Frequent contributor Jonathan Bluestein as a close friend of Master Kernspecht and gave a eulogy at his funeral, which is below.
A guest post by Mr Bluestein on the Wing Chun of Master Kernspecht may be found here.
My name is Jonathan Bluestein. I am an Israeli Jew, and an interdisciplinary scholar. My main areas of expertise are in the fields of Traditional Martial Arts, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chinese Philosophy. I am also versed in various other areas of study, such as Middle Eastern and World History, Jungian Personality Psychology and Law. The exciting and fascinating subject of Chinese Astrology, interfaces quite well with my other areas of study. Thus, in the year 2024, I embarked on a mission to learn more about it, via meticulous research. As I have often done with my prior learning ventures, I have found that writing about a thing makes for a splendid way to become intimately familiar with it. This book before you here, presents with the fruits of those efforts. The tome which is in your possession, is a work-in-progress. I have intentionally and happily made it available for anyone to copy, share and distribute freely, as long as changes are not made. Newer versions of this work, shall be released periodically. Over time, I hope to include in it, dedicated chapters for a total of 60 years of astrological analysis and interpretation. Why 60 years, you might ask? That question shall be answered clearly and succinctly, in the next chapter. This book is neither an experiment in fortune-telling, nor an instrument for gaining material or spiritual advantages. It is a deep and captivating exploration of how Chinese Astrology can be used as a practical medium for the betterment of people’s everyday lives.Iwould like to thank fellow scholar and Chinese Astrology expert, Gregory David Done, for his fine work in this field. I have often been inspired by his writings and insights, and this is reflected in the text before you here.
Anyone who has spent any time in the martial arts world knows that martial arts politics is as common an pervasive as the air that we breathe.
Martial Arts Politics Explained: History, Culture and Comedy by Jonathan Bluestein, examines this phenomenon.
What the book is not: it is not a blow by blow description of the continuous shedding of derivative styles of Kyokushin Karate, the divisive split in Aikido when Koichi Tohei left the Aikikai or the homogenization of the 9 Tae Kwon Do kwans into the ITF and WTF; although there are some descriptions, such as the fragmentation of Ed Parker's Kempo. This book, however, makes them all more understandable.
What the book does is look beyond the usual easy explanations for martial arts politics, such as money, status, etc to the deeper issues that are at play.
Even the types of schools and organizations of martial art can influence it's politics. There is a difference between a strict "traditional" Japanese dojo, a MMA gym or Taijiquan in the park.
The styles may lend themselves to what may become politics. A good point is that Okinawan (and later Japanese) Karate styles all have basically the same forms, techniques and training methods. What differentiates them is where the teacher chooses to place his emphasis and which other styles of martial arts and teachers he may have trained with in the past. Wado-Ryu Karate, for example, has a heavy influence from a traditional style of Japanese Jujitsu.
A section of the book I particularly enjoyed was an lengthy overview of the history and practice of Krav Maga, the Israeli martial arts. Krav Maga was always something I wanted to know a little more about, but was something I couldn't quite pin down. It's all much more clear now.
One of the features of the book that I very much enjoyed were guest chapters written by current martial arts masters regarding their own experience with martial arts politics. It's refreshing to read the inside story.
And then there are the cults and clowns that seem to float around the periphery of the martial arts world. The book takes a good look at them as well.
Martial arts practice is a path which demands that we carefully select our steps, or we will stumble. Martial Arts Politics Explained: History, Culture and Comedy represents a flashlight which helps to illuminate the path, at least as far as some obstacles go, to help us to avoid pitfalls.
I enjoyed Martial Arts Politics Explained: History, Culture and Comedy. I think you will too.
Why is it that some martial arts schools fail, and others succeed? People usually talk about business and money. But there is much more to it. In this article, I wish to present you with a point of view about martial arts business success and failure, which you would likely and read or hear about elsewhere.
