Martial arts and violence

Once again, the country (and the planet) has been shocked by a mass killing, and, as I have done in the past, I waited to hear whether or not the shooter had some sort of involvement in "the martial arts."  It has happened before - the "DC Sniper" reportedly indoctrinated his young accomplice with a disciplined lifestyle that included "karate;" and Slate recently ran a story that concluded that young men who killed with swords seemingly belonged to some sort of geek netherworld of Japanese manga and role-playing games.  Add to this the constant bombardment of images of hand-to-hand or traditional weapons fighting (with liberal buckets of stage blood) in films, video games and television, along with the occasional loudmouth bully martial artist swaggering on UTube, and it's small wonder that people look at me funny when I say I practice budo.  Small wonder also that I downplay my interest from time to time, depending on who's asking. 

The most common reaction I get is that people say I don't look like a thug or a badass.  I then usually counter that iai is more like taiji than karate.  Then they figure I'm some old lady with a New Agey interest in auras and crystals.  Usually, at that point, I just change the subject.

But last night, as the narrative continued to unwind, and details about the shooting in Tucson emerged, and were endlessly spun in various directions, I found myself thinking about where my practice fits in to the culture of violence (or not).  It really is oxymoronic to say that a practice that includes using real swords and cutting targets from time to time is not violent.  In fact, iai is probably the most violent budo out there.  It has no inherent sporting element.  Iai kata are, as a rule, very brief, owing to the fact that one or two strokes with a surgically-sharp blade is all you need to dispatch an opponent.  Some people make excuses by saying that iai kata are defensive; i.e., they are a response to an aggressive gesture from an imaginary opponent, but anyone who has gone beyond basic techniques practices other kata that are more aggressive.  A kata in which the scenario depicts someone advancing on a retreating opponent, cutting him down, can't be spun as defensive, pretty much no matter what.

However (and here's the paradox), because of its violent nature, iai is always practiced in an extremely polite atmosphere, with maximum care taken by practitioners to keep their emotions in check at all times.  It is not enough to control one's temper; in iai practice one seeks to cultivate a calm state of mind.  At the beginning of practice, we make gestures towards each other that indicate respect.  We bow in the practice space to set off the time from outside intrusions so people can practice in peace.  Even though tempers can flare in martial arts dojo from time to time, in an iai dojo, such outbursts can never be tolerated (in fact, if you ever visit a sword dojo where tempers are in evidence, I strongly suggest not coming back). 

We do not carry swords around with us anymore (at least, the non-geeks among us don't).  And as my teacher once famously said in class, "If I want to kill someone, I don't use this stupid thing, I'll go buy a gun."  What is left to the modern practitioner is to cultivate that respectful and peaceful state of mind, then take that sensibility and use it to deal with the world.  It may not be as exciting as the movies, but it works in life a whole lot better.