“Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.”

                            --Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Okay, this is the stuff you want to know. Like I’ve said I’ve been working toward this regarding discussing the Grandmaster so since there is just so much material. What I’m going to do is break this up into a shorter series to hopefully explain some of this stuff.   Now the truth is I have no idea where I’m going to go with this I really don’t. The reason is there is just so much stuff and the problem is the more I write about this the more things I remember, and the more I want to write about them so I’m just going to talk about a lot of stuff and let the chips fall.

Now in order to understand the Grandmaster at least in my view you have to understand another person from history, Miyamoto Musashi because there is a certain mindset as well as parallels in how they went about their early training. That they both share that in my view influenced and shaped the styles of fighting they created.

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)

Miyamoto Musashi, is the most colorful character and probably the most famous swordsman, and teacher of the Way of the Sword, and Ronin (master-less samurai) of the early Edo period. His tales are the stuff of legend and depending on who is telling the story you get different bits and pieces of who he was and his life. During his life Musashi, cut down 60 men with his blade and probably more than that. In some cases, he accomplished this feat using a wooden bokken such as his famous battle against Sasaki Kojiro or Sasaki Ganru as he was sometimes known. Now, I’m sure over time there were others who killed more than that but what makes Musashi different is he was able to capture this experience and wisdom and put it to paper in the timeless book, Go Rin No Sho (The Book of Five Rings).

Now while The Book of Five Rings seems like a simple work designed to educate young swordsmen. To me it is the essences of an old warrior’s perceptions, “moral certainty” and an example of “perfect clarity” of the world he lived in and provides an understanding the master swordsman deemed essential for a young warrior’s survival. Understand, that when Musashi started writing, he was very old. For him, as Gabriel Suarez put it in an excellent article on Musashi,

“…there would be no more battles and, therefore, no need to hold anything back in an effort to keep enemies from learning secret fighting methods and using them against him.”

You see in Musashi’s day your fighting strategy was not just about someone taking your idea and making money off of your work. It was about life and death and was as heavily guarded a secret in their day as we guard secrets to military tactics, strategy, and technology used on the modern battlefield.

The other thing to understand and this is important, while The Book of Five Rings doesn’t speak to any techniques “specifically” and only describes things in general often vague terms. It does offer insight into something that I feel is neglected in most martial arts training programs and that is the importance that Musashi places on where your “mind” must be, your “attitude”, your “spirit”, and “strategy in battle”. Or, what I sometimes like to refer as in a broader sense “Ruthless Intent”, “context” or “presence of mind”.

Now, before I continue there are a few things about Musashi that I want to clear up and this is just me so you can take it for what it is worth. You see, there are all sorts of stories out there about Musashi that in many cases are unsubstantiated and in my view are designed to diminish him. Being a huge Musashi fan I’m going to come to his defense here 400 years after the fact, obviously my opinion is biased so you can take it's for what it’s worth. In other words, “fuck your feelings”.

You will understand the importance of this when I discuss Grandmaster Perkins.

Musashi Perfected His Way Through Diligent Practice and Astute Observation (and stirring up trouble…)

Musashi was like many a young samurai at the end of the Warring States period and the beginning of the Edo period; as a warrior without a war and quite unprepared for a cessation of battle. Trust me when I tell you that those who’ve seen war understand after the cessation of battle its sort of like, "Where do you go from up?", so we get this. Like I’ve said in other Blog Post’s no matter what a man does later on in life his hands never forget the rifle or as in the case of the newly unemployed samurai “the sword”.

Now as an editorial comment, you know what? Yeah, sure publically, especially in this day and age of “soy boys” and “beta males” and not to sound crazy around civilians, Warriors will tell you how thankful they are about the end of war etc., but when they’re around fellow warriors they can’t stop talking about being (a manly sniff inserted here) “in the shit”! I’m Facebook friends with lots of Men I served with in Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan along with other veterans past and present, and all we talk about are our experiences, bring up embarrassing stories about each other and all the good times we had. Are you kidding me? We live for this stuff and like the Evil Gunny Miller-Perry once said,

“Always remember Sir, sea stories are like fine wine that shit only gets better with age…”

Here, here!

