BUDO PHILOSOPHY A Particular Vision, Part 2 By Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 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 in combat for an hour and a half, and then finishing the class doing Yoga and meditation is an absolute transgression. Another surprising finding was his way of teaching kicks from the ground, taking out the need to maintain balance, but generating enough muscle memory and tone so that once the basics were mastered, they could be performed standing up. Divide and rule! Therefore, people with lesser motor skills learned much faster this way than in any other gym. His perception of some learning problems, such as “the dizzy duck complex,” and the problems of transference and countertransference in the Master student relationship, were just some of his revolutionary observations, in an activity that rarely had a bigger judgment than that of “repeating what another had taught you”, because it had always been done like that. For José Luis Paniagua, <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> were a vehicle, a tool of balance, health and adaptation to the environment, which he knew how to adapt to his own needs, which, on the other hand, were those of the overwhelmed urban dwellers of a modern age, in which alienation, lack of mind-body balance, were beginning to point out intensely, and which today are a widespread and pathological reality. The essential thesis of Paniagua was that from the moment in which man gave up his natural activities in the environment as hunter-gatherer, his psychophysical balance was compromised in formulas, which resulted in instability affecting several poles, mind and emotion, body and spirit, which always interact with each other. <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong>, when well oriented, were the necessary medicine to rediscover this balance. Our bodies were made to move, and the “couch surfing”, the apathy and inactivity, were only the entrance door for self-destructive behavior of every kind. For almost a decade, I participated actively in that experiment, even as a non-profit teacher. I made great friends, such as Lorenzo Castro and Tomás de Santiago, who to this day they remain so. In addition to all this, Paniagua’s vision allowed me later to develop my work as editor of books and Budo International <strong>Magazine</strong>, and do it in an inclusive way, without ever judging the diversity of styles and <strong>Arts</strong>, to which I had to give fair space on our pages. An inclusive vision that went beyond the details and that gave me the intelligence, the intuition and the insight of a teacher and a friend, who will always remain in memory, feeling gratefulness. Of him still remain his books, some I published them myself, others my brother, also editor; his children and his widow María González Garzón, who still teaches Tai Chi; but above all, he left us an imprint that touched intensely those who, like me, frequented the Pyrenees Street, in the best of environments, in order to sweat, clean and balance our lives. It’s still modern. Very modern! Watch out! If you are in the <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong> thing, no matter what your style, his books can be an extraordinary additional contribution. José Luis went out of the path, to help us get back to it. Thank you, Master. 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 3
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