Berserker and Sage- The Yang and Yin personalities in the martial arts

Yang and Yin feature in the tactical as well as the psychological aspect of the martial arts. At least for the Chinese martial arts, as I have no idea what is being taught in other systems...

For the purpose of this post Yin refers to a calm, yielding disposition, whereas Yang refers to an aggressive, proactive nature.

In history two types of warrior have each exhibited the characteristics of Yang and Yin. I'll refer to them as the Berserker and the Sage. 

The Berserker

In ancient times the Berserker was a zealot warrior who worked himself up into a state of fearless aggression. For this purpose they were known to wear bear skins, sharpen their teeth and growled like animals.

A typical berserker ritual that we see to this day is the All Blacks' Haka which is known to all rugby fans.

Whatever the technique or ritual used- the berserker state is a result of Yang energy being raised and the objective of destroying the enemy takes priority over all else- even personal safety. We witness a manifestation of the berserker state where a karateka kiais loudly when he breaks a board or tile.

In order to learn how to raise Yang energy you are welcome to mail me.

The berserker state transforms a person into a ruthless fighting machine. Mastering it helps to dispel fear in times of danger to enable one to act.

The Sage

I use this term to refer to fighters like Aikido and Taijiquan exponents who use a calm and yielding approach to avoid attacks and to subdue an attacker.

This state is achieved by lowering qi to the abdomen. The calm state encourages the devising of tactics. Movement in a one-on-one situation is more reactive than proactive. Further- effort spent is entirely proportional to the attack being faced at a given moment.

Lastly- The Master

One only has to see an overly aggressive opponent being subdued by a yielding fighter who uses that opponent's attack against him- or an overly passive opponent being overcome by a fighter who actually steps in to act- to know that a balance between the two is essential. If this balance was easily attainable it would not be considered the level of mastery.

By learning both approaches, identifying one's position on the balancing scales and applying the appropriate technique to rectify imbalances one can attain mastery over himself and any situation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blindfold training

Image
Now here's something I have not yet written about. :D I have been interested in the Zen side of Japanese martial arts since the age of 16. It was about at this age when I began with Qigong as well. As a young karateka back then I did not have the confidence, strength or aggression of my classmates and looking back- I think it was a good thing. Because of that classes scared me. Now- had it not been to exposure to the mental training techniques provided to me by Zen- I would not have seen this hostile dojo environment as the ideal testing grounds for the things I have read. This is one major factor to which I attribute my development as a martial artist. One very important training tool that has always served me well and that continues to do so to this dat is Zen Meditation. This, in itself, has provided me with a number of benefits about which I can write in detail. One of those- was the development of intuition and sensory acuity. It is actually wonderfu...
Read more

Tai Chi Movement #3- Wave Hands like Clouds

Image
I have just started searching for examples of this movement on the internet and realised that among all the people doing Tai Chi out there I might just be the only one who would apply Cloud Hands the way I do. I have found different variations of the movement itself as well. This makes my writing about my version and its application a bit unfair as you will be missing out on some really elaborate applications. Now- how I always did this movement is starting from a posture like the Lute Playing posture like the picture below- or the Spread Wings posture like this: From either one of these ready postures I then rotate my front foot and let my body follow while my leading hand makes contact with an imaginary thrust and I then complete the rotation by passing the attack while I guide its force past me with minimal effort and my free hand follows the blocking hand to wind up for an outward strike. When the rotation and step is complete I shift weight ...
Read more

Learning a Martial Art- some basic guidelines

Image
I think we have by now come across a couple of people who are studying some martial art or the other on their own. Back when I tried doing it at the age of 10 I used a book and later more books followed. Well- even after I did join an actual dojo more books followed even then... People are quick to say that you can't learn a martial art from a book. That is understandable. I for one know that you can't work as a lawyer if you have only gotten your law degree. In fact- few people feel as incompetent as a bright graduate starting out as a candidate at a law firm. The main reason why martial arts can't be learnt by reading alone is that experience plays a large part in developing the skills that any martial art has to offer. Knowledge is not enough. Nonetheless- self study is possible. We may argue about to which extent, but the history of Chinese and Japanese martial arts feature instances where people studied a scroll or a f...
Read more