As Gabriel Suarez stated in his article on Musashi,

“He was young and eager to learn the skills which were necessary to survive and advance throughout the century of wars which had preceded the peace: fighting, swordsmanship, and tough-mindedness. Like tens of thousands of his fellow warriors, he found that he was unemployed in the Edo peace and he was not willing to find any other occupation. Unlike many “ronin” who descended into various forms of trouble-making, Musashi undertook a serious study of swordsmanship.”

Like most veterans, if the President called us up right now, bad knees and all, “he would only have to ask once”. We as veterans totally empathize with this way of thinking. My point is I totally get it. The problem was this put Musashi and others like him in the crosshairs of the Tokugawa Shogunate which was trying to put an end of instability. There was no veterans outreach in 16th Century Japan. Musashi traveled through Japan, frequently along Nakasendo, at a time when the authorities were trying to increase social stability.

Meanwhile, Musashi was creating trouble at schools where swordsmanship was taught by intruding in on them. Sometimes, he received instruction; often, he was challenged and fights between the students and Musashi occurred. Some of his more notable fights with entire schools were against the Yoshioka school in Kyoto and the monks of Hozoin.

This sort of reminds me of stories Grandmaster Perkins has told about how things were when he was a Police Officer in the 1970s and early ’80s cutting his teeth in "Bronx North" (Yonkers, NY) at a time when people would take a swing at a cop like it was their job. Where every day you were right on the edge and any lapse in your awareness could mean your life. It was always something, perps had little fear of the cops in those days and a serious challenge on the street was only a heartbeat away. 

Musashi Was a Large Man and That’s Why He Was So Good

There are those who say that the only reason Musashi was so dominant was because he was much larger than the average Japanese man, in all my research I’ve found many accounts that say he was about 6’ feet tall which would have been giant in that time in history however, there are also accounts that have said these numbers may have been embellished to add to his legend and that while tall he was not “a giant” as some accounts have it. I guess it’s all relative.

No one is doubting the role size plays in close combat. My point is whether true or not a guy trying to kill you with a sword is still a dangerous foe. I don’t care how much bigger you are than your enemy if you don’t have the skill to deal with him you’re in serious trouble. Especially if there are multiple attackers whereas with Musashi many times had been the case in some of his battles. It’s simple to me, how good do you have to be with a 40” inch razor in your hand?

If you’ve ever seen some of these MS-13 characters up close especially the ones born and raised for most of their lives in El Salvador. I can tell you they’re not big guys at all, but just because they’re not big doesn’t make them any less dangerous. You underestimate them at your own risk. Well, this is just as true in Musashi’s day, you underestimate your enemy at your own peril.

Musashi Once Was a Sword Instructor and Had a School

In 1640, five years before his death, Musashi settled down and became a much sought-after teacher in Kumamoto one of the large castle towns on the island of Kyushu. There he was the Chief Sword Instructor to the Hosokawa Daimyo. The Hosokawa family were retainers of the Tokugawa and had fought well at the battle of Sekigahara with them. Their domain was large and performed an important role in keeping watch on the ever-dangerous Tozama Daimyo. The Hosokawa were therefore intensely interested in maintaining their military skills and Miyamoto was a valued addition to them.

Now as for him having a school? Even in The Book of Five Rings Musashi often referred to “his school” of fighting and there are numerous accounts of him especially later in life taking on a few students. Now whether this was a school with a building and tatami mats the whole nine yards is another matter. My point is the notion that he never had a school or that the tradition of his system of fighting died with him is dubious at best. In any event, the methods he devised became known as “Niten Ichi-ryū”, which can be loosely translated as "the school of the strategy of two heavens as one" which focused on fighting with two swords.   

Again how formal or develop these things were, is debatable but you could probably make the same argument about Jeet Kune Do after the death of Bruce Lee. And Like Bruce Lee, who the Hell knows what these guys were really like in their teachings. All we have are stories passed down mostly by those who studied with them and whatever else may have been collected by history. I guess my point is the only thing that matters here is whether what they said about fighting is true.