The world is full of people who wonder: “Why is it that I never got my opportunities to do great things in my life and career?”. Honestly speaking, the answer is nearly always that such a person is himself to blame. How many people are in your neighbourhood? In your city? In your country? Even a tiny fraction of these people, associated with you as martial arts students or partners in business, could have made you rich, successful and perhaps even happier. But of these countless possibilities for action and interaction, one often manifests an amazingly small number of useful relationships. Why is that?
Well theoretically, if you could appeal to more people, that would be a good start. This is where things get complicated. We want to remain authentic with our teachings, so there is only so much we are willing to change in who we are, in order to look and sound like what other people want. Indeed, at the extremes, those martial artists who sell their soul for a profit, are lowly and unworthy. But there is another way, a simpler way, to attract other people and opportunities. This can way can be pursued by means of changing one’s attitude, rather than one’s personality or behaviour. Changing our attitude can attract people to us on all walks of life. One proven technique for changing one’s attitude and attracting more people and possibilities, is adopting a mentality of abundance. Let us see how a good argument for this mentality of abundance was made in an ancient allegory, from the Book of Mencius.
Mencius has a simple and clear explanation for this. He tells king Xuan, that the park of king Wen was indeed large in size, but entry was allowed for those citizens who wanted to cut grass or gather fuel wood for their own use. Also hosted there openly were those who sought to catch pheasants and hares. Because king Wen willingly shared his park with the people, they thought of it as ‘small’ – as many were permitted entry and rights to its resources, or at least had the opportunity to claim such benefits.
But what about king Xuan’s park? When Mencius entered king Xuan’s kingdom, he was careful to find out what were the local customs, and what was forbidden. He learned that if someone was to hunt a deer in king Xuan’s park, that person would have been treated and punished like someone who had murdered a human being. Because king Xuan kept the park for himself, the people thought of it as ‘large’ – as it was reserved for the benefit of only a single individual and his family.
Thus far was the extended answer of Mencius to king Xuan. Now I shall elaborate more on this important message.
What King Xuan was lacking in, was the mentality of abundance. Instead of feeling that he had abundance, king Xuan suffered from a scarcity mindset. He felt as though, despite having this extensive green terrain under his control, that he did not possess enough, or that somehow by sharing the park he could lose it. He therefore acted like a miser with his resources. The result had been, that the people psychologically felt that his park was ‘large’, though it was physically smaller than that of a previous sovereign. It was also a lose-lose strategy, as he was left both anxious of the negative image of him this created among others, and unable to use the park he had for further growth. What is not stated but is hinted, is that this generated enemies and challenges for king Xuan, as the people must have been displeased by his miserly mannerisms. This is why he sought the advice of Mencius – for he knew that this was a sign of troubles to come. Further we should not neglect the observation, that had he shared his park in a similar fashion to king Wen, then not only that area would have been thought of as ‘small’, but the people also would naturally have been more inclined to wish that their King’s territory be expanded and for his power to grow, for it benefitted them as well.
Research has shown that among social mammals, the beta males constantly compete, while the alpha males are more generous and benevolent, on average and relative to the circumstances. Why? Because they have an abundance mentality. The majority of martial arts teachers whom I have encountered, who were both successful and worthy, displayed this alpha male quality of benevolence and generosity.
A truly enlightened sovereign of his kingdom – one who has rulership not only in name but also in spirit, can find it in his power to allow others into his park, without fear of loss. When this is undertaken, and you are truly and genuinely set out to offer from your resources to the appropriate people in a thoughtful and appropriate manner, then suddenly the opportunities will present themselves. The right people will, in the process of months and years, discover that your park is open and inviting. Many of them will by these actions, appeal to you, and it would seem as if you have gone on an ever-growing ‘lucky streak’ in your life and career. But for this to happen, a park must be both cultivated, inviting and without unnecessary boundaries.
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Today, they are attempting to do the same thing with Chen style taijiquan. Below is a link to a podcast by Jonathan Bluestein discussing this development.
