From the Gatka Foundation

Weapons – http://www.gatka.de/SHASTRA.htm
Techniques – http://www.gatka.de/VIDEA.htm

Interesting Gatka weapons:

The Charkram is a flat steel ring from five to twelve inches in diameter and from half an inch to an inch and a half wide, the outer edge is sharp. The thrower stands squarely faceing his objective, takes the chakra between the thumb and first finger of the right hand, holding it low down on his left side. He then turns his body so as to bring the right shoulder as far forward as possible and throws underhand with the full swing of his body. Thrown with sufficient force and accuracy it can cut off a green bamboo three-quarters of an inch in diameter at a distance of thirty yards.

The Katar, the armor piercing dagger which unlike most knives that are perpendicular to the hand, is parallel and projects from fist. These double bladed knives can be up to three feet long and enable a punching style of attack, which can penetrate armor more easily than standard knives. Some katars also provide superior hand protection through guards.

THE SWORD MEDITATION
By Gatka Baij Nanak Dev Singh Khalsa

The sword has been for centuries revered by man as a symbol of his power. It was not until the Sikh Guru Hargobind that a deeper understanding of this was revealed. He taught that the sword was a symbol of both temporal and spiritual power. Later Guru Gobind Singh defined this further by describing ” God fashioned the entire universe with his sword”. For this reason the sword is seen as the primal force of the universe.

The Akali Nihang Singhs worship the sword as a manifestation of God’s power. It is through the Sword Meditation that we are granted its blessings. And by which its immense power becomes the law which governs ours thought and actions.

The energy of the sword is called Shakti, it is a 2 1/2 cycle energy which is the regulating force on the physical plane. Mystery of the Sword Meditation is mastery of all aspects of physical reality.

At the moment of creation the Creator was in a profound state of meditation. Every particle of the universe was shaped by this meditation through the sword. By allowing the Sword Meditation the creator grants to his creatures the power of creation.

Every deed regardless of it significance or superficial value is an act of creation. Every action becomes a Kriya, ( a complete and balanced cycle ) every movement a Mudra ( a posture which expresses a particular energy), every though a meditation, creator and creation are united in action, this is Shakti Yoga.

Use your mind strongly even when you walk down the street, such that you wouldn’t even blink if someone unexpectedly thrust a lance at your nose. All warriors should employ such a state of mind all the time in everyday life.

There is a practice designed to enter the Way of Buddha by means of your profession. You should apply this idea, that a man born in a house of valor, polishing a sword and sporting a bow, should always apply attention strongly, as if he were marching right into an army of ten million men.

The strongest men and the greatest masters of martial arts are born that way, so no effort can attain that; but when it comes to exerting our whole heart and disregarding our lives, to whom should we be inferior? No one should think he’ll be beat, even by the greatest warriors. Why? Because if you back down to such a person, who will back down to you?

Thus you are always on duty, required to apply your full attention firmly. If you slack off, you’re no use.

Beware that this stable, firm attitude is itself meditation practice. There is no other method of concentration to seek. Even Buddhism itself is just a matter of applying full attention steadily, without being disturbed by things. Developing a confident attitude that is never pained or vexed or worried or saddened or altered or frightened is called attaining buddhahood.

There are those who discuss the amount of rewards and size of entitlement of men who have exercised considerable military valor, laid their lives on the line, ground down their bones, and become famous. They are foolish! Why not do a warrior’s deed, costly though it be, for the sake of loyalty? People who think of rewards are nothing but military merchants.

There are myriad different methods of practice, but essentially they amount to no more than overcoming thoughts of yourself. The source of suffering is ego, the thought of self. To know this is reason. Knowing the reason for suffering, what a sense of duty does is evoke effort to extinguish the thought of self with a genuine courageous mind. People without reason don’t understand the source of misery and happiness; people without a sense of duty cannot break the bonds of life and death.

