"Moving Zen"?

Some of my former colleagues have put up a website describing their martial arts group claiming that our mutual teacher (who died five years ago) was a Zen adept.  I believe this comes from the claim in the West that (1) Samurai were Zen practitioners, and (2) therefore Japanese martial arts practice is somehow related to Zen.  It does not help that Suzuki Daisetsu's deservedly-criticized (but still in print, I think) Zen in Japanese Culture openly promotes this idea (at least I think that's what it does.  After reading the book about 20 years ago, I looked at it again about three years ago and found it very full of nonsense).  In any case, I believe my colleagues are trying for some sort of authenticity for themselves by misrepresenting our late teacher, for several writers have suggested that some martial arts practices can be considered "moving Zen."

This is too bad on several levels, I mean, outside of the misrepresentation itself.  My teacher was a Shin (as in "new") Buddhist, though I don't think he actually belonged to any particular sect by the end of his life.  He did study sutras and was something of a scholar of Buddhism, but I never, ever heard him say anything about Zen.  For those who don't know, Zen (or Chan, in Chinese) is a particular practice.  Beyond that, I don't know much about it except of course that it deals in irrationality, among other things.  But, not being an expert, I'd rather not say.

Recent scholarship published in the West has suggested a wealth of possible religious observances for members of the samurai class (who, for all intents, existed during the Tokugawa era, when everyone belonged to one class or another).  The evidence suggests to me that, as a class, they were as varied as anyone at the time. 

Moreover, there was a high degree of syncretism in Japanese religion until the Meiji Period, which means that Shinto and Buddhism were somewhat overlapping practices.  This is of course, my opinion (it's a blog) but that strongly suggests you can't really pin someone's religious sensibility unless you were around to ask.  Even now, Japanese religious practices can be strongly syncretic.  One family I stayed with years ago had a butsudan in the parlor (a cabinet with an image of the Buddha), a kamidana in the kitchen (a shelf with a small, wooden box, put up high near the ceiling - in this case, for the ancestors), and, since it was December, a mini-Christmas tree on top of the TV.

As for the "moving Zen" thing, there is no doubt that movement makes you feel better, mentally as well as physically.  This goes for a spinning class as well as a martial arts class, though admittedly, your brain gets a much better workout after the martial arts class.  In any case, after a satisfying class, there is no better feeling, not to mention you sleep like a log.  But Zen?  Nah.