MN A perspective on the Force, and the Dark Side

Well, reading the NJO books and reading up on the latest AOTC stuff, dont worry no spoilers here, I have been thinking alot jst about the struggle the Jedi have with the force. As a martial artist, I struggle with a similar but much more mundane issue. It helps though to bring to light what it is they are going through.
As a Jedi, they must define rules to live by. This helps to warn and possibly stop anyone who may begin the slow spiral to the darkside. These rules are a must but sometimes they have to be broken.
The Jedi also struggle with those who abuse the force for thier own goals ruining the reputation of the Jedi being the least of the problems they deal with. Causing harm to others being one of the greatest.

As a martial artist, I must think in much the same way. We as martial artist have rules we have to live by. Legally we can be held responsible for our actions in a way your average person cannot. In a confrontation we must decide what level of force is necessary. For those who follow the "good path" we struggle with the question "what must I do to protect myself and my loved ones, or even innocent bystanders? How far would I go?" How can the skills I have be used to better my life and those lives around me?
We also deal with the bad images people can get from the wrong people. In my high school there was a certain person from a martial school who was always fighting, just wanted to prove he was hard. Some friends and I were in another school and found that peoples attitudes were sometimes influenced by what they saw this othe rguy do! Eventually, a friend of mine approached him adn told him how he felt about what he was doing and everytime he heard about this guy fighting he would look for him and they would then have to fight. As far as I know the guy never fought again in our school!
Anyway, sorry to ramble, just thought maybe you guys would appreciate the perspective!
Oddly, sometimes when I am training, I often think of Lukes training. We do some things that take a lot of willpower at times to maintain and being a Star Wars junkie, I often think about that when I am training!

 

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Just watching the tumbleweeds roll on by.....

 

Good observation. I'm not in martial arts myself, but I had thought the disciplines seemed very similar, too.

 

I believe so. Obviously I dont have to worry about some supernatural ability helping me on my way to the darkside! But the training is similar in that alot of willpower and concentration is recquired. Just funny how two passions sort of intermingle.....

 

I have also studied Martial Arts. I do agree there are many similarities. Samurai are the first discipline that come to my mind when I think of the Jedi.

The question I would have is does a Jedi have to train to fight in order to master the force. Is the Starwars version of the Force dependent on learning combat skills. With Martial Arts you must lean skills that can be used in Combat. There is just no way around it. That is what you are learning even if the hope is you will never use it. Even if you only practice it for forms or Exercise all moves have some Application for fighting. Even the most peaceful types of Martial Arts Like Tae Chi use moves that can be used on another person. It just when the practice them they uses them for other things like centering one's self and even just for General exercise.

I am sure that discipline is a big part of Jedi Training. Training in a martial atmosphere can be very affective in creating discipline. We see from the books that even healers train in Jedi combat. I just wonder if it would be possible for some one to master the force with out it.

So Red5A, What style do you study? I have a Black belt in Soo Bahk Do and I have studied Tae Kwon Do. I only train on my own now and honestly I haven't been very good at keeping up with it. I had to make cuts to my budget a couple of years back and that was one of the things to go. I wish I didn't though. Giving something up you did for 12 years was a dumb move. I put on a lot of weight when I stopped too. So take my advice Don't stop.

 

Hey Doright, what is soo bahk do? It sounds familiar. I myself study Wing Chun, have for about three years now. In high school I studied Ryu Kyu Karate. I love the arts, especially wing chun and dont plan on giving it up. Its a passion and a part of me.
As for martial beginnings, well I believe that you can probably study the force without having a martial bent, but war is as part of the force at is with everything else. To harness it to protect I think was a defensive mechanism. You know at some point someone will figure out how to use it to do bad, so better get started right away using it for good to combat that evil!
I do believe that part o fit has to do with the discipline. You wont necessarily directly get discipline training from your martial arts classes, but to make yourself practice everyday, to stand in awkward and sometimes painful positions for hours or practice something boring over and over again, and to learn to concentrate on what the goal is, instills some discipline whether you want it to or not!

 

Its a korean thing, called so bak do mu du kwan (the spelling may not be right)

 

Hmmm, can you guys explain a little of the principles to me? Is it similar to Tae Kwon Do?

 

it's mostly the norm-only for defence, that sorta thing

 

It is very similar. It is just more traditional than Tae Kwon Do. Much of the techniques are the same but the forms/hyungs/katas are different. They are both Korean Styles. Soo Bahk Do could be almost considered an off shoot of TKD but there are also Chinese and Japanese styles that are incorporated in it. It was originally called Tang Soo Do (way of the China hand) but the founder changed the name to distance his style from the other Tang Soo do styles that began to pop up around the world.

 

Aaaaaah Tang Soo Do! now I know what you guys are talking about! Thanks guys.