Daily Activities of Warriors
A warrior asked, ‘They say the law of Buddha and the law of the world are like the two wheels of a chariot. But nothing would be lacking in the world even without Buddhism. Why liken them to two wheels of a chariot?”

Shosan replied, ‘The law of Buddha and the law of the world are not two separate things. According to a saying’ of Buddha, if you can enter the world successfully there is nothing more to leaving the world.

“Whether Buddhism or worldly law, there is nothing more than reasoning correctly, acting justly, and practicing honesty.

“There are differences in depth of honesty. Not twisting ‘reason, preserving justice, correctness in social relations, not crossing people, not being egotistical-these constitute honesty in the worldly sense. This is a way into the deep via the shallow.

“Honesty in the context of Buddhism means realizing that all conditioned phenomena are illusions, and using the original reality-body in its natural state. This is true honesty.

“The fact is that the ordinary people are very sick patients, while the Buddha is a very great physician. Ordinary people ought to recognize sickness first. In the ignorant mind that fluctuates, there is the sickness of delusion, there are sicknesses of greed and false views, there are sicknesses of weakness and injustice. Based on the mind infected by the three poisons, there are diseases of eighty-four thousand afflictions. Getting rid of this mind is called Buddhism. How is this any different from worldly law?

“People who attain the Way know the principle of fundamental emptiness, use principle and duty as a forge to temper this mind day and night, get rid of the residue of impurities, make it a pure unhindered mind-sword, cut through the root of selfish and obsessive thoughts, overcome all thoughts, surmount everything, and are unfazed by anything, unborn and undying. These are called people of the Way.

“Now, then, ordinary people are those who take the falsehood of illusions to be true, produce a selfish mind attached to what has form, develop greedy, angry, and ignorant thoughts, create all sorts of afflictions and lose their basic mind, always distracted, overcome by thoughts as they occur, racking their brains and belaboring their bodies, without buoyancy of mind, vainly passing the time benighted, alienated from themselves and fixated on things. This is called the mind of ordinary people.

‘That being so, you should know the different terms for the original mind. It is called the adamantine actuality, the indestructible body of reality, This mind is not hung up on things; it is unafraid, unshakable, undismayed, unfazed, undisturbed, and unchanged, master of all. Those who realize this and use it effectively are called great; they are said to have iron guts, and to have attained the Way. People like this are not obstructed by myriad thoughts; able to let go of all things, they are very independent.

“However, people who would practice the Way of Buddha will be unable to succeed unless they have an intrepid mind first. It is impossible to gain access to the Way of Buddha with a weak mind. If you are not rigorously observant and do not practice vigorously, you will experience misery along with those afflictions.

“One who overcomes all things with a firm mind is called a wayfarer. One who has thoughts fixated on appearances, is burdened by everything, and so suffers misery is called an ordinary person.

“So people who work up the courage of violence with an afflicted mind may have the force to’ break through iron walls for the moment, but violence ‘eventually comes to an end. The mind of a strong person, being immovable, does not change. If men who are warriors cultivate this, why would they not attain a strong mind?

“Even in the case of people of outstanding heroism, when the killing demon of impermanence comes their usual power comes to an end, they lose their ferocity, and they cannot exert any effort. When they try to open their eyes they cannot see anything; their ears are faint, their tongues shrivel, and they cannot speak. When the killing demon enters the heart and destroys the internal organs, breathing becomes labored, pain permeates their bodies, and with its force they show timidity toward the killing demon of impermanence, unable to bear the great hardships of death mountain, drowning in the river between here and the afterlife, shamed at the court of the king of death, falling forever into the three evils and four dispositions, disgraced generation to generation, lifetime after lifetime, as self and as other, unable to escape. Would you say this disgrace is insignificant because people of superficial society don’t know of it? Disgrace even in illusory human society is nothing to take lightly; how much the more so eternal disgrace!

“Can someone ignorant of this logic be called someone who knows principle or embodies justice? So you should think ahead.

