What amazes me is how different my hair looks when I go to the stylist. She's able to smooth my unruly locks and create a hair style that doesn't frizz up within minutes. She does this with no more than a brush and a hairdryer and little or no hair products. It's amazing.
The thing is, she's has the same tools that I have: the same hair, the same hair dryer, the same brush. But she knows how to work with what she's given.
Strangely enough, that's what I like about the martial arts. It's not about changing your body or who you are. It is about working with what you're given.
One of Sensei's favorite stories about bunkai involves an argument between Steve Armstrong and another first generation student. They were arguing about bunkai of a particular move. Each had a practical application that he insisted was given to him by Shimabuku himself. Each was adamant that the other remembered the application incorrectly. Then Armstrong realized that maybe they were both correct. Maybe, each of them were taught a different application of the same move because they were different people with different physical size, weight and reach.
(Now, some Isshinryu history buffs may argue that Shimabuku didn't teach bunkai. Armstrong and a few others claim he did. I don't know which is true, but it doesn't make the story or it's moral invalid.)
We learn to do a vertical punch to hit an opponent (who is the same size as us) in the solar plexus. Guess what? I'm 5' 5". (That's median height for a woman and I'm one of the tallest women in my family...I make no apologies for being who I am.) But, in practical applications, if I were defending myself against a man, that same punch would probably land much lower: in that delicate muscle between the belly button and the "junk." (If you'll pardon the euphemism.) A much taller person could do the same move and the punch could land on his opponent's face or neck.
How cool is that? The same move means different targets and "bunkai" for two different people. We're all working with the tools we were given.
When I was heavier, I was able to use my weight to intimidate opponents. I used to say, "hey, you see a 260-pound woman charging at you, you get the F' out of the way!" Almost 80 pounds lighter this doesn't work any more. Now, when I charge at my opponents, they just hit me when I reach them. So, I'm working on new bunkai...or, in this case, I guess it would be actually using my bunkai instead of my size.
In any case, I'm trying to learn to work with my "fuller" hair and height and weight. My goal for the upcoming year is to learn to work with the tools I've been given.
What is your goal?
