There are 100’s if not 1000’s of types of martial arts.
Divorce is often seen as combat. After
recently reading about martial arts, I wondered if different divorce processes were martial arts, what would they be? I will
only discuss the martial arts that are most popular in American culture – judo, jutizu, tae kawando, karate,
and kung fu. I don’t totally rely on
Wikepedia but it is often a good place to start and to get a summary. Wikepedia
says:
JUJUTSU
is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat
for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only
a short weapon. In some countries the
word jujutsu is spelt in English as jujitsu, ju-jitsu, or Japanese jiu-jitsu. "Jū"
can be translated to mean "gentle, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding."
"Jutsu"
can be translated to mean "art" or "technique" and
represents manipulating the opponent's force against himself rather than
confronting it with one's own force. Jujutsu
developed among the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and
armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon. Because striking against an armored opponent
proved ineffective, practitioners learned that the most efficient methods for
neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These
techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy
against him, rather than directly opposing it.
TAEKWONDO is a Korean martial art. In Korean,
tae means "to strike or break with
foot"; kwon means "to strike
or break with fist"; and do means
"way", "method", or "path". Thus, taekwondo may
be loosely translated as "the way of the hand and the foot." It
combines combat
techniques, self-defense, sport,
exercise,
and in some cases meditation and philosophy.
The art in general emphasizes kicks thrown from a mobile stance, employing the
leg's greater reach and power (compared to the arm). Taekwondo training
generally includes a system of blocks, kicks, punches, and open-handed strikes
and may also include various take-downs or sweeps, throws, and joint locks. Some
taekwondo instructors also incorporate the use of pressure points, known as
jiapsul, as well as grabbing self-defense techniques borrowed from other
martial arts, such as hapkido and judo.
KUNG
FU, gongfu, or gung fu is a Chinese
term referring to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience,
energy, and time to complete, often used in the West to refer to Chinese martial arts. In its original
meaning, kung fu can refer to any skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily
martial.
Originally, to practice kung fu did not just mean to practice Chinese martial
arts. Instead, it referred to the process of one's training - the strengthening
of the body and the mind, the learning and the perfection of one's skills -
rather than to what was being trained. It refers to excellence achieved through
long practice in any endeavor. In the colloquial,
you can say that a person's kung fu is good in cooking,
or that someone has kung fu in calligraphy;
saying that a person possesses kung fu in an area implies skill in that area,
which they have worked hard to develop. Someone with "bad kung fu"
simply has not put enough time and effort into training, or seems to lack the
motivation to do so.
Let
me try to summarize the philosophy of each.
JUJUTSU
is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat
for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or
only a short weapon. These techniques
were developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him,
rather than directly opposing it.
KUNG
FU, gongfu, or gung fu is a Chinese
term referring to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience,
energy, and time to complete, often used in the West to refer to Chinese martial arts. In its original
meaning, kung fu can refer to any skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily
martial.
In Chinese, Gōngfu is a compound of two words, combining (gōng) meaning
"work", "achievement", or "merit", and which translates into "man", so
that a literal rendering would be "achievement of man". Its
connotation is that of an accomplishment arrived at by great effort of time and
energy. In Mandarin, when two "first tone"
words such as gōng and fū are combined, the second word often takes a neutral
tone, in this case forming gōngfu. Originally, to practice kung fu did not just
mean to practice Chinese martial arts. Instead, it referred to the process of
one's training - the strengthening of the body and the mind, the learning and
the perfection of one's skills - rather than to what was being trained. It
refers to excellence achieved through long practice in any endeavor. This meaning can be traced to classical
writings and specially to Neo-Confucianism
which emphasize the importance of effort in education.
Now back to my original question. If Divorce Was a
Martial Art What Would It Be? It may be more of a range than a specific divorce
process.
JUDO is
the "gentle way" but is
competitive element, where the object is to either throw
or takedown one's opponent to the ground,
immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling
maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking
or by executing a strangle hold or choke.
This is clearly an adversary process but perhaps with more subtle force?
KARATE to me is not gentle and my vision is always of
someone breaking something. Not unlike a
spouse throwing a lamp at the other spouse. Definitely very adversary.
JUJUTSU
developed around the principle of using an attacker's energy against him,
rather than directly opposing it. It is the martial art that made me start
thinking about divorce. Perhaps
mediation.
TAEKWONDO
combines combat
techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise,
and in some cases meditation and philosophy.
Meditation and mediation are always confused in the Yellow Pages.
KUNG
FU refers to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy,
and time to complete. In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any skill achieved through
hard work and practice, not necessarily martial.
Its connotation is that of an accomplishment arrived at by great effort of time
and energy. Originally, to practice kung fu did not just mean to practice
Chinese martial arts. Instead, it referred to the process of one's training - the
strengthening of the body and the mind, the learning and the perfection of
one's skills - rather than to what was being trained. It refers to excellence
achieved through long practice in any endeavor.
Once again, I think mediation comes the closest.
It
would appear if divorce was a martial art it would be mediation.
This
was not the conclusion I expected but the emphasis on meditation, philosophy,
and self awareness makes it more akin to mediation. Perhaps the Zen of Mediation where Zen
(once again per Wikepedia) emphasizes the personal expression of experiential wisdom in the
attainment of enlightenment and de-emphasizes
adherence to standardized theoretical knowledge in favor of direct self-realization through meditation.
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