If you know the principle, you should fear it. If you embody justice, use the fierce and firm mind-sword to cut down the enemy of birth and death and live in great peace.”

Question: The way to practice Buddhism is consummated in knowing principle, practicing justice, and realizing the importance of honesty. Please give more detailed indications of how to practice honesty.
Answer: Although the paths of cultivation have a thousand differences and myriad distinctions, what is essential is no more than quelling selfish thought. The source of suffering is self, the thought of self. People without reason do not discern the source of misery and happiness; people without justice cannot cut the tie of birth and death. Give a hard look.
So in the mind of ordinary people, there are buoyant attitudes that overcome things, and depressive attitudes overcome by things. To act with a buoyant attitude is the doorway into the realm of buddhas, to act with a depressive attitude is the roadway into hell. With the power of the vow dedicated to liberation, you should keep a buoyant attitude day and night.

Here are types of buoyant attitudes, substantiated by bravery:
1. An attitude of constant vigilance over birth and death
2. An attitude of gratitude
3. An attitude of unhesitating advance
4. An attitude acknowledging the principle of cause and effect
5. An attitude of observing the inconstancy of illusion
6. An attitude of observing the impurity of this body
7. An attitude of being careful of time
8. An attitude of faith in the Three Treasures
9. An attitude of self-sacrifice for your leader
10. An attitude of watching over yourself
11. An attitude of self-sacrifice
12. An attitude of acknowledging your own errors
13. An attitude like being in the presence of nobles or rulers
14. An attitude of commitment to benevolence and justice
15. An attitude of attentiveness to the words of buddhas and Zen masters
16. An attitude of compassion and honesty
17. An attitude of consideration of the conditions of the most important matter

These attitudes emerge from the brave ,and resolute mind, so they are free of attachment of any sort, beyond things, and therefore buoyant. Even if you die in action, you won’t suffer much.

People who would cultivate these attitudes should only set their eyes on images of such figures as Vajrasattvas or the Immovable One. These represent the attitude of overcoming devils. If you have a brave and resolute heart, you should know this. Don’t gaze on them with a faint heart.

When this brave heart is continuous, the citadel of mind is secure and you have unobstructed independent moral force. Even if an army of demons eighty-four thousand strong arises at once and attacks you, they cannot even face you-instead, they lose their power, are drained of strength, and will all disappear.

If people specialize in martial valor, why would they not exercise this attitude? If you are weak-minded, with thoughts fixating on things, the army of demons will gain strength, increase in power, and immediately invade the citadel of your real essence and confound your mind-king; the six bandits will perk up in delight, deviant devils will gain freedom and fly through the eighteen realms, eventually landing you in hell. You have to be prepared!

Here are types of depressive attitudes burdened by things:
1. A negligent attitude forgetful of self and careless of mind
2. A tourist’s attitude living on hiking in the mountains
3. An attitude ignorant of justice and reason
4. An attitude ignorant of the principle of cause and effect
5. An attitude ignorant of the vanity of the evanescent
6. An attitude of interest in fame and fortune
7. An attitude of ostentation
8. A suspicious attitude
9. An obsessive attitude
10. A weak and cowardly attitude
11. A greedy and callous attitude
12. A judgrnental attitude
13. An egotistical, arrogant attitude
14. An attitude of jealousy in love
15. An ungrateful attitude
16. An obsequious attitude
17. An attitude oblivious of birth and death

Also, there are seven feelings-joy, anger, sorrow, care, pity, fear, and surprise. It is said that myriad illnesses derive from these seven feelings. Attitudes like these are states of mind that come from darkness and are of limitless variety, but they can be diagnosed by means of the foregoing presentation.

Because they emerge as embodiments of obsession, as they occur from thought to thought, as you are overcome by those thoughts and lose the original mind, these are states of mind sunk in pain and torment.

