Explaining the AKBAN ethical code

Ethical Code for Martial Art Practitioners - An Explanation

(Excerpt from a lecture made in 2002 during an instructor's course)

Before we begin, let me reiterate: our ethical code is unique. It is not a collection of dos and don'ts, nor is it a recommendation of anything moral, good, or bad. These are not the Ten Commandments. Our ethical code is an accurate picture of the kind of people we are now, or in other words, what distinguishes us from lawyers, accountants, or soldiers.

This code, this representation, is the concentrated result of more than 25 years of training. The precision of this code is being improved and altered as we go along and change as a community. This describes us now and does not constitute any future recommendation.

Normative Values are a Constructing Base for a Professional Organization

In 1995, veterans participated in and organized the first Ninjutsu instructor course at the Wingate Institute. In this course and on many occasions afterward, we dealt mainly with the technical aspects of teaching and training. The experiences we have had since have made it clear that we also need a normative approach that will outline our conduct.

Knowing Ninjutsu alone has not stopped me and other instructors from conducting ourselves poorly and childishly on many occasions.

The professionalism painted on the flags of many martial arts systems is not the essence that has made our time together so unique. The difference resides in some values upheld here, and not in our professional martial arts achievements. Since these values were ingrained in day-to-day practice, there was no need to name them. Now there is a need. This effort is an endeavor to identify these values and give them specific meaning. We need this precise tool to maintain not only our professionalism but also our unique atmosphere. I want to emphasize again: these values define us now in our pursuit; this is not an effort to make a regulative and binding "law." No one will be suspended because they did not uphold the inner honesty value. The "document" is a precise drawing of our faces now. Any divergence from the values stated here shows a different choice. In other words, any practitioner who diverges from exemplifying the value of friendship in a major way will see for themselves that they do not belong to our community. There will be no steps taken, no suspensions, etc. There will only be the mirror that is the community of martial artists and its ethical code. A person can look through this 'ethical code filter' and see for themselves whether they appear in this group photo.

One more thing: these values are not a regular goal. With much deliberation, they are phrased in the present tense, meaning we are already in the process of behaving like this, and we do not aspire to anything above our regular level of practice.

The nature of borders is always disputable, as is the exact phrasing and meaning of words. That makes our code a living document, not an absolute one. For example, the value of professionalism is understood differently for a beginner and for a veteran practitioner who trains every day. I think that as long as there is not a complete disagreement with the essence of the ethical code, a practitioner is deemed as one who abides by it.

Even if these values are a unique creation of our Israeli organization, I find an echo in the ancient Ninpo resolutions that my teacher, Mr. Doron Navon, framed on the wall of the old dojo in Kiryat Shaul:

Seishin Teki kyoyo (points for spiritual refinement for martial arts)

Knowing oneself
Knowing nature
Destiny (can be translated as calling)
Harmony
The Heart
The Eye
Love

(What I have left, and is written above, is only a copy of the page, without the Japanese kanji, so it is possible that the translation by Doron, a fluent Japanese scholar, had some inner meaning that was hidden from me.) These points were taken by Doron from ancient sources in our system. These points are unique in the world of ancient martial arts. How do the heart, eye, and love relate to such a lethal martial art?

With that background, it seems to me that our Ethical Code stems both from who we are now and from this relic from the ancient SHINOBI past - the Seishin Teki Kyoyo.

I will now go on to the actual "Document" and elaborate on the values written in it one by one.

Further addition: in the middle of 2003, we had to make clear another item in our behavior, namely - the use of power. It is now written as an integral part of the AKBAN code, and it suffices to quote it here in full:

Power (AKBAN's Razor):

A martial arts practitioner, a free human being, is cautious and does not use their power beyond what is needed. If there is a need to use power, it shall be done with wisdom, patience, and compassion. A martial arts practitioner is always careful when using their powers but is especially attentive when they are at an advantage point. Advantage points and the power of the martial arts practitioner stem from their physical strength, martial knowledge, the cohesion of their fellow martial arts practitioners, and also from other factors: money, social class, etc. Using power beyond what is necessary corrupts and distances the martial arts practitioner from what is dear. (2003 addition)

Insight:

A martial arts practitioner maintains and develops a harmonious personal insight that binds thoughts, movements, and emotions. About this insight, that which cannot be said can be done.

As I said before, the "Document" is written in the present tense. Since the point for this choice is very complicated, I will not get into the explanation as to why there is no suggestion for something above our regular level of existence. I will say only this: that this insight that presents itself under the mantle of 'master' will be totally destroyed by the work of ambition without a special supervision.

This value is divided into two distinct parts. In the first one, it says that every achievement in our system has to be harmonious. For example, there is no point in being a martial arts practitioner with a lot of intellectual knowledge and technique but with an infantile emotional stage that rears up every time they are being criticized.

There is also no point in a martial arts practitioner who is highly balanced emotionally but gets a cramp every time they have to kick. There has to be some correlation between the different faculties: Thought, Emotion, and Movement.

In the other part of the insight value, we jump to another perspective. This jump is a "trick" I did (with the help of many) to open up the value, to say something to the effect that there is an essence here that I do not understand. I wanted to state that there is something that is felt but cannot be phrased. I wanted a place that we can advance to individually, so I wrote the only thing that was clear to me - that I cannot talk about this insight, but I do something about it. To sum up this value, I wanted to remind what was said before each lesson in Japan: "Shikin haramitzu daikomyo" or "Insight through what we do".

Friendship

Above all technical achievements and as a basis for all spiritual development, a martial arts practitioner maintains and develops friendship between themselves and their fellow trainees. This application is a fundamental base that expresses humanity, concession of tangible achievements, and compassion.

