The Power of Nothing
Last Tuesday Soke told me that the most important power is the power of nothing “Nai no Chikara”. The way he used the terms got me to thinking of the significance of this and I would like to share my thoughts with the members of the Bujinkan.We have to really think about what we are striving to achieve in our training and to use the line from a very trusted sempai and mentor of mine “what is the mission”, is the essence of this, I believe.
Well, most of us study Budo to develop strength and power whether it be physical, mental or spiritual, do we not? But once we gain maturity in Budo, we clearly realize that strength or power is the last thing that we truly desire to cultivate.
Then what is it that we want to develop? Well, we want to develop nothing. The goal is not to fight. Not to be there when there is a conflict is the best place to be.
One of the previous Soke of our tradition said, the way to peace is by not fighting and not having to be in a position to fight. This is the power of nothing.
So actually, doing nothing is the most powerful move you can make.
This is deeply tied into Soke’s constant points about not giving the opponent any feeling. Not fighting the opponent and simply playing with the opponent.
Giving the opponent nothing to fight against is the power that will ultimately control the opponent. This is not your power, but the power of the opponent. Your nothing dissipates this power and renders it nothing.
Obviously to reach this level requires direct training experience with someone connected to the bufu and there are no shortcuts. We must start with something before we can have nothing.
November 10, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Very interesting. I have experimented with this many times in my line of work. It is very interesting to see your opponent trying to start an attack when there is nothing to attack. This have defused many, many situations for me, enabled me to resolve the situation without having to even touch the opponent. And for me, a good night is one when I dont have to wash my hands afterwards.
November 10, 2007 at 4:23 pm
As always, Doug knows how to express complex things into simple words. I totally agree with this idea of “not fighting”. The whole idea within the Bujinkan is not to win the battle but to do our best not to lose it or not to be in a situation where there can be a fight. The solutions are: either you avoid being in a position where there can be a conflict; or when the conflict cannot be avoided, to avoid losing. Some often argue that “winning” or “not losing” is identical. This is wrong; there are a lot of possibilities between these two options. Sometimes life teaches you that it is wiser to let the attacker win and to stay alive. To the “what is the mission?” statement, you can add another one: “are you ready to pay the price?”
November 11, 2007 at 1:31 am
“Not to be there when there is a conflict is the best place to be.”
If your worry is for yourself, then yeah.
As those you worry about, those you wish to keep safe increase in number, then conflict becomes more difficult to morally avoid.
And I disagree that the goal is “not losing” versus “winning”. The goal as I understand it is to be able to define *during the event* what constitutes winning. Not every fight ends with one combatant dead or broken beyond repair. Sometimes winning is defusing the situation, sometimes it’s walking away (or getting your principals to safety), sometimes it’s killing.
Those of us in Japan and (outside certain neighborhoods) America live very peaceful lives compared to places like South Africa or Argentina, but there is still violence beyond our control here, and there are some of “us” there.
Yeah, the best way to avoid losing a fight is to not be there, but if not being there gets other people killed IMO that is still losing.
November 14, 2007 at 4:23 pm
I definately agree with this!! I also believe that this is the highest level of the martial arts as well. I also believe that this is what our training gives us. Soke often tell us to keep going, and often times we do not understand why. However, I think that this post explains alot. Through our normal training, it allows for us to become in-tune with the world. Therefore, the more we train, the more our life becomes more fruitful. I believe that this idea is also being expressed through this passage.
Sincerely,
Chris Carbonaro
http://www.tanukidojo.com
November 15, 2007 at 5:48 am
“’Not to be there when there is a conflict is the best place to be.’
If your worry is for yourself, then yeah.
As those you worry about, those you wish to keep safe increase in number, then conflict becomes more difficult to morally avoid.”
I don’t think you quite caught the full sense of what Doug was getting at (and my apologies to him in advance if I’m misinterpreting him myself). I think the key lies in part of the rest of what he said:
“This is deeply tied into Soke’s constant points about not giving the opponent any feeling. Not fighting the opponent and simply playing with the opponent.”
I’ve also heard Sensei and the shihan this year saying things along the line of “Don’t be in the fight”. . .and this was meant in the context of the physical training that was going on. Fighting takes two (or more) people. You can still “not be in the fight” even in the midst of breaking someone in pieces.
I don’t take what Doug was saying as a call to be passive, to just sit there like a bump on a pickle and do nothing, when you or someone you’re protecting is being physically attacked. . .or to place ALL your trust in detection and avoidance of danger, either.
If I did take such an approach I’d basically just be a walking cheeseburger for every two-legged predator out there. Wouldn’t do my friends and loved ones much good either, and I wouldn’t even be able to do my job. I protect people — not property, but people — for a living.
December 17, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Although a month late in commenting on this post, it is a subject open to many interpretations. I would like to extend this idea beyond the physical, to the emotional and mental realms. Why do we have so much politics in Bujinkan, why do certain high ranking students of Sensei have problems with each other? Have we considered practicing some of these concepts in everyday life?
If we can cultivate the skill of becoming zero when our buttons are pushed, we will automatically obtain a mental and emotional distance from whatever verbal situation is occurring. It allows us to learn more about the person who is “attacking” verbally than what is being said. We then are in a position to see very clearly who this person is, he/she gives us much more information about him/herself than realized. We are at the advantage.
But what we do with that also says alot. Are we going to turn it against that person, are we going to “play” in a harmful and negataive way? What about staying zero, letting that person go on and on and tie the noose slowly around his/her own neck. Invariably they do.
Sensei talks about manipulating space. Give people enough space, they eventually come full circle with themselves, tying themselves up well enough on their own.
So why can’t we do that? It takes time..we are mostly impatient and want immediate results, or vindication. We give away ourselves. We then give out too much information as well.
So for me, the practice of mentally and emotionally creating space from a situation, to view the other from that space gains me a lot more information, and then sit back and just let them do what they do best….
Soke has had infinite patience with our learning. He says often, now you are growing, now you are adults, now I can give you more. How many decades did this take? Patience, this too is our learning.