When you dwell in these depressive states of mind, if duty suddenly requires you to die, your distress will be intense. So to overcome oneself is considered sagacity, while to suffer under the burden of one’s own mental state is considered stupidity.

When you manage to overcome your own mind, you overcome myriad concerns, rise above all things, and are free. When you are overcome by your own mind, you are burdened by myriad concerns, subordinate to things, unable to rise above.

“Mind your mind; guard it resolutely. Since it is the mind that confuses the mind, don’t let your mind give in to your mind.” This song is superlative. When you indulge your mind, thoughts fixated on appearances increase and you fall into the three mires [of greed, aggression, and folly]. When you slay your mind you arrive at buddhahood immediately.

An old saying goes, “Kill, kill! If you stop killing for a moment, you’ll go to hell like an arrow shot.” Pay attention to sayings like this. The Scripture an Mindfulness of Truth says, ‘The wise are always sorrowful, as if confined in prison; the ignorant are always happy, as if they were in heaven.” The buddhas speak like this. The focus of past sages should not be unfamiliar. You should know what is most important. Why should you wind up in hell by enjoying this body, a dream phantom?

You have to correct your mind time and again. If our personal state of mind shows in our faces, it will be hard to interact with people.

Just strengthen your conscience, abide by the principle of honesty, develop the power of the vow to detach from appearances and detach from names, let go of everything, relinquish your life with the brave energetic power of faith, and proceed intently and urgently on the unexcelled Way.

When this attitude is uninterrupted day or night, resolution permeating your being, kept up even in dreams, so that it ultimately matures, inside and outside will naturally become one, and all of a sudden you’ll wake up from the past dream, and Buddhism and worldly laws will both be realized, spanning past, present, and future, extending throughout the ten directions.

In an age when there were no greater swordsmen on earth than the French, the greatest swordsman in France was an immigrant from Haiti.

When a 11 year old slight boy was offered a chance to resettle in France after Haiti’s 1795 insurrection, Jean-Louis took it and was enlisted in the 32d Regiment.

Sent to the local fencing school, sale d’armes, his devotion to the art (despite his youth and size) led to take his exam for maitre d’armes as the youngest candidate ever, in which he passed with honors.

One of his contemporaries described his style being such that he

omitted everything that was superfluous; the affected salutations, the counter-coups, the capricious pauses, all shocked him and appeared to him unworthy of such a serious art. One admires both his simple, natural, and well-becoming defense, and the development and rapidity of his attack, his sure judgment, his impassibility in the defensive, as also the regularity, even in the most unforeseen circumstances, of all his movements, which followed each other like the rings of a chain.

His most famous fencing feat came on the heels of drunken brawl of soldiers where the 1st Regiment battled the 32d, ending in arrests and injuries. To restore morale a council convened and decided that 15 fencing masters to a side would represent their units and fight duels.

The regiments were assembled in a hollow square on a plain outside Madrid. At its center was a natural elevation forming a platform where, two at a time, 30 champions would duel for the honor of 10,000 men. As the premier fencing master of the 32d Regiment, Jean-Louis was the first up. His opponent was Giacomo Ferrari, a celebrated Florentine swordsman and fencing master of the First Regiment.

Drums rolled. The troops were ordered to parade rest, and as they slammed down the butts of their muskets in unison, the earth shook. Jean-Louis and Giacomo Ferrari stepped onto the fencing strip, each stripped to the waist to show that they wore nothing that would turn a thrust. An expectant silence filled the air as every eye was fixed on the two masters. The traditional rivalry between Europe’s two theories of fencing, the French and the Italian, added a piquance to the duel. The French school was formalistic-movements were made according to rules, as quietly as possible, and following in logical sequence; even when fighting a duel, Frenchmen seemed to work together like a piece of fine machinery. The Italian style was looser, freer, less formal, and more individualistic-a bout between Italians resembled a furious struggle involving shouts, stamping of the feet, whirling about, and leaps forward and back. The French said that the Italian technique was more bruyant (rowdy) than brilliant, and decried it as inartistic and crude. The French were considered the world’s best fencers, but the Italians the deadliest duelists. The Frenchman was never free from the thought of the picture he presented, while the Italian was fixed on one thing-to kill. He would take a severe wound to deliver a fatal one.

