The Lightsaber, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age, and the eponymous tool of choice for the Jedi. A devastating weapon for which few beside the Sith had a defence, and a shield which rendered the weapon of choice of the age, the blaster, as dangerous to the one using it as the Jedi being shot at. However, it existed for no great symbolic meaning, beyond George Lucus’ love of swashbuckling films and a wish to use dramatic sword-fighting scenes in the film. Yet, unlike many action directors, the Lightsaber duels of the Star Wars films do tell stories in of themselves rather than being action set pieces that explain a transition from point A to B. For many, the Lightsaber duels are one of the many things that capture their imagination about Star Wars, and the Jedi in of themselves. However, at the end of the day, the Lightsaber is very much a laser sword, and it fulfils this narrative role throughout the Star Wars films.
Understandably, as Jedi Realism has grown, it has produced enthusiasts for Lightsaber fencing and learning Lightsaber choreography. Not all of those involved are real Jedi in practice, but there is a healthy cross-over. The Jedi Path has also been something which has drawn Martial Artists, as the Spiritual-Warrior aspect of the Jedi has a certain appeal to those wrestling with the concepts of Bushido and Chivalry in an age where such warrior ethoi are increasingly alien. For every Jedi you find that can twirl a piece of plastic with great dexterity, you can probably find one who knows how to use an actual blade to some effect. Undeniably, the way of the Jedi and the way of the Sword are intimately connected; be it through fetishism for the Jedi Aesthetic or the meeting of philosophies at the cross-roads that is the living person.
I have been a student of the martial arts for over two decades; though I only count the last twelve years as years of serious study from when I began a proper study of traditional Japanese and Okinawan Bujutsu. Prior to that I was largely involved in Occidental Kempo, Kick-Boxing, Shoot-Wrestling, and HEMA for re-enactment rather than combative ability. Recently, I have been considering the way of the Bushi and the symbolism of the sword, and the way the world changes. We live in an age which is very different from when even I was born just 29 years ago. I spent my earliest childhood in a world which was only just becoming digital, I did not have a mobile phone or personal computer until I had left secondary school, and in my area my experience was not uncommon or unusual. Now, a whole generation is graduating and coming into the work-place, into the higher levels of academia, and entering politics, that never lived in a non-digital world. They have an experience those that came before them did not have, and those that came before them have no notion of what growing up in a digital world is like.
The Bushi who fought to maintain their way of Life in the Boshin Sensō and Seinan Sensō, and those that fought for the Confederacy with a sense of “My country, right or wrong” for a long time all represented the worst aspects of conservative thinking to me. Let us not be asinine though; they did lay down their lives for brutal class systems, and nothing will change that ultimately, they fought for ways of thinking and living that are not compatible with modern ethics. With that said, being a witness to a changing world, where paradigms seem to be shifting in huge waves, and change has come as a land-slide rather than as a continental drift, has garnered some sympathy for their causes. If nothing else, they fought against the terror of a changing world.
Last month was Pride Month, and it is something I feel very strongly about. I have many friends, and associates, who exist within the umbrella LGBT. Part of this changing world is the scientific understanding of why people differ from heteronormative and gender binary majorities. These scientific discoveries are challenging long held beliefs that these differences are disorders or life-style choices, or largely a product of nurturing over nature. As a scientist-practitioner, I accept the science and move on with life. Yet, many lack faith in science and trust in the authorities that report on science. They have faith in something else, and trust in people other than scientific authorities. Their reaction to this changing world is to fight it, and argue against it, and so on and so forth. Is it out of malice, or is out of fear that what they believe in is perhaps flawed and untrue?
The aforementioned digital age. We have a generation weighed down by the memetic legacy of generations that lived without a concept of social media. That did not exist with the din of information the majority now carry around in their pockets. They did not live in a time of people being open-books at the click of a button. A digital age that has been crippled by a recession that seems to be going nowhere and dominated by two sides. One which appeals to a mystical time of yore, where things were better, and another which sees the past as the making of today’s troubles and woes. A generation split between feelings that their birth right, and privilege, has been robbed from them, and the other that the world must change if it is to be right. Does either side have any grasp on the truth of it?