I can remember long ago I went to some Tai Chi open flow workshop and after working with some people, some pompous ass asked me what “the lineage of my art was”, said with that air of superiority that only douchebags nurtured on unicorn milk, who couldn’t whoop the ass off of a fly sound like. You know the type… So I told him, “The Bronx” (because that’s where John’s father use to do some training with him when he was young).  Trust me I tell you my art comes from the Bronx you’re going to zip it fast like this guy did. People like to ask that question as if what you learned wasn’t from some sacred mountain in some far off land that your art is not “authentic”. The thing they misunderstand is it’s not where your art comes from but whether it is effective and learning something stupid in China is still stupid when you bring it to America. Stupid is stupid...

Well, the same thing is true about the art John has created, the only thing that matters is whether what he has created is effective everything else is all vanity and nonsense.

Anyway…

Musashi was a lot of things and a lot more could be said about him, he was a scoundrel, a painter, a writer, an author, a teacher, a trouble maker, and less known “a father”. Whatever you want to make of him above all he was a “peerless warrior” worthy of study.  If you’re a martial artist and you are not familiar with The Book of Five Rings, you need to get there! Because it’s lessons are just as applicable to the martial arts and art of war as they were over 400 years ago. 

Perceive That Which Cannot Be Seen with The Eye

“You know it’s funny, all those years when I was training with all these masters, all that time while I was looking for the ultimate master, when all along it was my own father.”

                                           --Grandmaster John C. Perkins

I remember John saying this to me like it was yesterday. Now he may not remember saying it when we were sitting in the Nanuet Diner one Sunday but I remember it because I was like, “Wow! What a profound observation”. To me, that statement was extremely profound. By the way, it wasn’t like he was trying to make some “major point” we were just talking about martial arts and training in general and he was discussing some of his experiences training with folks like Master Ik Jo Kang and Master Waysun Liao and Master Dr. Drew Miller. But it was one of those remarks that really puts things in perspective. You see like Musashi, much of John’s early training was not only from "real fights" he got into but training his father gave him. Musashi was originally trained in the way of the sword by his father but since his initial training wasn’t in the more “formal schools” from an early age he learned the art of the blade with a “different perspective” than those trained in the more formal structured schools of fencing.

And to John’s credit and more importantly, his father, being shown reality outside of a more formal or better yet “sanctified” martial structure was I believe a blessing in disguise. When I was a kid I remember watching my mom paint and when she needed a specific color she just made what she needed on the spot. John being trained by his father in “what’s what” before being trained in the more formal schools with their pre-determined ideas of human movement. Is like the difference between buying different color paints in the store or being like my mom who created what she needed because she already knew “what’s what” when it came to color. She didn’t need someone to tell her what to do or what to buy, she already knew and could make it herself. John didn’t need someone to tell him how to move or the importance of getting out of the way, from his “experiences” especially after watching your father punch a hole in an old refrigerator, he already “knew”. Again, this way of looking at things with this baseline of knowledge gave him and still does a “unique perspective” when it comes to the dynamics of motion when people mean you ill will.

You see, it was John’s father who actually encouraged him to learn other arts to learn not only how to do them, but to know what people are capable of and more importantly be able to defeat them. From my observation this gave John several “rare” qualities:

• The ability to observe and understand what was the essence of what his instructors were “really doing” versus what they were saying. Since he was also trying to learn to defeat what they were doing simultaneously (respectful disrespect)
• A different way of thinking and observing what people are actually doing when they move, as opposed to the obvious of what can be seen with the eye, and counter "their body" and not their limbs
• To be able to get ahead of them “in the mind” where you’re moving not to where they are but where you “need to be” or “not be” (unavailable/unavoidable). Like the great Gretzky said, "... a great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

All of what I’ve described by the way happens in a microsecond without thought and is purely an unconscious competency he has developed over his lifetime (more on that for another time). 

