Zensei

About This Blog

Without philosophy,
the Martial Arts is just fighting.

O’Sensei Richard Kim¹

Japanese empty hand fighting arts migrated to the west after World War II, as service men returned from their tours of duty. Many of these men trained at Japanese Karate dojos where they became physically proficient. But time, language, and cultural barriers meant that very few had the opportunity to learn Zen philosophy that underpins the martial arts, thereby missing the essence of the art.

This blog seeks to address this by introducing Zen thought to western martial artists. Our goal is to help westerners improve their understanding and practice of Japanese Empty Hand martial arts through an understanding of Zen.

Why?

I am a why person. Once I know how, I need to know why so I can get to the essence of the matter. I have been asking why since I first tied on a white belt back in 1970.

Many things in the martial arts are self-explanatory. Some things require time. Other things require an explanation from a good Sensei. And some things seem completely baffling. Over the years, I learned that all questions have answers. You just have to figure out where to look or find the right person to ask.

Sooner or later, you will get to a why question your Sensei can’t answer. Rather than saying they don’t know, you might be told “Good question, just keep training and the answer will come to you”. Or they may offer an explanation that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Or they may give no answer at all. Regardless, you are now on your own..

To find the answer you must look in the right place. Often, the answers to martial arts questions do not lie within the martial arts.

The Shaolin Roots of Japanese Empty Hand Martial Arts

Martial artists in China, Okinawa, and Japan practised their arts within local cultural and religious norms. It is generally accepted that modern Japanese empty-hand martial arts originated at the (Buddhist) Shaolin Temple (see our Tools of the Trade blog post). Buddhism is also the most practised religion in Japanese society² so it would be at least familiar to most of the population, even if they actively don’t practice it.

So eventually, to find the answers you are looking for, you will have to look there.

But that just raises more questions…

• Why would Zen Buddhist monks who practiced a religion of altruism train to fight?
• What were their outward physical goals and motivations?
• What were their inner goals and motivations?
• What is it about the fusion of Buddhism and the fighting arts that made Shaolin monks so effective?

Shaolin monks had a reputation as some of the most skilled martial artists who ever lived. This made me wonder—could modern western practitioners achieve similar results by introducing Zen thought back into Japanese empty-hand martial arts?

My second Sensei, Sensei Denis Farbadiuk, first introduced me to Zen in the early 1970’s. He would occasionally read Zen stories (books like The Ronin) and Zen koans like “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” after training. We would sit and discuss what he read and try to figure it out—and mostly fail, because none of us had the Zen background to understand what we were reading.

This was made even more challenging because:

• There is often no comparable thought in Western culture or religion
• The Zen perspective was often the opposite of modern Western perspectives

This lead me to a lifetime of inquiry and study into Buddhism, Zen and Japanese empty hand martial arts. This inquiry has yielded many practical answers.

This blog is about my sharing some of those answers.

About Me

Personal Details

• I have been studying the martial arts since 1970, and have 36+ years of study with senseis from many karate styles
• I hold a Nidan rank in Okinawan Goju
• I hold a Shodan rank Japanese / Canadian Goju
• I also trained in Shotokan and Koryu Uchinadi
• I have been an avid reader of Zen and Buddhist literature since I was a teenager
• In 2005, I finally found a fully qualified Buddhist teacher and began formal studies

My Qualifications

• I have no recognized qualifications in Buddhist studies
• I hold only junor Dan ranks in the martial arts
• I do not have endorsements from any senior Buddhist or martial arts teachers
• I am not a recognized teacher in either Karate or Buddhism
• I have earned no special recognition for my efforts
• I am a Buddhist lay practitioner
• I am a student (not an instructor) at my local dojo

And I like it that way.

Why? Because learning should never be about the teacher, it should always be about the teaching. If you find something profound, if it resonates with you or if it motivates you, dig into it. A teacher is just there to point the way. Teachers may come and go. But a lesson, once fully comprehended, internalized and put into practice, will stay with you forever.

I am not important. Likewise whatever qualifications, knowledge or skills I might possess are also unimportant. If I can point the way, illuminate an idea, or dispel a doubt, then I have fulfilled my purpose.

You must do your own work. Below is a teaching from The Buddha to assist you:

Kalama Sutta

Do not believe in anything (simply)
because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they
have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is
spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe anything (simply) because
it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority
of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis,
when you find anything that agrees with reason
and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it.

The Buddha³

My Teachers

Martial Arts

Sensei Brian Reeves – Canadian / Japanese Goju. 1970

Sensei Denis Farbadiuk – Shotokan. 1972-1973

Sensei Scott Hogarth – Okinawan Goju. 1982

Sensei Nick Ribezzo – Shotokan. 1988

Sensei Brian Cyr – Canadian / Japanese Goju. 1991-2006

Sensei Tony Rampulla – Koryu Uchinadi (Shotokan Based). 2014-2022

Sensei Chris Englund – Okinawan Goju (IOGKF). 2018-2022

Sensei Dushy Kandasamy – Okinawan Goju (IOGKF). 2022-present

Buddhism

Kelsang Sangdrub (my root teacher) in the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT). 2005-2022

Kelsang Rigden. NKT. 2018-2021

Kelsang Kunden. NKT. 2022-2024

My Kind Teachers

I am grateful for all of my kind teachers who inspired me by showing me what was possible and the way to progress, by setting a positive example.

I am also grateful for all of my especially kind teachers who taught by negative example. In this way, they taught the unskilfulness of negative actions and resultant needless suffering created by those actions, without my having to make those mistakes or experience that suffering myself. By teaching by negative example, they taught that, before you can make progress, you must first learn and practice what to abandon.

It was in dependence on learning what to abandon, that I began my search to identify what to adopt, what to cultivate, and what to practice.

To those teachers who taught me by negative example, for your great kindness in taking on suffering now so that I might use it open my eyes and learn, I am especially grateful.

When the environment and its inhabitants
overflow with unwholesomeness,
Transform adverse circumstances
into the path to enlightenment.

Geshe Chekawa⁴

Zensei

Peace