By Christian Henriksen
Even before you enter, you can sense that the atmosphere in the budo hall is different from a normal sports hall. There are people in white uniforms with belts of various colours. Some bow at the entrance to the hall, other place their right hand on their breast.
The space is decorated in oriental fashion with long banners with Asian lettering and Danish, Japanese and Korean flags. On the floor there are mats, and protective gear and martial arts equipment have been made ready. There are pictures of martial arts masters from former times and an impressive panoramic view of the forest surrounding Bosei folk high school.
The meeting with your instructor and the start of training are marked by a bow. When you practise an exercise with a partner, you bow before and after the exercise, and the end of the training session is also marked by bowing to each other. Certain very particular values take priority here.
The path of martial arts philosophy: Do
Budo is Japanese and means ‘the path of martial arts’. In the budo hall, a number of martial arts are practised, such as judo, karate and taekwondo. Not all of them come from the same country but they do have something in common. In the training hall, known as dojang, we can find a mental breathing space, a place where we respect the fact that there is another space than that in which we move in our daily lives. It is a space in which we can put our worries to one side and focus on existing in the present moment, in training, in togetherness and in Do.
Do is a central concept in Asian martial arts. Those that come immediately to mind are judo, taekwondo, aikido, kendo and so on. Originally it means ‘school’ or ‘path’. It can be the school where you are training or, perhaps more important, the road you are travelling. A philosophical path or a set of values you can follow.
Do is a central concept in Asian martial arts. Those that come immediately to mind are judo, taekwondo, aikido, kendo and so on.
Christian Henriksen
There is a distinction between martial sports and martial arts. In martial sports there is a heavy focus on competition, typically a fight or a series of predetermined movements – kata. In martial arts, the focus is on other values, such as working to improve yourself, to use your martial arts in a positive way and to support each other and work together towards a common goal.
At Bosei, we work primarily with martial arts. We talk and discuss with our students the difference between martial arts and martial sports and why each can be important for us and for society around us.
Encountering a hierarchy
When students arrive for their first class, they encounter a completely fixed hierarchical order. In martial arts, you stand in a row according to your level. Some have black belts, others have coloured belts, while others do not even have a uniform to start with. This ranking system is based on certain values that are central to martial arts: respect and discipline.
Respect is important since it reminds us, every time it is expressed, that between us there is an unchallenged understanding that we put aside all else. We are in the present moment and mentally focused, we will look after each other and give each other the full benefit of the training.
Practising martial arts is not simply about physical training but about training a mental discipline by becoming more aware of our body and mind under conditions that are different from ordinary sport. We can come very close to some of our primal feelings of anxiety or anger. One example is when we are working with techniques of self-defence to protect ourselves against choking techniques, but we learn it with calm and with respect for individual limits.
We are in the present moment and mentally focused, we will look after each other and give each other the full benefit of the training.
Christian Henriksen
It often takes time for all students to get the hang of the etiquette, the values and the behaviour required. Generally, our experience is that these are usually received positively by the students. There is no question about where they should stand and where they belong. Many of them are used to there being a jostling for position as they work out who is alpha at the start of a class. This takes time, energy and tears. In the world of martial arts, the hierarchy is already established. The instructor is at the top of the hierarchy, the rest are ordered according to experience.
This brings a calm for working and focusing on the tasks they are engaged in. It might be regarded as being a bit ‘old school’, but for students who for many years have not felt they had very firm structures around them, it can be liberating to know that many things are determined in advance. Of course we explain to our students why it is like this. It is a tradition based upon a set of values that makes sense in the type of training we are practising. We also find that students with ADHD respond positively to this systematic learning process, the rules, the inclusion and the collaboration within the group, since these contribute to creating a sense that all have a common aim and common values. Martial arts can be seen as a stage in a process of socialisation, in which students experience a greater sense of mastery, not only of the particular martial art but also of themselves as individuals. The more experienced ones have the task of guiding those with less experience with respect, humility and passion, so everyone gets as much as possible out of their training. The more highly qualified stand to the right of the less qualified. It is often said that in martial arts you can look to the right to learn more, and when you look to the left there is a partner you can help – even though they can all, of course, always learn from each other.