Into the Fire into the Mind

“One of the things I had to do because I had no one to teach me certain things I had to learn how to teach myself to move certain ways.”

                                        --Grandmaster John Perkins

Now, in the quote above I can tell you that when John first said this to me underneath “The Wisdom Tree” it really hit home because it confirmed much of what I suspected for a very long time. Like, Musashi, whether his father gave him the same sage advice as John’s father, the results in his ability were all the same. You see, this ability to see beyond mere technique, to see the essence of what is going on. To disambiguate something and see what cannot be perceived with the eye but only seen in the mind, is a rare gift. But also, the ability to then take that information and run with it, to teach yourself is an even “rarer gift”. In sports, we call this “vision” and it is the reason why most people cannot play quarterback or be a running back in football. I do not pretend to fully understand it I’m just telling you what I’ve seen and experienced for the nearly 30 years he has trained me. Master Harrell once asked me,

“If there was one thing that John taught you that if you could put your finger on it in your opinion was the most important skill he taught you?”

I gave it some thought and then I said something I want to share here I said,

“You know if I had to say one thing it is the ability to teach myself. The ability to look at something, see it for what it is and then teach myself how to do it without making it more complicated than it has to be”.

Or words to that effect.

Along those lines, I was also asked by a different student,

Q: “Before you met John were you able to think about and understand how you do the things the way you do now?”

A: “No. I mean yeah from playing sports I learned how to do things like tackle and block but what I learned from John is totally different. What I learned from John is the difference between knowing how to do a technique and understanding how and why it actually works. How to see the underlying mechanism that actually makes it work. Those are two different things. I also learned that to do what I need to do I didn’t have to work as hard physically as I thought. But again I don’t know if this is a matter of refinement of the same thing and a process of learning how to filter out the noise or just part of the natural evolution of skill as you train through the principles. But I’ll say this there is a mental aspect to this that cannot be ignored because how you think of it directly influences your development. This is what I mean when I say things like after the 1^st Degree Black Belt level in Guided Chaos it’s all mental because it really is about looking at things differently. How else do you explain how people with physical limitations are able to dominate younger stronger and bigger folks in class? There’s something going on that goes beyond physical ability.”

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”

                          ― Arthur Schopenhauer

One thing that I want to point out about John and that is like Tim, John is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met only his talent is different. Where Tim had certain talents especially with his hands to do certain things John’s special talent I believe as with sports is the thing as I referred to called “vision” or ‘savvy” he can just hit targets that for the most part until he trains people how to do it, “…no one else can see”. I also believe that there are just some things that John does that are innate to his nature and it is therefore not something that can necessarily be trained only appreciated. My point is there are some things that John does that are unique to John and that’s just the way it is.

It’s sort of like I was talking to some folks recently and I was talking about Master Michael and I stated that there are some things that are unique to him and how he can do things that “you ain’t doing” and that’s just the way it is. And that’s okay because it’s more important what you can learn by moving and working with him because that’s what’s going to improve your skill, and not getting all frustrated because you can’t kick 8’ feet over your head and kick out a ceiling panel. Yeah… I saw him do this. Very scary…

“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.”

               --Larry Bird

John you see, just “knows things” or as I’ve said in some things he has a certain innate talent or in certain situations and an “aptitude” to just do certain things and he really doesn’t have to put much if any thought into it. I believe that much of what we call “natural talent” at least in the physical sense is actually an “aptitude”. I say this because we generally associate this with some type of “physical talent” which I believe you’re either born with or not (i.e., capacity). So in my view, physical aptitude is inborn potential to do certain things whether developed or undeveloped.

As with the quote from Larry Bird, “I believe” that people who are talented are those who recognize it on some level and see what needs to be done and are willing to pay the prices to develop whatever it is they wish to learn. I also believe they are the type of people who have the capacity to strip everything down to its essence, break it apart or “whatever”. But there is also something else…

That they are capable of making the necessary “logical inferences” to constantly improve based on a process of trial and error as well as develop a way of thinking and a modality of training that becomes a self-learning loop. This is not necessarily something that they are doing consciously but in my view on some level, there is still a process so even if it happens in a blink of an eye there is something that goes on. At a certain point, they seem to develop a certain “wisdom” (adumbration) on what they do. From there it’s just the cycle of wash, rinse, repeat, always learning always refining.

