The Manly Arts

Its a bull fight

I suppose much of that would refer to fighting. These days we only hear of conflicts … ambushes … airstrikes … and the work of drones. However between one man and another … in an engagement of the right or wrong of issues … a man is obliged to enter into a trial by combat … whose winner is then deemed true. As fascinating as it is .. on the tests and redemption … that a man goes through … it also brings to play … a host of factors … that reveal themselves in the … savvy of the passions … and the common sense of the mind.

 

We have no doubt … come to view some of these … in sports and movie presentations. The bull fights of Spain … the movies of Akira Kurosawa … and the war strategies of Emperors … Kings … and the recent management of that … by trained soldiers … serving as Generals.  My favorite is the lawman … taking down … a stressed out gunslinger … on main street … by the  fast draw.

 

It takes an eye for detail … to truly appreciate … all the factors that come into play … and I'm obliged to ask if anyone has truly taken a good look at a male bull … especially the Spanish Toros? Its built with overwhelming muscles on its shoulders and front feet … and the Spanish who share their lands with these immense beasts … have obviously taken to relating to them … as the arts of the personality.

 

No doubt nature provides for the male display … and its reproductive capability. And it makes for great sport … when a lone Spaniard … faces such a bull … in a ring. It creates a display of the full strength of body brute … against someone less endowed but is with a brain. The contest we see thereafter … is man's understanding of the anima passions … and his management of his situation … in confronting the bull on it.

 

In comparison … hunting with rifles may appear cruel … for in bull fighting … the man creates the best opportunity for an equal playing field … in his encounter. The bull's passion is in his blood … so a red cape … taunts him. He moves with ease … and makes no hesitation about his volition to respond … especially in the naked self awareness of his beauty … in full exposure to the light of the day. So the matador works at the bull … to make him weary of his antics.

 

Then two well placed banderillas … on the shoulder blades … brings an anguish of pain at every step. And with the blood flow … the grinding pain on the shoulders … the bull encounters something resembling disapproval … and then fear … that constricts his muscles … and slows him down. The pride takes a tumble … and he realizes that he has lost his motivation … to display himself in the usual manner. Soon he starts to feel disoriented.

 

Its the point of the greatest risk to the matador … when the bull realizes he can't keep it up … and has to make a move on the matador himself.  At that critical point in the lives of the two contenders  … the matador must thrust the descabello into the heart of the bull … for a quick kill. The bull spews blood from his mouth … and appears lost … in the way .. he looks around at everything … before it all goes black … and he collapses. The word matador in Spanish means ... killer of bulls.

 

In comparison … the arts of Bushido … bring into illustration … another important aspect of the contest for life between two individuals. Two samurai facing each other … claim to a better understanding of themselves … and their viability as life lived. Its an attestation to the designs of the creative energies … to seek the strongest strain of man. The samurai does a quick study of the ground … around him and his opponent … and tests the adversary for qualities … and the way that works on the varieties of terrain … including level ground … slopes … stony … grassy and the changes to elements of wind and light.

 

By drawing the opponent … into their weakest position … the individual defeats him … by the lapse in focus … before bringing down the katana … on the opponents person. No doubt Napoleon Bonarparte … relied on something similar … in his battles … and terrain was a key factor of significance.  Curiously … in meeting Nelson at Waterloo … Napoleon seems to have overlooked the fact that the Brits live on an island … with an obvious home grown love of the sea.

 

The American lawman … serves to make the town safe … and enjoys a fair share of affection by the townsfolk. It augments his understanding of human personality … and helps him deal with wound up gunslingers out to make a reputation. In drawing on each other … the sheriff knows the mind of haste of the gunman … his appeal for recognition … and his hopes for fame … as a way of managing his insecurities. In contrast the lawman … stands firm … is doing his job … belongs to the land he stands on … and represents law and order. It translates into focus.

 

In much the same way … the student of self realization … employs a similar set of guides … against all that is arraigned against him … in his biases  … pride … and haste of ambition. He's aware of his own part in the engagement of mind … but must get the mind released from past habits … of poor management … so that he can train it for a better achievement. Its not unlike bull fighting. He lets the passions exhaust themselves … and at the critical point … as they throw the loaded baggage of human achievement at him … with a lot of ambiguous claims of capability … he responds.

A tree grows in the forest ... reaches for the light ... and sometimes causes to perish the bushes ... for its canopy blocks out the light. But its also a home for ferns ... birds ... butterflies ... and insects that populate its limbs. In observing the culpability of every individual ... the student Arjuna ... on the battlefield at Kurushetra ... appeals his guru for a preservation of his righteousness. To this his guru replies that there is none. Only our responsibility for the actions that we perform.