When I presented the "Document" to veterans, one of them contributed what they thought was a better phrasing. They wanted to substitute companionship with friendship. We gave it a thought and in the end left it as such. It is true that beginning practitioners do not have such deep relations with others, but we all know, from experience, what happens after some years. This partnership has many deep veins that penetrate very slowly and make relationships in our organization so outstanding. This is not an artificial process, nor is it speedy; I have not noticed any hugs and stuff with the veterans. It is a slow and natural process that happens if we mirror the other values of the ethical code in our conduct. This is also the actual barometer for all the other values. That is the reason we wrote "fundamental base." If I, as an instructor, give up the income from a seminar for a communal cause, then that is a real application of the harmonious development of honesty and responsibility. Friendship shows humanity for real. A martial arts practitioner who lets themselves show, in ascending order, care, kindness, and even love for others, makes themselves weak. Clint Eastwood is so strong because he cares about nobody. The minute a Hollywood hero has a love, family, or kids, he becomes weaker. So, one solution, which is unacceptable to me, is emotional detachment from others, isolation. Instead, the first thing is kindness and humanity.

There is also a great trap into which many fall: money. At a certain stage, an instructor has to worry about making a living. We have specific rules that govern this, but some rules have to withstand the "Heart test". When there is indecision between making a living and friends who have been with us for many years, the friendly emotion must prevail. A living can be made elsewhere, but a friend, a human being, is irreplaceable. For homework: compassion. Since this is a lecture in an instructor's course, look it up. What does it mean? I will say that for me, it begins with sensitivity to others, with the ability to put myself in their place and to understand the perspective they have, the emotions, and reactions which are not always under control, just like me.

Perseverance

A martial arts practitioner transcends difficulties and trains for many years.

I have nothing further to add to this apart from using this value as an example of what I called "this is our picture." A practitioner in our organization who does not train regularly is not under any sanctions. When they look in the mirror through the filter of this code, they see for themselves: they do not fit. I might add that even if I, the guy who initiated this ethical effort, would stop training out of choice or karma, I would no longer abide by our code. I would not be in the picture. I might still be involved with friends, but I would be out of the boundaries of the martial community.

Sensitivity

A martial arts practitioner is sensitive to others, to the environment, and to themselves.

In this exact order: First to others, because it is more difficult; to the environment, because that is part of the Shugendo heritage (here Guy Renan will give a lecture that will clarify); and of course, to ourselves. Here we only became more and more sensitive, and we tried not to add any more emotional and corporal armor.

Honesty

A martial arts practitioner thinks sincerely.

This is a crucial value; even Musashi placed it at the top of his list of values ("Do not think dishonestly"). What we mean is that there is almost no real progress without observing what is really happening to ourselves. It does not say that a martial arts practitioner never lies. If a female friend of Musashi is going out of a hairdresser, and it looks like some moths destroyed her hair, I am most certain that honesty would be very stupid and rash. What would Musashi think? That is a completely different story.

The other day I visited the website of one of the top prominent teachers in martial arts. He does not state anywhere who was his teacher for many years. And his teacher states some mythical tutor and does not mention the fact that he studied Karate for ten years at another teacher's dojo. Who were his real teachers? Does he himself know? If he is lying to me, that is better, in my eyes, than believing these lies himself. In the VCR tape of Koga the Judo champion, in the books and VCR tapes of Dan Gable, a great Olympic champion and coach, they both remind and give credit to their high school teachers. For me, that is a representation of honesty. Personal honesty has many more features and is opposite to myth; it demands great courage, humility, and maturity. Beginning students should get the honesty they can tolerate, veterans should tolerate more. This is crucial.

Professionalism

A martial arts practitioner strives toward realistic and accomplished technique.

Here is another value that is part of the picture that is us. Here you can see the great variability between practitioners. Every martial arts practitioner has a different obligation for training at different times in their lives. There are times when you can train twice a day, and there are times when even once a week is impossible. From the professional perspective, if a martial arts practitioner in the martial community is dedicated to the idea of technical improvement at whatever pace they have, they have a good place among us. Using "Honesty," I have to admit that I am a long way from performing many techniques correctly, so with striving for professionalism comes patience.

Responsibility

A martial arts practitioner is obligated to the responsibility that outflows from the power of martial knowledge. The responsibility is comprised of:

Practical responsibility for their own well-being.
Physical responsibility for their fellow training partners.
Responsibility to others that is the outcome of being a member of society.
Responsibility for the preservation of humane and martial knowledge within the frame of the martial community.

At first glance, this is clear and politically correct, but we had a lot of problems with the third part of this value: responsibility to others. We still do not know if that is a feature of the Martial community.

The responsibility meant here, in all four paragraphs, is active and not passive. Responsibility for one's own body is stated here because, in a sense, we owe our bodies good care. Training for many years is beneficial, but overtraining and asceticism are not. I say that here, knowing fully the inner tendencies of some of us, myself included. Our bodies are under our care and must not be "punished" to amend emotional needs. This active responsibility is based on science. We read, learn, and participate in seminars to assimilate only good training and nutritional habits.

In the training area, I am responsible for my training partner. He is responsible for me. There is no Ninjutsu without people. We do few Katas alone, and I have to be with good training partners. I have to safeguard them because if I don't, I will not have experienced training partners. I will have injured training partners, and I will have to train in other systems. As I said earlier, the third paragraph is problematic. I am happy with it because I would like it to be true for me, but I do not think that everybody here has to feel the same, and I do not have any way to explain it rationally. A small part that is agreeable to all here is that we cannot use the power that we have to cause harm! This, in itself, is very difficult. There is no way that we will let our martial knowledge grow people with psychopathic personalities.