Torture

You cannot be a Catholic and condone torture.  The Catholic Church teaches torture is an intrinsic evil, which means to be in any way associated with it is a sin.  To merely accept it is a sin.

“The Catholic Church firmly believes that torture is an ‘intrinsic evil’ that cannot be justified under any circumstance,” said Bishop Oscar Cantu, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, in a statement following the report’s release.

Intrinsic evil means there is no possible justification, but I am just repeating the obvious.

The "ticking time bomb" defense of torture is an impossible scenario in real life, in spite of its constant use in drama.  None of the "if"s can be known, and are unlikely in any event.

There are nine ways you can get into the sin of torture.

I. By counsel
II. By command
III. By consent
IV. By provocation
V. By praise or flattery
VI. By concealment
VII. By partaking
VIII. By silence
IX. By defense of the ill done

You would not know that listening to almost all Catholic radio.  You'd assume otherwise.  They are quite assiduous in condemning abortion, but quite tolerant of torture.  Both abortion and torture are intrinsic evils, and not a matter of prudential judgment, say like the death penalty.

This may be because largely unbeknownst to the naifs who have radio programs, the programs with solid pro-torture hosts somehow, oddly, find an abundance of financial support.  It is known the "intelligence" agencies, pro-torture state apparati, lavishly fund media, we are only uninformed as to which programs they fund.

No one ever has to tell such hosts what to say, they have said it so many times before that they are reliable.  Just add funding, and crowd out seamless garment Catholicism.

I listened to a Catholic business commentator long ago question in all sincerity the USA attack on Iraq, and that was the last time his show was ever on the radio, as far as I could tell.  Crowded out by better funded programs, no doubt.

People of good will, uncertain on the abortion question, hear Catholic Radio defend torture, once by 1 3 5 6 and 8 above, and now 9... and knowing the intrinsic evil of torture, hearing Catholic Radio defend torture, come to doubt its perspicacity on abortion.

I listened to an interview last week of a prominent moral theologian who when asked about torture as intrinsic evil answered it is morally licit to deprive people of their liberty.  A non-sequiter, but there you have it, on the question of torture the answer, somewhat foggy, includes "morally licit."

Once upon a time the President of University of San Francisco, Pres. Lo Schiavo shut down the celebrated basketball program because it was corrupt.  Perhaps it is time to investigate the pro-torture, pro-war bent of Catholic radio, and discern if it is a net deficit for spreading the faith.

China only wants what the USA has, a Church that is subject to the State.

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When Fast Meets Misogi

The air temperature in in the 40s F mostly, and the water temperature is 49 degrees.  I have been fasting the last week, I broke fast this morning.  No food, only clear liquids the last 7 whole days.  This morning a crab louie, lots of greens, sliced boil egg and a wee bit of crab protein.

I swam on day two, but figured I should not push swimming when I am fasting.  Age quod agis.

The challenge in fasting is not refusing food for a week, that is simply training.  The big challenges is to refuse to eat a week's worth of food within a few hours of break fast.

First your body can't process that much, second, what would be the point?  I will be three meals a day instead of my usual two for a few days.

Tomorrow I'll feel like Kong Kong, I always do as the nutrition comes running in, but then the appetite wanes and I'll be back to normal.  I'll wait til them to swim, I don't want to underestimate the weakness brought on by fasting, even though I feel fine.

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Militarization of Cops

Here a active duty soldier compares militarized police with with cops playing soldiers.  Interesting perspective: relaxation level is the key...

http://imgur.com/gallery/fpYzl

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Control Through Feints

An excellent study of the feints of Bruce Lee:



And notice how his roundhouse comes from beyond the periphery of the opponent is his doing face time with Lee…  Lee steps in too close normally, but he has the roundhouse already in play…

Magnificent.

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Bringing the Lake to the Mats

We are again at the point when the temperature of air and water are 10 degrees apart.  Instead 68 degree water and 78 degree air, we are at 58 degree water and 48 degree air.  The air has dropped 30 degrees, the water ten.

I want to nuance this idea of "bringing the lake to the practice" that is the experience of cold water swimming, such as it is, to inform the experience of practicing aikido.  I've spoken about the role of adrenalin in the practice of aikido.  It takes time to get to that point on the mats, and when it is there, the herculean powers must be noticed and controlled to keep the practice within bounds, and power trimmed for appropriate response.

This practice is hard to achieve, but necessary for acting in the real world, when using aikido as a martial art, when on the street and experiencing "game on."  The super powers that conflict precipitates must be already well under control, so you execute a well-timed ten-kan and not spin wildly into a face-plant.

