Dealing with mortality.

[Groinstrike]

I know this seems like an odd subject for a thread, but when dealing with a combative situation we must accept the fact that we may be shaken loose from this mortal coil.

Two things got me thinking about this topic:

#1: My grandfather who is 93 was resently admitted to a nursing home and is not long for this world.

2: My girlfriend was being bored and looking through the calender on her phone. She said that her phone goes to the year 2100. It occured to me that i will not see that year. All that i am or was will be gone.

First let assure you that i am not depressed, suicidal, or homicidal

I think an honest discussion about death is important when discussing and practicing combative martial arts. If you are willing to have to possibly take a life, you must accept the fact that you may die in the process.

It is a something that, to my knowledge, is usually not discussed in most martial arts dojos, at least in the U.S. It may be an unpleasent topic for many of us, but an important one none the less.

What constitutes a good death?, is there such a thing?

[MasterPain]

A good death is when you've lived to be old, outlived your older family members, raised your children if you've had any and maybe seen the grandkids grow up to start families, written a will, then die in a quick relatively easy manner. A good death is one that, while mourned, does not cause anyone a lifetime of heartache.

[Groinstrike]

A good death is when you've lived to be old, outlived your older family members, raised your children if you've had any and maybe seen the grandkids grow up to start families, written a will, then die in a quick relatively easy manner. A good death is one that, while mourned, does not cause anyone a lifetime of heartache.

Agreed, I just have a hard time understanding the ethos of western ideals that it is better to grow old in a home than to maybe die young but being of usefullness or service to something or someone.

[MasterPain]

Such a death is something to grateful for. However, seeing a family bury a young person is awful. Regardless of the manner of death, when a mother buries a child, she hurts for the rest of her life.

[Groinstrike]

A good death is when you've lived to be old, outlived your older family members, raised your children if you've had any and maybe seen the grandkids grow up to start families, written a will, then die in a quick relatively easy manner. A good death is one that, while mourned, does not cause anyone a lifetime of heartache.

Do you think a discussion of death and mortality be a topic of discussion in combative arts??

[MasterPain]

Definitely. It is important for anyone who is going to be in a profession that may require combat to consider the possible sacrifice.

For the rest of us, we should have an understanding of what we are willing to do to survive.

[DWx]

In ITF TKD we have exactly 24 forms and these represent 24hrs. I'm paraphrasing but Gen. Choi who founded the ITF said that: a person's life compared to eternity is like 24 hours in during their own lifetime. It passes by in an instant and its a question of what you do with your 24 hrs which decides whether you are worth remembering or not. Do something amazing and good and you'll live on in the memories of the people you touched; you become immortal.

IMO, a good death, no matter what age it comes to you, is one where you have spent your time doing something worthwhile. Whether that is living to an old age having raised a family, had grandchildren etc. or dying young in service, if you've done something instead of wasted your time then no-one can ask anymore.

Whether you yourself can accept mortality I think is a very personal question that people should spend time dwelling on. Nobody wants to die but if it happens tomorrow what are people going to say about your life.

[tallgeese]

The discussion is an important one on several levels.

To look at it primarily thru the aspect of a combative martial is probably not done enough for most practitioners. We talk about being willing to hurt or take the life of an adversary, but not so much about possibly losing our own.

Most accounts of Musashi's final dual, fought against Sasaki Kojiro, recount how Kojiro drew his blade and then threw the saya into the surf. Most writers attribute this to Kojiro's state of mind and willingness to die in his efforts to best Musashi. It speaks of a mindset willing to look at nothing but the mission before him. This speaks to modern warriors preparing for combat as well. (Before going on, it's also important to note that some writers have attributed this as a defect in Kojiro, stating that by no longer addressing the need for a scabbard after the battle he essentially prepared to lose- you can decide)

For instance, in our modern example, I read a debrief of a SWAT operation not to long ago where one of the members of the assault element during a hostage rescue operation wrote out his will just before deploying into a potentially hostile environment.

I don't want to be next to that guy.

He needed to deal with his issues of morality, and post-incident reverberations for his family, well before the moment it came into question. That's why it needs discussed here, or at least for each individual before a life or death incident occurs.

What does the frantic scribbling of a will (and perhaps a good-bye note) tell you about this operators mindset? It's not in the right place. If it's not focused on the mission, your more likely to fail in your efforts when it counts.

If you want to win, you can't worry about losing. If you've never considered death, even an early and untimely end, then you are mentally allowing a road bump to creep into your self defense efforts. Acceptance of this possibility is a must for anyone studying martial arts for combative purposes.

[Groinstrike]

The discussion is an important one on several levels.

To look at it primarily thru the aspect of a combative martial is probably not done enough for most practitioners. We talk about being willing to hurt or take the life of an adversary, but not so much about possibly losing our own.

Most accounts of Musashi's final dual, fought against Sasaki Kojiro, recount how Kojiro drew his blade and then threw the saya into the surf. Most writers attribute this to Kojiro's state of mind and willingness to die in his efforts to best Musashi. It speaks of a mindset willing to look at nothing but the mission before him. This speaks to modern warriors preparing for combat as well. (Before going on, it's also important to note that some writers have attributed this as a defect in Kojiro, stating that by no longer addressing the need for a scabbard after the battle he essentially prepared to lose- you can decide)

For instance, in our modern example, I read a debrief of a SWAT operation not to long ago where one of the members of the assault element during a hostage rescue operation wrote out his will just before deploying into a potentially hostile environment.

I don't want to be next to that guy.

He needed to deal with his issues of morality, and post-incident reverberations for his family, well before the moment it came into question. That's why it needs discussed here, or at least for each individual before a life or death incident occurs.

What does the frantic scribbling of a will (and perhaps a good-bye note) tell you about this operators mindset? It's not in the right place. If it's not focused on the mission, your more likely to fail in your efforts when it counts.

If you want to win, you can't worry about losing. If you've never considered death, even an early and untimely end, then you are mentally allowing a road bump to creep into your self defense efforts. Acceptance of this possibility is a must for anyone studying martial arts for combative purposes.

Thanks Alex, good post.

I think that failure is not taken seriously enough by most martial artist IMHO, failure to control an assailant or a situtiation can and will result in great bodily harm or death. I myself am guilty of working a knife drill, messing up, and not thinking a thought about it.

If this were to happen in the real world, i would be dead, but since the knife is rubber it doesn't matter. Sometimes it is necessary to practice with the upmost seriousness for the situation.

This, I believe, is the basis for why in my lineage there have been many great combative practicioners. That intensity that even though that knife is rubber, its still a knife and it is deadly.

For the Bujin clan that i find myself a part of, a great deal of this must be attributed to Hearst and Mcwhorter as they laid the groundwork for our attitude.

[Liver Punch]

I once read on a plaque in our shop class the following:

There In life, there are only two things to worry about: Either you are well or you are sick.

If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about. But if you are sick, then there are two things to worry about: Either you will get well, or you will die.

If you get well, there is nothing to worry about. But if you die, then there are only two things to worry about: Either you will go to heaven or hell.

If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about. But if you go to hell, you'll be so busy shaking hands with your friends, you won't have time to worry.

I think I'm on board with that. I wouldn't say that I'm reckless, but at this point I don't really concern myself with death. It just doesn't matter - if I do what I'm supposed to do in life, if I make the right decisions and choices and still end up dead...then there wasn't much I could do about it.

As for the best way to die, I'd go for slow and painful: it gives you an opportunity to come to terms with it, and have a great deal of feeling before you never feel anything again. Anyhow, I hate surprises - slowly cut me into pieces with a dull chainsaw.