The fencing masters crossed swords and the bout began. Ferrari took the offensive, but Jean-Louis followed all his flourishes with a calm but intense attention; every time Ferrari tried to strike, his sword met steel. With a loud cry Ferrari jumped to the side and attempted an attack from below, but Jean-Louis parried the thrust and with a lightning riposte wounded Ferrari in the shoulder. “It is nothing, start the fight again!” cried Ferrari, getting back to his feet. Jean-Louis’ next thrust struck home, and Ferrari fell dead.

Jean-Louis wiped the blood from his blade, resumed his first position, and waited. His battle had only begun. The victor in each bout was to continue until he was injured or killed, and
Jean-Louis still faced 14 swordsmen of the 1st Regiment, all of them eager to avenge their comrade.

Another adversary came at him. After a brief clash, Jean-Louis lunged and, while recovering, left his point in line. Rushing at him, his opponent was impaled. A second corpse lay at the French master’s feet.

His third opponent, a taller man, attacked fiercely, with jumps and feints, but Jean-Louis’ point disappeared into his chest, and he fell unconscious.

The next man approached. The regiments watched in fascinated silence. They were accustomed to the wholesale music of slaughter: the booming of artillery, the bursting of shells, the rattle of musketry, the clash of sabers. All are impressive, but none so keenly painful as the thin whisk of steel against steel as men engage in single combat. As one contemporary observer wrote, “it goes clean through the mind and makes the blood of the brain run cold.”

After 40 minutes only two Italian provosts were left awaiting their turn, pale but resolved. A truce was called, and the colonel of the 32d approached Jean-Louis.

“Maitre,” he said, “you have valiantly defended the regiment’s honor, and in the name of your comrades, and my name, I thank you sincerely. However, 13 consecutive duels have taken too much of your body stamina. Retire now, and if the provosts decide to finish the combat with their opponents, they will be free to do so.”

“No, no!” exploded Jean-Louis, “I shall not leave the post which has been assigned me by the confidence of the 32d Regiment. Here I shall remain, and here I shall fight as long as
I can hold my weapon.” As he finished his statement he made a flourish with his sword, which cut one of his friends on the leg. “Ah,” cried Jean-Louis, distraught, “there has only been one man of the 32d wounded today, and it had to be by me.”

Seizing upon the incident, the colonel said, “This is a warning; there has been enough blood. All have fought bravely and reparation has been made. Do you trust my judgment in the matter of honor?” After Jean-Louis said he did, the colonel said there was nothing more to do but extend a hand to the 1st Regiment. Pointing to the two provosts who still waited, he said to Jean-Louis, “They cannot come to you!”

Jean-Louis dropped his sword, approached the two Italians, and clasped them by the hands. His regiment cheered, “Vive Jean-Louis! Vive the 32d Regiment!”

Jean-Louis added, “Vive the First! We are but one family! Vive l’armee!”

– Kircher, Deadliest Men

Even after his retirement from the army after being awarded the highest order of the Legion of Honor and the Medaille de St. Helene, he continued to teach the sword, continuing even when cataracts made him blind. He died at 80 in 1865. The fencing academy he established in Montpellier in 1830 still exists, and his techniques form the basis of French instruction to this day.

I think seeing it “frame by frame” in these drawings really helps you understand what’s important in the form.
If you want to see it all put together, here are a couple of different renditions from YouTube:

Mu Ryu’s own Solid Gold shows his battle prowess taking on a pack his fellow Zoobombers. If he only had a saber.

