Facing the Dark Side

"A truly accomplished warrior may renounce violence -
but only his or her mastery of violence makes this possible."
-Phil Elmore, founder of The Martialist

There is much insight in Elmore's words; however, I would expand upon Elmore's words and replace "violence" with "darkness". Perhaps it's the Star Wars fan in me, but I also believe that violence is often a physical projection of dark thoughts and beliefs that we allow to manifest in our consciousness, and then bring forth into the world. If we are to overcome violent tendencies, we must confront our darker nature and take control of it, lest it control us.

If you glance at a yin-yang symbol, there are many lessons represented within the simple pattern which resonate with the martial artist's path towards overcoming their dark side.

The first concept is called the duality of opposites: the idea that there are qualities which exist in opposition to each other within a given phenomena. We cannot speak of one without referring to the other. In the quest towards achieving peace, the martial artist must acknowledge and accept that they carry both positive and negative qualities. To borrow from a Cherokee parable, the side which triumphs is the one you feed.

The second concept relates to the common root of yin and yang. Both concepts are bound together as a mutual whole, which in our case, is ourselves. Our emotions, positive and negative, spring forth from the same place.

The third concept can be seen in the wavelike shape of the yin-yang, as well as the circle contained within each 'head' of the 'fish': the yin-yang represents transformative duality. Both sides contain the potential to transform each other into their opposites. As such, we must be cautious of dogmatic tendencies. As Elmore would warn in his critique of pacifism, an extreme adherence to peace-loving can potentially become a disregard for life, if we place the value of peace over that of life. Some things are worth fighting for. Conversely, some of the major social movements in our world have taken place following some of the darkest chapters of our history: a sort of light which shines forth from the darkness.

The fourth concept is dynamic equilibrium. Yin and yang exist in balance and harmony. When one disappears, so does the other. We cannot discard our negative emotions. Training or no training, they remain a part of us. Instead, we learn to resolve them, and in doing so, we achieve balance. Ideally, this is a milestone of a martial artist's philosophical development.

It doesn't take fancy academic terminology to understand yin and yang, especially as it pertains to confronting our darker selves. Ultimately, it boils down to recognizing, coming to terms with, and handling our own potential for wrongdoings in thoughts, speech, and action.