The subject of loyalty

[kaizasosei]

-Know your greatest enemy. If you know this most self-rightious and vicious foe, you need not ever fear anyone else. That enemy is your own blind and cheating heart.

I would like to bring up the subject of loyalty. One might ask what this subject has to do with martial arts or selfprotection. I first started thinking about this some years back myself, not all that seriously at first, but i feel there may be more to it than meets the eye. In life, not only do we have to worry about people attacking us physically, but there are many dangers such as disease and accidents or misfortunes of all types

Firstly, i propose that loyalty, integrity or faithfulness have something to do with love or some kind of affinity for a cause. Unfaithfulness and disloyalty do with self denial or lack of integrity-a conflict of interests.

The first thing that made me wonder about this is when i read various books dealing with superstition, what value was placed on the fidelity between spouses in certain cultures. The mesoamerican cultres put great stress on this. For example, when a group of hunters from the Huichol tribe of Mexico would head out to hunt and if somehow one of the hunters was suspected of having troubles and matters of disloyalty in his personal relationship, he would be forced to return home immediately, the reason for this being that it would be far too dangerous for him to continue along with the hunt, according to this belief.
After coming in contact with this type of superstition, it would cross my mind from time to time. Back when i was training for pancrase in japan, i would call home from time to time and remember how my mom and my great helper from sibira told me that they were praying for me or rooting for me. That was nice to hear and indeed, i never tapped out once. I did sustain an injury to the ribs once, but later then, it seemed that this may have stemmed from the disharmony that i was experiencing with the family in japan.
Now i am not laying down any laws on how to be because i figure everyone will choose their own way of living, and if it works out for them, power to them-as long as they don't hurt others or even themselves.
What i am getting at actually is not a physical type of loyalty perse, but a spiriual one. Although i definately agree that the spirit follows the body and chastity can be a sourse of great strength and purity as it can also open the doors to hell and ruin the lives of many-just look as the mess in the church.
But the type of loyalty that i mean is a deep thing that is not only applicable to relationship of lovers or spouses, but all relationships from simple friendship, dealing with strangers as well as with one's own kids.
In my last relationship, i started wondering about things when we would fight daily about really trivial stuff. I considered again when i crashed my new moped almost getting messed up in the process. Then again when i was as mma training and whilst i never got hurt, i was not doing quite as well as i figured i would. I could feel some kind of weakness in the heart actually. I nevertheless, would never want to go so far as to blame my misfortunes on someone ELSE, but wonder still......

I will explain further. Say a kid says something, its parent can listen or treat the kid as though they are talking nonsense. Between spouses or partners, there could be some kind of difference of opinion and the one spouse may take sides against their own spouse. That is alright if it is necessary although i don't think ideal, if it happens all the time, i would seriously question the relationship. Loyalty or not, it has to do with believing in the other person. I have heard of this great line in japanese it goes 'ai to iu no ha(wa), aite no ichiban takai kanousei wo midasu koto.' Love is to uncover and see the hightest potential in the other.

I think love is the highest expression of gentleness, but it sure can get rough.

To be able to give oneself up for the other is a most sublime act.
I wonder about the pythagorean concepts of the one, the spirit and the body and that they are in essence, not two. How does evil steal into our lives though? Could there be something to these types of superstitious thinking? I have to admit that for me it is becoming more and more of a subject to be taken very seriously.

Recently, watching the rugby game between ireland england, a friend of mine was explaining to me the philosophy of rugby and that it takes a certain type of person to be a rugby player, namely , someone that looks out for his teammate and vigorously defends them No Matter What.

Does anyone have any experiences that could confirm or disprove some of these quasi superstitious beliefs? If so, please share. I wanted to write a bit more on it, but is is challenging, my notes are a mess and i've too much coffee in me at the moment.


semper paratus
j

 

[Blade96]

I always thought of loyalty as it applies to martial arts as in you love your art, live it, give yourself entirely over to it and up to it. make it become as surely a part of you as your own philosophy or belief system is a part of who you are. Secondly give yourself to your association. Then your own club, your dojo (or dojang, if you have that, I'm a shotokanka so its dojo for me) and loyalty to your senseis (i love mine and would switch clubs like around the 12th of never) and to me that also means knowing the history of the art you study. how it developed, who created it, where it came from, its philosophy, how you should live.

