Alan Watts on Judo; analysis of Mifune
Post date: Jan 23, 2016 7:31:55 AM - Robert Dale Nolan
Alan watts, one of the great earlier minds in the introduction and translation of Buddhist philosophy is no stranger to Judo. ) Watts was a British-born American philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter. Whats helped popularize Eastern philosophy in the western world. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. Pursuing a career, he attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master's degree in theology. Watts became an Episcopal priest in 1945, then left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies. Below we see Watts describing the movements, defenses and attacks used by Kyuzo Mifune, the "God of Judo".
Mifune effortlessly fends off men easily twice his size and weight, but utilizing kuzushi, swiftly re-positioning his own body and expertly executing technique it is very easy to see how Mifune earned the title bestowed upon him. Alan remarks as to how Mifune is pliant, responding to his attacker in such a way to rob him and redirect the aggressive actions back at their originator. Mifune himself expressed similar thoughts on Judo as an expression of the nature of the universe manifest in the workings and motions of the human body.