WATCH IN HD HERE: http://vimeo.com/9715534
Mini Bike Winter | 2010
A yearly 2 day bicycling event full of F.U.N., activities, partying, and biking brought to you by Zoobomb in Portland. Mini Bike Winter is the staple of crazy bicycling entertainment which keeps everyone warm with laughter and…well, beer. It’s an open invite event and free to all.

zoobomb.net
www.richietphoto.com
Shot/Cut by Richie Thomassen
Additional Camera Op – Molly Spock
Additional Footage – Hal Bergman

Nineteenth-century Highland broadsword master Thomas Mathewson wrote:

It is the cultivation of this art that unfetters the body, strengthens it and makes it upright; it is it that gives a becoming deportment and an easy carriage, activity and agility, grace and dignity;- it is it that opportunely awes petulance, softens and polishes savageness and rudeness, and animates a proper confidence; it is it which in teaching us to conquer ourselves, that we may be able to conquer others, imprints respect, and gives true valour, good nature and politeness; in fine, which makes a man fit for society.

I just found a great quote I wanted to share with anyone reading this blog. You’ve all read things I’ve written about Otake Risuke, the current Shihan of Tenshinsho-dan Katori Shinto-ryu. This ryu is the oldest extant Japanese martial arts school and is listed as an ‘intangible cultural asset’; it comes from the days when bushi fought for real. Otake-shihan is considered a living national treasure of Japan and is the only one who holds a full license (gokui kaiden) in the art. In my opinion he is the greatest swordsman of any system living today. This quote can be found in its entirety here: http://www.cateransociety.com/Joseki.htm:

“Kata is still the teaching method in the classical Japanese sword arts precisely because it preserves the essence of the art’s history—the art as it was understood by those who created it. Some schools, such as the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu … pride themselves on the fact that they have never used any type of free sparring in their practice.

{Otake-shihan said:} “(I)t is said that a shiai, or competitive contest, is synonymous with shiniai, which means ‘to meet for the sake of death.’ That is another way of saying that any kind of combat is a serious matter of life and death. As a result, from then until now, competitive matches have been forbidden in Katori Shinto Ryu…”

Otake-shihan then went on to say that, in sparring, “the vital responsibility and danger of handling a real weapon is replaced by the mental approach of the game-player with a toy weapon.”

Game players with toy weapons. Perfect. Real swordsmen don’t do freeplay.

I just want to give an open challenge to anyone who takes this attitude. You are wrong. Find me a two swordsmen – one who has sparred countless times against countless people using shinai or the like (along with doing whatever else they want) versus somebody who has only trained themselves to react to predetermined stimuli with predetermined responses with a small group of fellows who even know the kata they are using.

All the great swordsmen sing a pretty constant refrain that the quality they win with is essentially a mind in satori leading to unconstrained action perfect for the moment that is here and now.

As a note, I have nothing against kata. Additionally, I recognize that a fight with steel swords means one must overcome and ignore the fear of death and that is a whole other matter. Nevertheless, if you haven’t tasted the realistic chaos of sparring and tried to apply your kata in that context, you are missing something important.

[p.s. I just read the original article the post quotes and it is good and goes into length about how although Asian arts are inclined to kata and Western to free-sparring, both do both, and both are worthwhile]

From 2002

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi Ramadan made the following remarks without giving any outward sign he was joking, although reporters who were present detected a note of irony in his voice.

“Bush wants to attack the whole (of) Iraq, the army and the infrastructure,” Ramadan said.

“The American president should specify a group, and we will specify a group and choose neutral ground, with Kofi Annan as referee, and use one weapon, with a president against a president, a vice president against a vice president, and a minister against a minister in a duel. In this way we are saving the American and the Iraqi people.”

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/dueling.html
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/10/03/iraq.bush.duel/

Back in the day, kings led charges and Alexander the Great was the first over the wall. Our modern commanders’ only sword is their pen and the only blood they risk is strangers’.