The Body

Manhattan, NY - I've taken up karate and have gone to two classes. It feels nice for once to listen, to obey, and to be an absolute beginner. To obey and to be guided by those who know better is a new experience. From what I see, practicing martial arts is about the constant improvement of technique and constant focusing of attention and intention. There are so many moves to learn and hence its practitioners meet several times a week. The attraction is that I can constantly get better.

Fresh from class, I ran into S. in front of the gym's community space. I met her recently through church. She's been practicing jujitsu. It's clear to me she's been at this for some time. I asked her what made her choose jujitsu as a form of martial arts. She said she fell into it and loved it immediately. She said the discipline has taught her about boundaries of all sorts. The body is a weapon her teacher told her and this has made a tremendous impression upon her.

The body is a weapon. The metaphor startled me. When I see S. in church, I've always remarked to myself how calm she is. Is the body a weapon or a temple, I asked. She went on to say that knowing that the body is a weapon has made her aware of boundaries of all sorts. And yes, the metaphor holds. If her body is a knife, she would not let anyone hold her knife. She is in total possession of it.

In truth, I came to karate to empower myself, to learn self-mastery through body and hopefully through mind. S. made me realize that her metaphor was in fact not just a metaphor. The body is a temple, a sacred thing. For such it needs protecting. So martial arts can come to the service of its protection. In fact, in these arts, there's a healthy respect for the body as form and as tool. The body, then, can be the finest and sharpest expression of our intentions.