BUDO PHILOSOPHY A Particular Vision, Part 1 By Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci “<strong>Martial</strong> art is the art of the mobilization and correct use of vital energy. Its techniques, positions, dances, and fights produce deep stimulations in the energy meridians of the internal organs and chakras, awakening our deeper and most unconscious feelings and sensations. Through that vibrational resonance with the primary, the movement of martial art revives in us our capacity to live in the present moment, as well as forgotten behavioral mechanisms, so necessary and balancing, as it happens in the case of the inhibition of aggressiveness and screaming, while making it easier for us to make an instant and intuitive assessment of reality.” –José Luis Paniagua Tébar Much of my training in martial practices was with a very special teacher, a man ahead of his time and a full-fledged transgressor. Back in the ’80s, José Luis Paniagua Tébar had a courageous experience, which, as expected in any revolution, didn’t satisfy anyone except, of course, those of us who lived it and participated in it. “Traditionalists” from both Taekwondo and Karate often looked at him with squinty eyes, and psychotherapists, who sent many of their clients to his classes, observed him with resentment, and I would even say with some envy. His heterodoxy led him to include in his classes Yoga, Tai Chi, middle-distance running (13 km), and especially a type of physical training in which particular attention was paid to the movement of energy flows. You had to learn the Taekwondo Hyons and their techniques, and of course, the Shotokan Kata forms and their techniques. But, above all, Paniagua put great emphasis in certain points generally ignored by other persons and systems, considering martial arts as a whole original that had been broken down into differences of cultural nuances behind which prevailed a holistic sense, long before that term began to be used. A supporter of the correct inclusion of Yin and Yang techniques in their right order and sequence, he maintained that this specialization was a DENATURALIZATION of <strong>Martial</strong> Art, with capital letters, an inclusive idea which led to a personal and very well-structured syncretic vision of an activity, which for others was nothing more than a sport, combat system, or cultural practice. He described it for the first time in a book whose title says it all: “<strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong>: Body-Mind Balance.” The idea of seeing martial arts as a practice focused on this purpose was very encouraging for a young Alfredo Tucci, hungry for knowledge and willing to reach the very core of things. I wasn’t the only one. An interesting group of practitioners joined the classes, a heterodox group without a doubt because, except for a few exceptions, probably none of them would have ever thought of wearing a kimono, much less kicking and punching; renowned psychologists, noted characters from the art world, financial aristocracy, medicine doctors, engineers, sociologists, many college students, and some occasional “thrill seeker” as the present writer. The TEAM—acronym for Taller Experimental de Artes Marciales (<strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> Experimental Workshop), formerly TEPAM, Taller Experimental y Psicodinámico de Artes Marciales (Experimental and Psychodynamic <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> Workshop, the P fell with the early departure of a group of psychotherapists)—was a spectacular experience. To start, it didn’t look like a gym. In the no. 45 Pirineos St. of Madrid, the leaves of the Dehesa de la Villa Park trees practically slipped through the windows, and the park, crossing a quiet street, became on Mondays our training place, where we jogged under pines in that beautiful and welllooked-after haven of peace surprisingly located in the center of the capital of Spain. Paniagua was a master in directing the group energy flows based on his idea of cycles of rupture, expansion, stillness. People came out refreshed from classes. Even today the idea of training combat for an hour and a half, and then finishing the class doing Yoga and meditation, is an absolute transgression. SHIDOSHI ALFREDO TUCCI is the CEO and General Manager of the Budo International Publishing Company, a leading publisher in the martial arts with over 35 years in the industry. He is also author of several books: The Immaterial Dimension, The Way of the Warrior, and The Spirit. He currently lives in Valencia, Spain. 86 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME <strong>22</strong> | ISSUE 2
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