Of course, here I am, writing about not talking too much. Yes, that’s ironic, isn’t it? (and let’s go on and get one thing clear, while we’re at it — I can out-irony just about anyone you know. I was fluent in sarcasm before I could ride a bike. But I’ve changed my tone recently to a more earnest approach. For an excellent discussion of why Irony is a Dead Scene, check out brilliant writer David Foster Wallace [whose Infinite Jest is one of my five favorite books ever].)

OK, so where was I? Oh yeah — the inherent irony of this article. I’ll address that by differentiating two varieties of “talk.” There are countless dichotomies we could make in verbal communication (though all dualities are necessarily false), but I’m most interested in looking at our Taido talk in terms of constructive versus destructive.

I feel that martial artists spend a lot more time putting things down than we ought to. Typically, this is not done openly because we have to retain the illusion of being humble and respectful, as those are highly valued in martial arts circles. The trick then, is to appear as humble as possible in public while bashing our enemies “quietly” to a select few who will spread the message for us. This is the mechanism of martial arts politics — give a deep, respectful bow, then stab them in the back. Of course, there are much less-subtle forms of destructive talk, such as what we see on most internet discussion fora, but the Taido universe, small as it is, doesn’t allow people to get away with such tactics for too long. The covert attack is much more common amongst us.

Thankfully, I don’t see too too much of this in Taido, but it is certainly out there — and just in the form I described above. We are all very polite to each other in public, at big events and online. However, in smaller groups and private emails, we can count on comments like “but he doesn’t really understand what Taido’s all about,” or “but he can’t actually fight,” or “he doesn’t really deserve his rank,” etc. These are examples of communication that is designed to tear someone down. It’s destructive and negative, and it’s a giant waste of time. Even in Japan, land of humility and grace, I often hear Taido students and instructors making comments that can serve no purpose but to make somebody else look bad. Sadly, the speakers often have very little experience with the subjects of their comments.

On the other hand, there is constructive communication… Like Taido/Blog, Taido.net, and World Taido Forum. Yes, I talk a lot. I write a lot of articles, and some of them are quite long. I sure do spend a lot of time teaching for somebody with no official qualifications. But this website is about promoting Taido, building it up. I’m trying to encourage people to think about their practice and how to make it better. I’ll criticize things I think are wrong or lacking, but I’m not doing so in a negative manner — my criticisms of current doctrine are always accompanied by suggestions for improvement. There is a spirit of “honest participation” behind my writing on Taido/Blog.

I’m not just trying to make myself look good. Taido/Blog is not an advertisement for me or my dojo. It’s not a catalog of my achievements or a directory of services I am offering for a price. Taido/Blog is about making Taido better. Period.

In addition, I’m not “just” talking. I’m trying to get people to put their Taido to practice. In nearly every article, I exhort my readers to apply some thought process or specific drill in their next practice session. I also spend a good deal of time writing about applying Taido to real life issues, so we can be “doing” Taido, even when we are not at a Taido practice. This is what rocking is all about. Why do they rock so hard? Because they didn’t just rock sometimes — they are always rocking. Did Miles Davis stop being cool when he finished recording the Birth of the Cool? Hell, no. And he didn’t cheer up after Kind of Blue, either.

Taido/Blog is talk by nature, but it’s talk about rock. The likely outcome of the discussion that takes place between my readers and I is Taido that rocks harder.

When Shukumine Sensei died, there was a lot of controversy over who was in charge and how things were going to be done. In many ways, these issues have not been resolved (not to mention the many issues that were present while Shukumine was still around). Here’s my idea about how to solve all of these problems: less talk, more rock. Taido will take care of itself if we practice honestly and earnestly and apply our best ideas to our practice.

It doesn’t matter who is in charge of Taido, because the only real definition of Taido is that which occurs in practice and competition. Taido is what happens when Taidoka do what they do. I don’t have to wear my dogi to do Taido, and neither do you. It doesn’t matter who wins the tournaments — just ask the guys that win, and they’ll tell you. It doesn’t matter who practices where or for how long. The important part of Taido is how you apply Taido to what you do.

How much Taido have you done today? Did you rock as hard as you could, or did you just sing some karaoke and call it quits?

Shukumine wrote that a martial art should be judged by those who practice it. In Creative Intelligence and Self-Liberation, Ted Falconar writes that “the measure of a company’s worth is based on the collective motivation, brains, skill, and creativity of its employees.” The same could be said for the worth of a martial art. I believe that Taido is what is done by Taidoka, and our art will be judged on who we are and what we do.

If Taido is going to rock, we Taidoka need to spend more time rocking than we do talking, and when we do talk, we need to be talking about ways to rock harder.