Taken from a side-topic on another thread...
Consider the ancient mystery cults. In many ways, they resemble some aspects of modern-day martial arts cultures, particularly those that purport to teach 'secret' arts or methods to initiates.
The questions being asked of today's 'secret keepers' are these. First, is the information really secret? And second, if it is, should it be kept that way?
To answer the first question, one simply has to consider the nature of a secret. A secret to you is something you do not know. It can be hidden, or it can be in plain sight. If you cannot discern it, it is a secret. That's pretty basic.
People tend to want to think that if something is secret, that means someone is hiding it from you. But no, it's still a secret if no one is hiding it from you, it just so happens you cannot see it. You cannot see a germ with your naked eye; the bugs which crawl on our skin are invisble to us; secret. Even though we know they are there, we cannot discern them, we cannot track them, we cannot point them out. But given the appropriate information, and the appropriate tools, we can indeed see them. They were there all along, no one hid them from us; in fact, we're told about them daily by one doctor or another on TV. But be that as it may, we could not see them, they were secrets from us.
To the second question, should secret information be kept that way, I would ask the reader to take a look at the ancient mystery cults.
Mystery cults have existed for tens of thousands of years. Certainly as far back as recorded time, and perhaps as long as man has existed in societies. They enabled man to feel a sense of the religious or the sacred, in a more intimate and personal way that typical organized religions did not allow for. They were for the special, the intelligent, the chosen ones. To be offered an initiation into a mystery cult was a distinct honor, a privilege; it marked one as being not just different than most people, but above them in many ways. This was reinforced by the notion that you had to be invited in, that you were being made a part of something special, something that not everyone could become a member of, even assuming they knew it existed.
By becoming an initiate in a mystery cult, one was already participating in a secret of sorts; they were aware of the group to which they belonged, but the average person was not. In some cases, even family members and friends and relatives were not permitted to know. Only other members knew each other, and they enjoyed the comradeship of knowing and recognizing each other; the satisfaction of mutual recognition of each other as special, unique, different, and apart. And that's just the feeling one got from belonging to such a cult, let alone whatever 'secrets' it might impart as part of their mystic beliefs!
Please take a moment and consider the paragraph above; see if you cannot see some parallels between the ancient mystery cults and the modern-day martial arts training center; or even a discussion forum such as this one. I think you may see some resemblance!
In the ancient mystery cults, there were generally two types of secrets. The first were overt secrets. These were truths, which one could speak of freely. They were secrets in the same sense as not being able to see a germ on your skin; you could tell anyone about them, and they might well believe you; but they could not 'see' the secret (grasp the meaning) and hence, it was still a secret to them. Only the initiated possessed the tools (knowledge, wisdom, or experience) to grasp the meaning of the secret imparted. They could not only speak of it, they could manipulate it. Anyone can repeat words in Latin if they wish. But unless they speak Latin, it's just noise. The initiate not only repeated the words, but had been trained to know what those words meant. The secret was revealed not by revealing the secret itself, but by revealing the means to make use of it.
The second type of secret was a covert secret. A covert secret was hidden knowledge or information. This was forbidden to be given to outsiders, usually by taking an oath; generally one involving pain and death if it was revealed. A covert secret was information that was immediately useful as soon as it was revealed; it took no special knowledge or understanding to put it to use once one was introduced to it. A covert secret was not unlike a hand grenade; once a person knows where it is hidden, anyone who wants to can pull the pin and unleash great devastation.
I am intentionally not commenting upon the veracity of the 'secrets' taught by the mystery cults to their initiates. Whether their overt and covert secrets had any value, meaning, or truth to them at all does not matter to our discussion. They point is that they existed.
Mystery cults were able to persevere for many centuries because they were exclusive. Because they gave their members a feeling of belonging to something special. Because their members felt the need to pass on what they had learned, but only to a worthy few. And they survived attempts to sell their secrets out or betray them because their overt secrets could be given out at will; none but an initiate would be able to understand them anyway: and their covert secrets were often so outlandish that the treacherous former members could be made to seem insane; or quietly taken aside and strangled, as the case may have been.
Now consider the martial arts.
We have overt secrets. These are the secrets that hide in plain sight. Most of martial arts consists of blocks, kicks, and punches. One might even argue that there are only so many ways to deliver them, and what's all the fuss about? One can buy books and DVDs and listen to experts talk and so on...and still not learn the 'secrets'. The reason for that is the same as it was in the days of the Mystery Cults; because an overt secret is simply not understood by anyone who does not possess the training, experience, or insight to grasp the secret and put it to practical use.