This I believe is or at least considered a part of “creativity”. Once again, throughout my life, I have seen and observed that the most creative people tend to be those who have certain innate gifts and are very well versed in whatever it is that they do. To the point where they just can make the logical leaps in "thought" that everyone else can’t because they can see with their mind what others don’t. In some quarters this ability, this aptitude has been referred to as “genius”.

The Tao of the Spirit Fist

“Guided Chaos is the study and practice of ‘universal movement’ with a martial application.”

                               --Grandmaster John Perkins

Yes, yes, yes… I know the art has been changed to the name “Guided Chaos” and I’m fine with the name but I have to be honest. In my heart of hearts, it will always be “The Way of the Spirit Fist” or “The Ghost Fist”. I don’t care what anyone says the Spirit Fist is, to put it bluntly, “freaking cool”! If you had to sum up what the Spirit Fist is all about there are two questions here you need to be able to answer for yourself,

1) Is the art of a system of fighting that teaches you how to move better?

Or…

2) Is the art a system that develops you through “universal movement” that allows you within your body to make almost anything work?

I don’t think either one is wrong per se but I have to tell you if you chose door number one. You’re missing the larger picture and it may explain why some folks are not able to get to the place they want to be. While those who choose the latter question continue to create and develop themselves within their body beyond what they thought was physically possible whereas the only limitation to their growth seems to be the physical decline of their body due to aging and even that is questionable. This you must meditate on because how you answer the questions above influences where you will go with your own ability.

This is all about the “Red Pill”. Take the Red Pill of Reality and the Rabbit Hole is endless, take the “Blue Pill of Ignorance” and remain so, never being able to see beyond the end of your nose.

One thing unique to John and the art he has developed which is almost unheard of in the martial arts world including the world of JKD and MMA is the idea that it's okay to experiment within the principles and take things to the nth degree. Now, in fairness there is experimentation in MMA and JKD and some other similar disciplines but what distinguishes them from the “The Way of Spirit Fist” besides our cool name. Is their experimentation deals with learning a number of different techniques from a variety of disciplines versus learning to experiment through a set of principles based on “Universal Movement” which “transcends” any specific technique, this is something that from very early on I understood about the art John has created.

“As for me, all I know is I know nothing.”

                      --Socrates

Listen, in a real confrontation on a certain level, up until we can perceive intention you and I really don’t know shit. We’re just making assumptions in anticipation that things are going to get dicey real fast. The idea is that we don't know what we don't know, and won't know it until we know it, so we don't want to clog our minds nor limit our development with limited thinking. That there is no box, there is no spoon, there are no limits as long as they are within the principles of the art. Think of it like this, when we were say, 10 to 12 years old, we were capable in our bodies of doing “anything” or at least we felt that way. We jumped over open spaces on the tops of buildings and houses, dove into creeks, climbed statues and placed beer bottles in the hands of the statues, drank beer with our dads and then went out and crawled through sewers while cursing people out on the street through the sewer drains (we were drunk). We were out of control! It was just a different time…

Well, now imagine never getting out of that feeling in your body, or moving in that fashion? Who doesn’t want some of that?

That’s how John is, and that’s what I mean when discussing some of his innate talents. He probably hasn’t really changed the way he thinks about moving in the body since he was a kid or at least since he was a teenager. What’s important to understand is that all of these things that I’ve discussed so far are critical to the development of the art for all of these things are a part of it.

Well, I’m going to cut it off here and I will begin to move into some deeper observations I’ve had over the years from specific things John taught me with regard to movement. I just wanted to set the stage here so to speak so later on you have a basis from which to understadn these things.

As always thanks.

LtCol Al Ridenhour

Senior Master Instructor

GUIDED CHAOS

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