!, pero la diferencia la puede hacer una persona.

Si nos remitimos a esa idea, queda claro el porque la insistencia de que en el camino se debe seguir y respetar un codigo de conducta, porque al ser la persona lo mas importante, lo que esta decida, marcara una diferencia entre ser arrasado o seguir vivo.

Y sin embargo existen los delincuentes, aquellos que piensan que pueden sembrar el terror, que pueden crear la confusion, la injusticia, el sufrimiento.

Se les olvida que la diferencia la hace el hombre. Que siempre habra alguien o algo que hara la diferencia.

Creen que el mal, es algo como robar o matar, a muchas personas, y se les olvida que al ir dejando restos de dignidad por el camino, aunque sean pequeños, el verdadero mal hace su aparición. Y sin darse cuenta comienzan a cumplir con un codigo de deshonra.

Y nuevamente la diferencia la hace el hombre, no el dinero, no el saber, ni el dar cursos, no la cantidad de gente que busca demoler a otra.

Un digno codigo. Movido a la seccion de codigos.

Codigos del Budo