When I speak of my instructor demonstrating bunkai (practical application) of a particular move, such as simple middle-body block, this is what I am referring to. He shows me this information freely; he could put it in a book or on a DVD if he wished. Yet it is still secret; it's an overt secret. That's because even with me standing a foot away from him and trying with all my ability to emulate his move that I've just seen done half a dozen times, I cannot make it work. Yet. But as I grow and learn and mature, experience will guide me until I can make it work, intuitively. That is the secret revealed. That is 'secret' knowledge. It was never hidden, I just could not use it.
There is also covert secret knowlege in martial arts. These are the traditions that teach methods and weapons and other practices that they are sworn to silence about; things which are not revealed to those who are not members of the group. Presumably, the reasons for this secrecy are the same as they were in the days of the Mystery Cults; that the knowledge is so dangerous, that it would be immediately useful by anyone to whom it was revealed. And again, I will not comment upon how true or false the fact of the secrets may be; I am not privy to them and so I cannot judge what I do not know.
Yes, I think the modern world of martial arts has much in common with the ancient Mystery Cults. We are apart, different, and unique in a world of very common everyday people. That's not to say we're better, but we are apart, and that makes us special (even if we only feel special). We have skills that we can call upon at will (to a greater or lesser extent), which the ordinary person does not possess; and yet we are invisible to them. We don't wear a giant red "S" on our chests or prance about in capes (well, not most of us...). We blend in, and yet we are practitioners of controlled violence in a society in which only the law-breakers understand and use violence; the decent ordinary people like ourselves typically eschew it. Aside from our secret, we are just like everyone else; we have political beliefs and we mow our lawns and have jobs and pay taxes and drink beer and so on. We're invisible. In fact...we are the overt secret to some extent.
Are there secrets in martial arts? Sure! We're the secrets. Our techniques, even those sold on DVD and seen in movies, are secrets. And some few of us belong to organizations which even practice the more hidden of secrets.
And what is the value of the secret? It binds us together. We're members of a society that values each other's company. And places like Martial Talk are proof of that.
Consider the ancient mystery cults. In many ways, they resemble some aspects of modern-day martial arts cultures, particularly those that purport to teach 'secret' arts or methods to initiates.
The questions being asked of today's 'secret keepers' are these. First, is the information really secret? And second, if it is, should it be kept that way?
To answer the first question, one simply has to consider the nature of a secret. A secret to you is something you do not know. It can be hidden, or it can be in plain sight. If you cannot discern it, it is a secret. That's pretty basic.
People tend to want to think that if something is secret, that means someone is hiding it from you. But no, it's still a secret if no one is hiding it from you, it just so happens you cannot see it. You cannot see a germ with your naked eye; the bugs which crawl on our skin are invisble to us; secret. Even though we know they are there, we cannot discern them, we cannot track them, we cannot point them out. But given the appropriate information, and the appropriate tools, we can indeed see them. They were there all along, no one hid them from us; in fact, we're told about them daily by one doctor or another on TV. But be that as it may, we could not see them, they were secrets from us.
To the second question, should secret information be kept that way, I would ask the reader to take a look at the ancient mystery cults.
Mystery cults have existed for tens of thousands of years. Certainly as far back as recorded time, and perhaps as long as man has existed in societies. They enabled man to feel a sense of the religious or the sacred, in a more intimate and personal way that typical organized religions did not allow for. They were for the special, the intelligent, the chosen ones. To be offered an initiation into a mystery cult was a distinct honor, a privilege; it marked one as being not just different than most people, but above them in many ways. This was reinforced by the notion that you had to be invited in, that you were being made a part of something special, something that not everyone could become a member of, even assuming they knew it existed.
By becoming an initiate in a mystery cult, one was already participating in a secret of sorts; they were aware of the group to which they belonged, but the average person was not. In some cases, even family members and friends and relatives were not permitted to know. Only other members knew each other, and they enjoyed the comradeship of knowing and recognizing each other; the satisfaction of mutual recognition of each other as special, unique, different, and apart. And that's just the feeling one got from belonging to such a cult, let alone whatever 'secrets' it might impart as part of their mystic beliefs!