Learning potential
Martial arts can be seen as a very individual activity, and in its way it is a very individual journey. However, when we meet up for a training session, the reality is quite different. Working together is an essential part of training. And it is not simply about holding a cushion that your partner is going to kick or hit but about being a good training partner. You do this by reflecting your partner’s actions in words, by saying what you see, by, for example, counting the number of actions they have to accomplish so they can focus on doing it as well as possible. And last, but not least, by encouraging and applauding each other.
As a partner, there are two opposing ways of acting. You can stand looking down at the floor, yawning and waiting for it to be your turn, or you can be engaged, enthusiastic, supportive and encouraging. If I do an exercise with a student and act out the first way and then the second way, students are never in doubt as to which is the best experience for them. Of course.
What place do martial arts have in folk high schools?
Martial arts are a community of training in togetherness, in which students develop individually and together. In a society in which the focus is on the individual, where individual sport and performance mean so much, martial arts – with its culture, its combination of philosophy, mental and physical tuning and healthy togetherness in training – offer unique experiences in secure and trusted structures. We often find that students who start practising martial arts and who may have been a little unsure, insecure or nervous to start with become more self-assured. We see it in the way they behave but also in the way they conduct themselves in the world. They have a better posture, are more upright, they know they can defend themselves and this is an enormous boost to their self-confidence.
Martial arts come alive when they are put in the framework of the folk high school, alongside enlightenment for life, enlightenment of the people, democratic edification and humanist consideration for others. Everyone has something to contribute, and there is space for all. For myself, I have found that there has been a positive interplay, whereby the ideals of the folk high school provide greater pedagogical understanding of patience and tolerance between teacher and student and between students.
Martial arts come alive when they are put in the framework of the folk high school, alongside enlightenment for life, enlightenment of the people, democratic edification and humanist consideration for others.
Christian Henriksen
Students coming from difficult social backgrounds can get a lot out of learning martial arts. They might come without having completed an educational or training qualification or with very damaging past histories. They can often be a bit full of themselves, thick-skinned and hard to get in close contact with. Some of these students, if they work at it, can grow hugely through their practice of martial arts because they alredy have some experience of fighting. Some of them have been fighting all their lives – at school, in the area where they live, at home. So martial arts also have a practical application for them. They do not need to feel frightened when they have to defend themselves. And by choosing martial arts, part of what they get is greater self-confidence and maybe a smoothing out of some of the rough edges they had.
In that sense, martial arts make good sense in the context of the folk high school. These schools are there for everyone, and martial arts can differ in their form – but taken as a whole they cover the same scope and give students a positive cultural, physical and mental experience.
In his song “Jeg elsker den brogede verden” (I treasure this wide motley world), H.V. Kaalund writes:
Kamp må der til, skal livet gro,Ej kamp blot for dagligt brød,Men kamp for frihed i liv og tro – Thi evig stilstand er død!
(We need to fight for life to grow,
not fight for daily bread alone,
but fight for freedom in life and faith,
For endless stasis is death!)
Grundtvig speaks of the struggle as an underlying condition of existence, whether it be for the sake of skills or beliefs, on the physical or spiritual level. Martial arts bring together the physical and the mental. The result is found in the student who practises the art – who seeks and grows, physically and mentally. Physically, of course, through the training they undergo, mentally in many ways through the interplay with fellow students they are training with and through the mindset and the values they work with in martial arts.
Danes can be found in so many versions
We encounter students who are struggling with particular diagnoses, with their background and their environment. For many of them, physical proximity and close contact can present a real challenge. We had one student who, despite it being a massive hurdle for him to overcome, trained in judo, where he had to be in very close contact with someone else and over a prolonged period. How on earth could he do this?
In martial arts, there are certain clearly defined rules, a hierarchy and a firm set of values. In a world in which the structures are often fluid, where it can be hard to find or to be an ‘I’, in which we have to define, stage and create our own world and the framework for our life choices, having a meditative ground on which to stand with firm values can bring a breath of fresh air.
In a world in which the structures are often fluid, where it can be hard to find or to be an ‘I’
Christian Henriksen
At the end of the course, our students are not fighting robots but martial artists, each with their own path to follow. We support them in finding and embarking on this path and at the same time endow it with value, for martial arts is a way to get to know yourself that is quite different from, say, ball games. Martial arts help to support students’ self-confidence and self-esteem, both through the structured experience that they provide and through the values and cultures they open up for them. They learn that they can succeed – both in martial arts and in the arts of living.