We as Jedi live in a tumultuous age, a changing age, where humanity is entering a new epoch. In many ways; the Jedi path could not exist in any other age. It exists because the circumstances have been there for it to exist. We live in an age where apathy is the worst crime imaginable because there are no excuses for it. We can make our voices much easier heard than ever before, we have access to information and knowledge that was once the privilege of a few, and we live in a small world; we can connect with people across the globe. As individuals we are called to be intolerant of intolerance; our codes extoll the values of peace, knowledge, and our duty to our connected world and each other. Our code calls us to be among the archetypes of our world, not it’s victims, witnesses, or bystanders. This, to an extent, means in no uncertain terms that we must fight for what is right. That is not to say through violence, but at least through using our voices and acting to correct wrongs. This brings me back to the way of the Jedi and the way of the Sword.
I have fenced, and I have also learnt to use a sword properly if the intent is to kill someone. They are very different things; one is about speed and precision, the other is about intent. There is a significant difference in slashing and cutting. Watch the mechanics of Kendo Players, and Olympic fencers, and then study the kata of Iaido or watch HEMA competition. Now, in martial arts circles it is not uncommon to hear of the notion that “Blocking is for Beginners” and there is some truth to this. In most martial arts, one of the first things learnt is the most basic ways to defend the self; to block. In wrestling, how to sprawl, in Judo how to fall, in Boxing/Kick-Boxing the Cover-up, and in most karate/kempo/quan fa how to receive an attack with the arms. One will recognise, if they have any martial arts experience, that all those approaches surrender the initiative.
In Japanese martial arts this is often summed up with the phrase G-No-Sen: post-initiative. Once the aggressor has begun their action, the defender combatant performs his/her technique. As one evolves, the action need not necessarily be purely defensive, but as one begins their training they often are. Indeed; the human twitch reaction to defend the self is to simply put their arms in the way to protect the relatively valuable parts of the body and try to create distance. Something exploited by Tony Blauer and his SPEAR system.
However, this extends to just the simple habits of the beginner. Put a sword (or safer training alternative) in the hand of the beginner and ask them to defend themselves and they shall put their weapon in the way of your attack. Ask them to attack, and the simplest way to defend is to Block their attack and control their weapon: Beginners lead with the weapon, and not their feet. In this sense; blocking is for beginners is indicative of all three factors. It is the way beginners are taught, it is the way beginners act, and is the way beginners are beaten.
Yet, as one evolves as a swordsman, the notion of blocking or parrying to defend the self becomes redundant. Indeed; moving to preserve the self becomes redundant. If one is moving their weapon to defend themselves, it is already a move of desperation. If one tries to move out the way of an attack they will quickly find themselves attacked again. Rather, one learns well the Idiom Abara issun or one inch of the ribs. A saying from Shinkage-Ryu with the implication that you must be willing to risk at least that much to cut your opponent. If you can cut, then you can be cut being another way to put it. Ultimately; there is no defence except the Kamae, the posture you adopt in relation to your foe. Many of the fundamental postures of kendo and other sword arts reflect this truth. They surrender all apparent defence for the opportunity to cut, but this is a form of defence. The warrior who is afraid to die cannot attack against a posture which makes it likely that both shall die in the exchange. Similarly; the swordsman who cannot sacrifice his sense of safety can never secure victory for he can never move forward.
This is where the lesson for Jedi begins. As we start as Jedi, our worst habit is to believe that to help others we must put ourselves between them and the problem. In doing so we become the victim of the problem, rather than being the one to solve the problem. If we are over eager to solve the problem by taking the obvious course of action; often we can fail to recognise the real obstacles. As Jedi, we must instead think like the swordsman who uses his posture to achieve his goals. In confronting issues, we must be willing to put aside notions of complete safety and we must not think like the beginner. We must not rush to be a barrier when we do not need to do anything except be present to achieve our goal. We are most effective when keep options open, and choices free, and we allow problems to find a path to a resolution.
Consider well your kamae, your posture, and the message you are sending with it. Where you stand as a Jedi says everything and is part of the power you possess. When we seek to help others, we must remember the consequences are dire. Mistakes we make hurt others, and not ourselves. To be a Jedi is to practice this; to take a life, you must first present your neck. To protect a life, you must first present your neck. The Jedi path is one of heart and meaning, but it is also one that calls you to put aside yourself for the good of others. As Jedi, this is what gives our lives our meaning. Though we do not wield literal lightsabers or laser swords, and though we lack magical powers, we still have a power. Though our struggles may not be a drama on a galactic scale, the costs of our mistakes or failure to act are much direr for the lives are real. We do not live by the sword, but we live by the tools we use to protect others; and as a man who lives by the sword dies by the sword, we succeed or fail as Jedi by the tools we use.