Three viewpoints to see things
We cultivate three essential viewpoints through “Bu-do.”
Viewpoints change your life
In Shinkiryu’s philosophy, we are taught it is better to follow the laws of nature in life.
However you may find it difficult to recognize the laws of nature in daily life.
Here we will introduce three important viewpoints to realize the laws of nature, in other words, to look at things.
They are the ones below:
- Look at things in the long run
- Look at things from multiple perspectives or a holistic perspective
- Look at things’ root or core
In Shinkiryu we cultivate those viewpoints through “kata(型)” or “waza(技)” which is a physical practice.
1. Look at things in the long run
One of the essential viewpoints in life is a long-term one.
Let’s say, when you have a free time, and you have two choices to do, watching random YouTube videos, or reading books for educational purposes.
Some may choose to do the former one because it’s easy and fun.
However, generally speaking, if you think in the long run, choosing the latter one will be better because it will reward you.
In another example, if you look at a bad thing in the long run, it may lead you to a good event, and vice versa.
In a story of “Beauty and the Beast,” the prince had a bad treatment to become a awful creature, but thanks to it he could realized what the true love was.
When you have a long-term viewpoint, things will start to look really different.
We cultivate this way of seeing through “kata,” “Nai-Fan-Chin(内歩進).”
By the way, our pure body already knows the laws of nature, so it is effective to rely on physical trainings like “kata” to
acquire those mindsets or philosophies.
2. Look at things from multiple perspectives or a holistic perspective
When you look at things from a variety of perspectives or a holistic viewpoint, they look different and you will get
new insights as well.
Here is an example.
In a school in Japan,they wondered how their students could improve their academic ability since they were relatively low.
Then its principal tackled on how they could improve their school lunch,
instead of how they could improve their teaching in classes or changing their textbooks.
They started to serve school lunch which contained some ingredients enhancing concentration and something like that important in studying, with the result that their students improved their academic ability.
It can be said that the principal’s solution came from multiple and overall perspectives.
In practices of “Bu-do,” when you have something you cannot perform well, you are obliged to search for problems in various points of view.
You may have a problem in your posture, your center of gravity may be in the wrong position, or you may not be using properly your inner energy “ki.”
In this way, you will get used to have multiple perspectives or a holistic perspective through “Bu-do.”
And, particularly we can cultivate this perspective through “kata,” “Ten-Sho(転掌).”
3. Look at things’ root or core
The last one is a viewpoint of trying to see roots or cores of things.
In Japan, there is a discussion about whether students should use tablet devices in school and one concern is raised that implementing those devices will induce more bullying.
However bullying will not come from use of tablets. It will come from people’s heart.
When you try to look at roots or cores of things, you will realize something new and you will take an entirely different action.
It is difficult to realize what are roots or cores of things as if we only see flowers of cherry blossoms and do not see their stems or roots.
We cultivate this ability to grasp cores of things through “kata,” “三戦(San-Chin).”
And when you perform “Taijutsu” move, such as throwing or grappling techniques, you are required to be able to take opponents’ cores.
After practicing those you will be automatically looking at things’ cores or roots in daily life.