Thats how I feel about Shotokan Karate-Do.

might be BS to some of you, but thats how I always thought of loyalty as it applies to MA.

 

[chaos1551]

I know the loyalty of which you speak. I know it by another name as well: honor. Yes, I'm talking about honor in the sense of loyalty to that which you love. Honor in the sense of respect for all things. I struggle with honor, but strive more now to be worthy of it than ever before.

I never before thought of a tie between honor and spirituality. I'm not sure why I never made that connection, but thank you, kaizasosei, for bending my mind to it.

I like your story about the hunters. I feel the superstition you speak of to be a real phenomenon. I don't define it as a superstition, but more of a balanced way to live. Trouble follows trouble. For example, I don't think there is such thing as an "accident prone" person. More likely, they are "distraction prone"--distracted by the effects of imbalance.

When my life is balanced, I act from a state of internal peace and my acts have power. When my life is imbalanced, I act from a state of timidity and distraction while power is dissipated. I strive to take responsibility for my actions, correct my mistakes and take on every single task like my life depends on it. There is no power in the world that can guarantee I will live another second and I don't want my last act on this earth to be wasted in dishonor.

 

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Loyalty in MA is often used as a tool of control against the students.


Loyalty is a 2 way street.

Loyalty to the art and the school generally should be before loyalty to your Sensei.

When our Sensei strayed to far from what our school has always been about, when he started misstreating his one of his top guys, not listening at all the many times I came to him with the issues and concerns of the Yudansha and the students than loyalty, true loyalty dictated a split as I was loyal to what he had always taught in the past, when he walked it like he talked it.

Blind loyalty is Slavery.

 

[geezer]

Loyalty in MA is often used as a tool of control against the students.


Loyalty is a 2 way street.

Loyalty to the art and the school generally should be before loyalty to your Sensei.

When our Sensei strayed to far from what our school has always been about, when he started misstreating his one of his top guys, not listening at all the many times I came to him with the issues and concerns of the Yudansha and the students than loyalty, true loyalty dictated a split as I was loyal to what he had always taught in the past, when he walked it like he talked it.

Blind loyalty is Slavery.

I agree, loyalty is a complicated issue. And, sometimes loyalties conflict. What are your priorities? Where do your greatest loyalties lie. Take Brutus for example. He placed his loyalty to the Republic over his personal loyalty to you, Julius. Boy that must have hurt.

As for myself, I'm a bit lazy, but very loyal. Kinda like a dog. That meant I stuck with my old Chinese Sifu for a dozen years or so, even though he was a greedy, self-interested and amoral individual. (He's currently appealing a conviction for beating up his pregnant mistress... I'm sure his wives, the one in Hong Kong, the other in England, must be really upset). I only left his organization when it became abundantly clear that he did not return the loyalty of his "disciples" and would only teach them anything as long as they could serve his personal ends. There comes a time when loyalty to your greater values must take precedence.

 

[Live True]

Kaizasosei, thank you for a fascinating thread and for educating my mind!

I like to view this concept as my sensei, who is also a Native American shaman, puts it: You must live your life in integrity.

This means integrity for others, yourself, and the planet. I like chaos's concept of focus, as living with integrity does take some attention (at least for someone like me, who considers herself honorable and loyal...and emotional and...well...). When you live in integrity, then you are observing your affect on others as well as yourself.

Loyalty is a great concept, but it can blind you to the affects the target of your devotion has on others, himself, and yourself. Living with integrity, as I currently understand it, allows for loyalty, but also requires that this loyalty not be blind.

And, this is a hard thing, it requires you to consider yourself as well. I find many people, particularly (but not exclusively) women, will be loyal to thier own detriment...and this in turn affects other people as well.

A complicated issue, but well worth discussing. Thank you!