Looking at 無為

Introduction
In this post I would like to talk in more detail about the term 無為 pronounced Mu-i in Japanese and Wu-wei in Chinese (Mandarin). This concept is often associated to the Taoist approach to living, but aspects of this concept are also very evident in our Karate Do training. At the centre of the concept is 自然 Shizen, taking a natural approach to life and the problems that one may encounter. The concept stresses that the world we live in is made up of opposites and that we need one in order to appreciate the other. This is further applied to combative strategies and theories of dealing with conflict. However,  this has also been wrongly interpreted by some as meaning "to do nothing." I have seen this approach to dealing with conflict applied in various situations here in Japan and have grown to appreciate it very much. The more I am exposed to these concepts the less I want to translate them and simply be receptive to them.

For the sake of introducing them to you, I will try to outline a few important terms in order to build a foundation of knowledge to help us understand the connections between these concepts. I would first like to point out the difference between  不 Fu and 無 Mu.

Fu is a 'negative' and is often coupled with other Kanji to imply more of a meaning of 'Not' like in the case of 不動心 Fudou-shin or 不安定 Fu-antei where Mu is more often translated as lacking the existence of ~, or simply as 'nothing'.

Shi-zen is a term that I am sure you have heard before either in the Dojo or in your Japanese cultural studies. 自然体 Shi-zen-tai, literally meaning a 'natural' state of the body's posture, is a state that we are all forcing ourselves to realize. In this lies the problem.
In order to understand Mu-i or Wu-wei we must first look at a few other terms such as 自然 Shizen mentioned above and the Asian concept of the relationship of man and nature. All of the Asian philosophies with which I am familiar place man on the same level as everything else in nature, that is to say that man is not placed higher than anything else in nature whereas in Western philosophies man is placed higher because of his ability to reason. We must consider such things when we reflect upon these concepts within the Karate Do context as well. The concept that the 敵 Teki, for example, is not some external thing or somebody that needs to be conquered, but rather something within ourselves that needs to be calmed and controlled. In order to understand this we must also take a deeper look at how the terms like 精神 Seishin, 気 Ki, and 養成 You-sei are used in the context of Karate Do.

Re-visiting Experiences that Have Helped Me Put Things into Perspective, continued

I realize that the previous post was rather long and I only just briefly scratched the surface of the events that set my life into a whole new direction. The focus of that post was on how I got the job at Buntoku SHS which some may say was just simple luck. I argue, however, that it was not luck but rather the actions I took and the people I met and connected with along the way that set specific events in motion, the collection of these events lead me to where I am today. Living here has taught me very clearly that who we know is very important and that time is the most precious thing we have. Therefore, I try to use my time develop and strengthen good relationships with those whom I care for and respect and in doing so I have been very fortunate to have been shown a great deal of things that I otherwise would not have been exposed to.

One of the opportunities that I was able to benefit from was the 英語教育専門職コース Eigo Kyoiku Senmonsha Ko-su, MA TESOL Course at Kumamoto University (seen below). I became aware of the program through a friend I made, a Japanese Canadian who just came to the Dojo one night. He trained at a nearby Dojo in a different style but was joining our class for one reason or another. He was also an auditing student in the 法律学部 Houritsu Gakubu, Law Department at Kumamoto University and wanted to introduce me to a Professor in the department. One thing lead to another, I went to meet the Professor a couple of times and after some very interesting conversations, he introduced me to Terry Laskowski Sensei. I decided that a Master's in English Education would be beneficial for my future employment options here, but remained interested.

My friend and I both sat for 入学試験 Nyugaku Shiken, the Entrance Exam on the same day in February. Although our tests were in different departments the test format was very similar; a paper test consisting of an essay question, in my case two essay questions, and an interview before a panel of three senior Professors in the field. Those sitting for the test in the department that I applied for were all lead to the same room where our assigned seats were waiting for us with a light brown manila envelope on the desk in front of the chair. We sat and commenced the test. there was a teacher supervising the test. It was all very rigid and serious.