The dive into the 58 degree water brings on the self-defense adrenalin immediately, with the entire body in response to the existential threat of water too cold to be acceptable to a system that is a tribute to a billion years of evolution, or more likely, designed by a God who loves us.  Either way, adrenalin presents.  The act of swimming is not optional, and discipline in movement is clearly advantageous in this situation.  As the body signals fight or flight to the brain, and the powder monkeys haul out adrenalin and the stack it where most handy, the spirit says "quiet down, I've got this."

That's what is going on, and it brings a small improvement to the practice.  To what degree the improvement manifests doesn't really matter, we can all use any improvement we can get.

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Misogi & Training

Misogi training is no doubt grounded in a spiritual exercise, but I've come to it simply through sports.  I began swimming in Lake Washington every day last summer, and have not quit.  The Lake water temperature is now in the 50s, the air temp is dipping into the 40s, but, obviously the air temp does not matter.  I am not dealing with air temperature, a lesson in economy of motion.  Don't respond to what is not fighting you.

I am no longer diving straight in since the lake is giving me a tiny popsicle headache at the base of my skull, so I step down the ladder off the dock plow backwards into the lake, adjust my body to the water and then let my head go under water.  Then comes the headache until I warm up in the water.

My guess is misogi training informs aikido in practice. My aikido is to a degree becoming an extension of swimming in Lake Washington.  I practiced in SF last Friday night, a brown belt was trying to resist the visitor in the techniques (I love practicing with brown belts the most, they don't hold back! And they know how to fall...) I gave him the experience of diving into cold water.  Hard to explain how that is, but I brought it to the technique, and he had the look I feel after I am swimming.  Curious, fun, scary, ouch, safe enough...

Watched a movie in which a woman in Ireland went swimming...  must have been 40 degree waters...  but it was unremarkable...  yes it is what you are used to...  Indians in Seattle were mostly naked when the Yeslers and Dennys showed up....  it is what you are used to...  (mostly...)  so this swimming in the lake is no big deal.  And I am not sure how low I can go.

But it is surprising how little it takes to pick up a new edge.

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Bruce Lee's 1 Inch Punch

Bruce Lee did important work on punching while living in Seattle teaching and studying Gung Fu.  Over the last forty plus years it was fairly easy to practice or work with his first students, James Demile, Skip Ellsworth, Taki Kimura, Jesse Glover (who wrote a book on those years).  James Demile in particular took Lee's punch style in a fascinating direction you can still learn from Demile.

From left to right are Jesse Glover -- Bruce Lee -- Skip Ellsworth -- Tak Miyabe -- 

Jim DeMile -- LeRoy Garcia -- and Taky Kimura.

http://www.skipsbeachresort.com/about_dewelle_ferguson.htm

(Of the seven people in that picture, I've met four: Glover, Ellsworth, DeMile and Kimura.  DeMile I have trained with, and I studied log cabin building with Ellsworth.  Kimura ran a grocery store he lived above, and Glover is still teaching in Chinatown.)

While sparring Lee would not form his fist until the instant before he would strike.  Sparring with golden gloves champ Ellsworth who took the classic form with closed fists in the ready, Lee left his hands relaxed and open.  How odd. Then the match began, with each bobbing and weaving and throwing punches. The open relaxed hand gave Lee the optimum speed that can be achieved when relaxed (in aikido "relax completely")  It is a concrete expression, albeit in a fighting art, of the "relax completely" imperative.  He tagged the naturally gifted boxing champ Ellsworth before Ellsworth could react. And then of course, with undoubtedly the gift of ADD, he reversed the lesson and developed the one inch punch, wherein he just collapsed all process of a solid punch into the last one second of time and space.

Drawing upon both physical and neuro power, Lee’s devastating one-inch punch involved substantially more than arm strength. It was achieved through the fluid teamwork of every body part. It was his feet. It was hips and arms. It was even his brain. In several milliseconds, a spark of kinetic energy ignited in Lee’s feet and surged through his core to his limbs before its eventual release.

Acting as uke in demonstration for aikido hombu chief instructor ju-dan Tohei Sensei, you would find this kind of power responding to your attack.  Aikido can be lethal if the uke does not know how to fall, and part of practice is the nage controls the uke's fall to keep uke from being injured.

But it takes practice, relentless practice, over and over, fall down, get up.

And also spending time with excellent instructors.

L-R Wally Jay, James Demile, Bernie Lau Schooling Yours Truly, circa 1980.

Wally Jay taught Bruce Lee judo/jiu jitsu, James Demile is a Bruce Lee original student still teaching, Bernie Lau received his first two degrees directly from the aikido founder, and subsequent degrees from his son.  (Note Lau Sensei has trapped my foot.)

Few people know this, Bernie Lau is full blood French native, and speaks French well enough in a pinch.

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