Please take a moment and consider the paragraph above; see if you cannot see some parallels between the ancient mystery cults and the modern-day martial arts training center; or even a discussion forum such as this one. I think you may see some resemblance!
In the ancient mystery cults, there were generally two types of secrets. The first were overt secrets. These were truths, which one could speak of freely. They were secrets in the same sense as not being able to see a germ on your skin; you could tell anyone about them, and they might well believe you; but they could not 'see' the secret (grasp the meaning) and hence, it was still a secret to them. Only the initiated possessed the tools (knowledge, wisdom, or experience) to grasp the meaning of the secret imparted. They could not only speak of it, they could manipulate it. Anyone can repeat words in Latin if they wish. But unless they speak Latin, it's just noise. The initiate not only repeated the words, but had been trained to know what those words meant. The secret was revealed not by revealing the secret itself, but by revealing the means to make use of it.
The second type of secret was a covert secret. A covert secret was hidden knowledge or information. This was forbidden to be given to outsiders, usually by taking an oath; generally one involving pain and death if it was revealed. A covert secret was information that was immediately useful as soon as it was revealed; it took no special knowledge or understanding to put it to use once one was introduced to it. A covert secret was not unlike a hand grenade; once a person knows where it is hidden, anyone who wants to can pull the pin and unleash great devastation.
I am intentionally not commenting upon the veracity of the 'secrets' taught by the mystery cults to their initiates. Whether their overt and covert secrets had any value, meaning, or truth to them at all does not matter to our discussion. They point is that they existed.
Mystery cults were able to persevere for many centuries because they were exclusive. Because they gave their members a feeling of belonging to something special. Because their members felt the need to pass on what they had learned, but only to a worthy few. And they survived attempts to sell their secrets out or betray them because their overt secrets could be given out at will; none but an initiate would be able to understand them anyway: and their covert secrets were often so outlandish that the treacherous former members could be made to seem insane; or quietly taken aside and strangled, as the case may have been.
Now consider the martial arts.
We have overt secrets. These are the secrets that hide in plain sight. Most of martial arts consists of blocks, kicks, and punches. One might even argue that there are only so many ways to deliver them, and what's all the fuss about? One can buy books and DVDs and listen to experts talk and so on...and still not learn the 'secrets'. The reason for that is the same as it was in the days of the Mystery Cults; because an overt secret is simply not understood by anyone who does not possess the training, experience, or insight to grasp the secret and put it to practical use.
When I speak of my instructor demonstrating bunkai (practical application) of a particular move, such as simple middle-body block, this is what I am referring to. He shows me this information freely; he could put it in a book or on a DVD if he wished. Yet it is still secret; it's an overt secret. That's because even with me standing a foot away from him and trying with all my ability to emulate his move that I've just seen done half a dozen times, I cannot make it work. Yet. But as I grow and learn and mature, experience will guide me until I can make it work, intuitively. That is the secret revealed. That is 'secret' knowledge. It was never hidden, I just could not use it.
There is also covert secret knowlege in martial arts. These are the traditions that teach methods and weapons and other practices that they are sworn to silence about; things which are not revealed to those who are not members of the group. Presumably, the reasons for this secrecy are the same as they were in the days of the Mystery Cults; that the knowledge is so dangerous, that it would be immediately useful by anyone to whom it was revealed. And again, I will not comment upon how true or false the fact of the secrets may be; I am not privy to them and so I cannot judge what I do not know.
Yes, I think the modern world of martial arts has much in common with the ancient Mystery Cults. We are apart, different, and unique in a world of very common everyday people. That's not to say we're better, but we are apart, and that makes us special (even if we only feel special). We have skills that we can call upon at will (to a greater or lesser extent), which the ordinary person does not possess; and yet we are invisible to them. We don't wear a giant red "S" on our chests or prance about in capes (well, not most of us...). We blend in, and yet we are practitioners of controlled violence in a society in which only the law-breakers understand and use violence; the decent ordinary people like ourselves typically eschew it. Aside from our secret, we are just like everyone else; we have political beliefs and we mow our lawns and have jobs and pay taxes and drink beer and so on. We're invisible. In fact...we are the overt secret to some extent.
Are there secrets in martial arts? Sure! We're the secrets. Our techniques, even those sold on DVD and seen in movies, are secrets. And some few of us belong to organizations which even practice the more hidden of secrets.
And what is the value of the secret? It binds us together. We're members of a society that values each other's company. And places like Martial Talk are proof of that.
