The Enemy Without, The Enemy Within

It is said that "knowledge is power", that

the more one knows, the more one is able to control events
source.

The more we know about the world around us, about the contextualisation of the battles that we face in our everyday lives, about our own abilities and preparedness, and the abilities and preparedness of our adversaries in life, the greater our opportunity to control the narrative as opposed to handing the competitive edge to our opponents.

In karate, it is only through the systematic approach of block and counter during a bout of Kumite that we can identify the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents and thereby devise a way to beat them at their own game.

If we break the fight down into its components, it is simply a combination of single steps all joined together to provide sequencing. But each step, each position relies on the one before it to succeed, and each step is an adjustment based on our antagonist's reactions.

They say that the best form of defense is 'attack', but we should be mindful that our attacking reply should always be measured and responsive, and not rash and reactive. If we temper our reactionary desires, we buy ourselves perhaps the most precious commodity of all...time.

"If an enemy insists on war, then you take away their ability to wage it." Chozen Toguchi, Cobra Kai

Fire needs fuel to burn. It requires kindling and oxygen. In the same way, argument, war, or fighting requires fuel to sustain it... but what if we withhold the fuel? What if we choose instead to stifle the oxygen, not fan the flames of acrimony, quit chopping the kindling, then what? This is not an advocation that we roll over on all forms of encroachments on our liberties, quite the contrary, we do not 'do nothing'. We do something... but... we use our heads. We exercise patience. We do not allow the enemy to gain the upper hand and control the narrative. We do not give them the ability to win the fight. We don't hand them the resources (knowledge) to beat us. For if they get us on the back foot, as with a game of chess, then our only response can be reactionary and they gain a huge advantage in determining how the end result plays out.

So we slow down because no good can come out of haste. We think. We avoid the trappings of frustration to champion forbearance. We endure provocation and allow sense to prevail.

We dance.

And this is what Kata is... a dance. A sequence of choreographed fighting moves, best showcased when we deploy them successfully in Kumite.

In Ippon Kumite (Point fighting), there are always two possible outcomes:

1. You win
2. Your opponent wins

There is no option to draw.

In life, the outcomes are often more variable and complex. Sometimes winning also means losing, and vice versa. Sacrificing one's soul to take the crown, does not make for an honourable podium finish.

Hajime! Begin! This command sets in play the actions of Kumite.

When we face up to our antagonists in life, it is akin to stepping into the fighting arena. With any conflict, there is always a beginning, a Hajime moment. The moment when the sparks start to fly and we are forced to size up our opponent(s). We have to protect our weak spots and play to our strengths... but here's the thing, our opponent is doing exactly the same thing!

So, how do we ensure that we have the best chance to emerge victoriously?

We exercise patience, a true virtue, one evidenced by showing restraint, self-discipline. We maintain a poker face. We don't show our hands. We dance. We play the game as our opponent expects us to play it; we don't put a foot wrong. We lure them into a false sense of security, all the while watching, learning, gaining insights about their behaviours, and their habits. Each time adjusting our position, our retort, our timing, and space, until the moment presents itself, the guard is let down, the soft spot revealed, and we can go and take the point from under their nose, in a legitimate and equitable manner.

In doing so, patience tempers impulse in the arena, and in life, patience tempers wrath, and we move one step closer to overcoming the enemy without.

If we can overcome the enemy without, then what of the war within ourselves? What of the enemy within?

I addressed this in a somewhat different manner whilst I was down with covid a week ago. I was tired all the time and suffering with brain fog and the worst headache imaginable outside of a migraine. It was just an all-consuming band of constant throbbing pain that felt as though it had my eyes held captive simultaneously. Everything in my head just hurt. I knew I needed to rest... and sleep... and I did... a lot! But there were times when I wanted to scream and shout and just get on with my life, push through the headache, the lightheadedness, and the exhaustion and get back to writing, get out of my bed, out of my front door, and beyond the perimeter of my garden fence line, and back to living, and I knew I couldn't. I knew that I had to exercise patience with my body, my mind, and my spirit! In order to defeat the aggressor, I had to exercise restraint and be disciplined. I had to learn to fight myself and win.

One day, headache, fatigue and all, I just sat down and started tapping at my keyboard, allowing my thoughts to roll onto the screen, the poetic ramblings of someone who should have been tucked up in bed, someone who clearly was feeling more than a little sorry for herself! For some reason, my thoughts were poetic rather than prosaic...and no matter how much I tried to change them, they just kept coming out in a pseudo-Shakespearian-Dylan Thomas-esque style of Romanticism. Now I am not comparing myself or my ability to either of these masters, but I read these ramblings to my husband and he laughed at me, saying

you've been reading way too much Shakespeare, and dare I say Dylan Thomas!!!

So... not my own opinion, although I do love Shakespeare ...mmm...and upon a fresh reading of some of Thomas' works yesterday, I kinda got that to which he was alluding 🤣 So do I feel like a lowly rip-off?... maybe! 😂

I posted those thoughts, expounded under a covid cloud, almost as a free write, here in Blockchain poets earlier today, but I feel that they need to be part of this post too as, for me, in some way, it completes it (although you may disagree). The post can stand alone without it, but for completion sake and my own sense of balance, I will repeat the poem below:

The Enemy Within

My aching head awakens me with sardonic cheer.
Do I decry or countenance the woeful onset
of my symptomatic demeanour?

Would'st I be born of angst and dispossessed of reason? Throwing caution to the wind,
allowing external influence
to control my passage of choice?

Do I stir the embers, sustain the fire,
Rage against my predicament?
Storm the Bastille?
Or, do I allow myself the luxury
To dip under the cover of darkness
For a while,
And enjoy the retreat from the light?
For we all need time...
Don't we?
Time to reset,
Re-establish our norms.

The struggle prevails.

Give strength to fear, fuel the wrath.
Allow it to submerge my higher self to lowly pallour?
Why?
Why would this be entertained?
Would my Lord approve?

Might I avenge all that has beset me?
What good can come of haste?
What good can come of ill-informed riposte?

Oh, fierce Wonder Woman!
Be still!
Temper desire.
Fight provocation to wilful exuberance.
Be responsive,
not reactive.

Take the time to slow down.
Allow the mind to wander.
Unfettered.
Unchecked.
Let deadlines slide.
Adjust expectations.
Remove the limits.
Your life is your game,
After all...
and you make the rules.
You can break them too.
Start over.
Does anybody else really care?
Control the narrative
and ignore those who would seek to be disruptive forces within the fabric of your life.

Exercise patience with yourself over all else.
Claim peace for your soul.
Do not allow the ill trappings of frustration to overcome forbearance.
Retain the ability to endure provocation.
Let sense and sensibility prevail.

I will take comfort
in being patient with myself.
To do otherwise would be a great disservice to my soul.
My intentions remain pure.

The world turns ever slower,
revolving still,
but allowing time for personal renewal.
The shadows of the sun pass over my eyes
closed to the ever-growing brightness of day.
Hours turn to days, days to weeks,
I pause.
I wait.
I entertain patience.

The winter of my discontent,
marred by misfortune,
but not overcome.

I am absolved of irreverence.
This timely juncture of decisiveness...
and divisiveness.

I wait...
and...
as the bluebells make their late Spring appearance,
my weary countenance once again shifts to delight.

I open my eyes.

The enemy within has been conquered.

---

image from canva pro library