Immovable Heart - 不動心

不動心 - Fudo Shin - Immovable Heart

This is something that we often will hear of, or have mentioned around us during our training. However, I believe that seldom do we truly understand or take time to ruminate on this simple phrase.

As with all Japanese writing and philosophy, (characteristically so) it is open to interpretation.

About two years ago I went to Japan and studied at the Honbu dojo. During my short time there, I was fortunate enough to fit in a class with Hatsumi into my training schedule. I took a small page's worth of notes during and after that class. It has been very interesting to go back over and read what it is I chose to put down on paper with new perspective (after 2 more years of training).

Specifically: "You must not desire to hurt or kill, or else you will surely fail"

It made sense then, and it makes sense now. However something very important happened to me recently that brought me back to this saying of our Grandmaster.

It was a Saturday morning; the night prior my Sensei called me. He told me that he wasn't feeling very well, all the other higher ranked senpai were unavailable, and that I would be teaching tomorrow. I wasn't at all surprised really, since more and more often recently I had been called on to teach techniques or relay concepts in front of the class (starting to teach is actually part of our dojo curiculum the higher rank you become).

The only difference here is that the class was a popular one since it was on the weekend and supposed to be taught by Sensei. Despite that, he placed the responsibility on my shoulders.

After the phone call I spent a long time thinking about how I will fill up the two hour class time, and different drills/exercises I could use to instruct.. I really didn't want it to be boring or too unorganized.

Anyway, back to Saturday.

I come down the stairs into the dojo, and there are already about eleven people sitting, stretching, tying their belts, etc.

After a few minutes I light incense, take a seat facing the kamiza (shrine, or "throne of spirits"), go through our bow in procedure, and teach class.

I decided to go over all the basics of rolling. How to be quiet. How to be smooth. How to stay low and be small. And most importantly, how to avoid injury and prolong your ability to train on a daily basis.

However refreshing and new it was for me to have the attention of my peers, or have them slow down, listen, and respect my point of view and trust my words, it wasn't really any of this that struck me particularly, or offered me any sudden revelation.

It was near the end of class, around the last twenty minutes, where something happened.

I had spent a lot of time going over extreme basics of ukemi (rolling/falling), so I wanted to move to something a bit more static and easier for people to concentrate on. So I went with evading and flowing backwards as someone punches at you.

Most peoples' reactions are to block or strike the attacking limb, or to evade and grab onto it. I stressed two points very clearly: do not grab, and do not strike. Catch it softly. Barely touch.

And as I watched their legs move, the punches fly, and bodies moving this way and that, I noticed that it wasn't as simple as I thought it might be. That moving the feet, ankles, legs, hips, chest, arms, hands, and head all at once, whilst still concentrating on the specifics of what I was saying, really wasn't that basic of an exercise.

Through my eyes, the movement I saw was rough. It was strong. It was violent..

And that's when it crept into my mind.. the feeling Hatsumi was trying to express back in Japan...

Again: "You must not desire to hurt or kill, or else you will surely fail"

I asked everyone to stop and move to the sides. And as certainly as the idea washed over me, I channeled what I felt was the feeling of our Master.

You must not desire to hurt or kill your enemy, or else you will surely fail. It is not a matter of who, or when, or how. It is our duty as budoka to protect our enemy. Protect them from themselves. You can never know one's true motivations, or why there are in the situation they find themselves, but you can always know yourself.

You must love your enemy and never have the feeling of hate or the urge to kill in your heart.

A moment of silence and quiet contemplation followed my conclusive rant. I motioned for everyone to line up, and that's all there really was to it.

This was not something I had really begun to understand (or had the eyes to see) until that moment, surrounded by my peers, able to observe their tenacity and their hearts.

Stepping back, hearing myself say these things, I realize now that I was speaking of Fudo Shin; our hearts and intentions must strong and just, and cannot falter. It is our duty to protect those who would not protect themselves, may they be friend or enemy.

Thank you to all my fellow budoka, thank you for teaching me.

詞韻　波羅密　大光明

(しきんはらみつだいこみょ)