Martial Arts: The Spiritual Dimension, av Peter Payne

ome people will always find ways to laugh at or ridicule the thought of something being spiritual - so also in the martial arts. People may use the terms of New Age, or mysticism in connection with the though of something besides the regular physical and psychological aspects of the arts.

Even so there is no way that we can avoid the issue. Simply put the spiritual side of the fighting arts is a vital one to many people, and nothing to shy away from! In some arts these sides are accepted as a natural thing, while others keep it more in the background. Then there are arts that wishes to keep as far away from "mysticism" as possible - sticking to fighting and "what works" on a purely physical level. And all this is fine and well! What I find interesting may not be an other person's "cup of tea" after all.

As soon as we talk about the arts as systems of personal influence and growth we will be talking about stuff that are partly physical, partly pshychological, partly physiological, partly interactive and partly metaphysical. The author states in the introduction that there is a distinct difference, often times overlooked or made invisible, between fighting art and fighting ( "(...) between the martial arts and simple fighting"). He continues to say: "The martial arts all have their origin as part of a total system of training, the ultimate aim of which was a radical transformation of the very being of the practitioner."

The author claims (and I believe he's right) that most warrior cultures typically used the warrior's fighting arts as a bridge to the devine, spiritual and mythological.

Further Payne claims that in order to fully grasp the martial arts, one needs to take in account the psychological, metaphysical as well as the technical perspectives.

This book is about the connections between the various sides of the fighting arts such as tai chi, judo, karate, kalari payit (India), sword fighting, archery, African combat traditions and Japanese aikido.

The author talks about combat, dance, cultures, martial traditions, breathing exercises, meditation, body posture, animals, movement and more. This he connects in interesting ways.

Anyone into "the other side" of the martial arts will find this fascinating from the word go. Others may need more time to reflect on these issues. Anyhow - it is a great and fascinating read!

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