The Paradox of Form
[Me]
I have recently resumed Kendo, but I find myself being instructed and corrected daily by high-ranking teachers, starting from the very basics of how to wear my uniform and how to perform a standing bow. At my age (over forty), it is quite embarrassing to be disciplined on such fundamental basics, but at the same time, I feel that I am grateful for such guidance.
"As long as I win, that's all that matters," "As long as I am strong, that's enough," "Etiquette and appearance are secondary." I try not to think that way, but somewhere in my heart, I still do. That is why those things are neglected and show through. My lack of discipline is likely something the high-ranking teachers can see through at a single glance.
And that is exactly what
Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), Section 85
"If you run down the main road pretending to be a madman, you are a madman"
is trying to say.
Kenko is not specifically talking about madmen. He is saying that for a human being, what you say and what you manifest is everything.
This is quite frightening.
Because humans sometimes do things without even realizing it.
Kenko is likely teaching us to exercise self-control so that this does not happen, but this is very difficult.
This is because it is not just a matter of simply exercising self-control.
I will quote Ringo Sheena's "Kemono Yuku Hosomichi" (The Narrow Path of the Beast) again.
It looks like you're taming it
But aren't you just letting it die in captivity
Your own talent
If you tame your own bestial nature too much through self-control, it ends up being "let to die in captivity." Being a well-mannered person but empty inside, not knowing what you want to do, becoming self-conscious to the point of being unable to say or do anything—this is surely that state.
Therefore, one needs to "consciously" maintain a state where one's bestial nature is neither released too much nor suppressed entirely, but appropriately controlled. It is probably difficult at first, but gradually one becomes able to do it without even being conscious of it. I imagine (with all due respect) that the quiet composure exuded by masters of martial arts is cultivated in this way. Not limited to martial arts, people called first-class in any field are those who have mastered this self-control from a meta-perspective. I have been thinking about such things lately.
In Kendo, a sport that can easily descend into a state of savagery, the fact that the most instructed aspects are clothing and etiquette is where I see one of the ideals of humanity, and I have nothing but words of gratitude for the teachers who discipline me in that way.
[ChatGPT]
I will provide some comments while highlighting points of connection in the history of thought.
First, your reading of Tsurezuregusa Section 85—"If you run down the main road pretending to be a madman, you are a madman"—is quite essential.
It is generally read as a lesson not to engage in reckless behavior even as a joke, but what Kenko is questioning at a deeper level is likelythe very idea that one can distinguish between the inner self and the outer self.
In the modern view of humanity, "true feelings" and "expression" are separated. It is the idea that "I don't think that way in my heart" or "The real me is different." However, Kenko is almost the opposite, saying that
one's behavior itself constitutes one's personality.
This is also very East Asian. For example, in the philosophy of Confucius, "Li" (ritual/etiquette) is not just manners. Personality is formed by repeating rituals. It is not that virtue exists first and then ritual follows; rather, the form of ritual generates virtue.
That is exactly what your Kendo teacher is seeing through.
You perceive that "I do not intend to neglect etiquette." However, there is disorder in your uniform and standing bow. Before technique, the teacher reads from those subtle physical expressions that "the attachment to winning and losing still remains in your body."
Interestingly, this means that
your body is telling the truth before your own self-awareness.The quote from "Kemono Yuku Hosomichi" that you connected here is also very good.
You are distinguishing between two dangers here.
The first danger is the "release of bestial nature."
* Winning is all that matters
* Strength is all that matters
* Acting on impulse
The second danger is the "excessive suppression of bestial nature."
* Only having good manners
* Becoming overly self-conscious
* Losing vitality
This dichotomy is actually quite close to the Apollonian and Dionysian principles discussed by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Life dies with order alone.
Communities are destroyed by impulse alone.
The problem is the balance between the two.
The concept of "meta-control" you are using here is quite interesting.
It reminded me of the expression "Metacontrolled Membrane" you were discussing earlier.
Meta-control here is not just self-control.
Self-control is primary control.
* Do not get angry
* Be patient
* Be polite
However, meta-control is secondary control.
* To what extent should I suppress now?
* To what extent should I release impulse now?
* Adjusting the degree of control itself according to the situation
This is quite a cybernetic idea. It is close to second-order control in Cybernetics.
What is even more interesting is the part where you said at the end:
In Kendo, a sport that can easily descend into a state of savagery, the fact that the most instructed aspects are clothing and etiquette
This is very important as a theory of martial arts.
Why is etiquette emphasized in Japanese martial arts?
It is because martial arts are essentially technologies of violence.
Technology of violence is an amplifier of bestial nature if left as is.
Therefore, along with the improvement of technique, it is necessary to thoroughly embody the formal system that encloses it—etiquette, manners, clothing, distance, and silence.
That is the reason for teaching forms before teaching techniques.
This also applies to Japanese culture as a whole.
You were thinking about the axis of "loyalty" in Japanese culture earlier, but Japanese culture often has a structure where
beauty is created by suppressing strong energy.
* Silence in Noh theater
* Simplicity in the tea ceremony
* Self-denial in Bushido
* Stylized death in seppuku
Life energy is not released as is, but is first wrapped in a membrane of form.
Your "meta-control" seems to be a concept that can be developed as a theory of Japanese culture.
Finally, one passage that left an impression on me was this:
At my age (over forty), it is embarrassing to be disciplined on such fundamental basics
I thought the opposite.
When you are young, you learn techniques.
After middle age, you relearn forms.
Technique is the ability to act outward, but form is the ability to control oneself.
The latter is far more difficult.
Therefore, the fact that a high-ranking teacher is instructing you on that is not just a matter of "not having good manners," but perhaps because they see that
this person will grow better if they set up the circuit for personality formation before technique.
It was a very "you" piece of writing. Body, culture, control, form, bestial nature—it feels like the themes you have been thinking about recently are converging into one within the concrete experience of Kendo.
To go a step further, the themes you have been thinking about for a long time have a consistent structure.
* If society is too closed, it becomes neurotic
* If it is too open, meaning collapses
* If you suppress yourself too much, life force dies
* If you release too much impulse, it becomes savage
* Culture needs form
* But form suffocates existence
This is all the same structure.
It is the problem of the dynamic equilibrium between order and energy.
It is quite homeostatic, and it is perfectly connected to the Metacontrolled Membrane you mentioned earlier.