Dear readers,
This is a very special graphic. It sits only as an addendum in Trident's Flame, nor is it central to the story, as it's simply meant to represent the kind of curriculum Jake Sloan is used to being trained with. It is as Biblical a martial arts model as I've ever seen, both sound theoretically in terms of training and development research, sound from a martial arts practitioner's perspective, and sound theologically from a Protestant Evangelical Christian perspective.The bottom level of the model is borrowed from Jim Downing's book entitled Meditation (now in it's Fifth Edition; here's the link: http://www.navpress.com/product/9781615217250/Meditation-Jim-Downing), where he explains the role of the soul in appropriating the life of Christ, especially through mediation on Scripture.
Here is the (very) brief write-up about the model in Trident's Flame:
Sensei Bruce Nakada’s Training Hierarchy
Sensei Bruce Nakada, Jake Sloan’s
martial arts instructor and founder of the Kitsune Ryu (pronounced Rue, meaning
a school) dojo, uses a model for teaching his students about parallels between
the physical and spiritual realms of living and training. As a Christian, Bruce Nakada subscribes only
to the use of martial arts as a training vehicle for a more mature life, and
one that ultimately leads the person to serve, save (share the message of God’s
pardon in the spiritual sense, and help others in need in the physical sense),
and strengthen others. The point he
makes with the above model is that the goals for Christian discipleship and
true martial arts training are nearly the same.
They both lead to serving, saving, and strengthening others. Of course, the life of the believer has a
spiritual source that far outmatches the mere physical discipline of his
dojo. This is why he expects every one
of his Christian students to keep themselves in a healthy church, participate
in sincere fellowship with other believers, and grow from the teaching of the
Word of God. There is no substitute for
that.
Below is a more formal overview of
the Kitsune Ryu Warriorship Training Hierarchy.
Kitsune Ryu Training Hierarchy
Explaining a Training Hierarchy
A training hierarchy describes how
basic skills are needed as a foundation for more advanced skills. In the physical realm we understand that one
must sit before crawling, crawl before walking, etc. In the spiritual realm we understand that a
person must maintain an abiding relationship with the Savior (see John 15 for
His discussion of our need to abide in Him) as a foundation for any other type of
spiritual growth.
Paul taught a type of learning
hierarchy when he described the believer’s path to growth in Philippians 4:9, 1
Thessalonians 2:13-14, and Romans 10:14-15, when he assumed that an unbeliever
would see God’s fruit in Paul’s life, hear the Word preached, receive that
Truth implanted in them, learn and imitate what they saw in Paul’s life, and
put those things into practice. Each of
those areas describes a level of spiritual learning, from basic to advanced:
Seeing, Hearing, Receiving, Learning, Practicing.
Kitsune Ryu’s Hierarchy (overview only)
The Kitsune Ryu training hierarchy
is designed to describe the parallels in training goals for both the Physical
Realm of living and the Spiritual Realm.
It starts from the perspective of warriorship training, where certain
basic skills and abilities are required before more advanced skills can be
mastered. It should be noted that
warriorship is a more comprehensive idea than mere martial arts. Warriorship takes in a larger view of who the
person becomes, not merely what they can do.
It includes the true end of warriorship, which is service for the
greater good and protection of society.
In the Kitsune Ryu physical
hierarchy, breathing, or basic aerobic capacity is fundamental to everything else. The same holds true for sports and other
athletic pursuits. Without the ability
to move the body physically and exchange carbon dioxide for life-giving oxygen,
the athlete cannot perform. After that
comes a series of increasingly sophisticated skill sets of perception training
(awareness-alertness, seeing), balance, adjusting posture or attitude of the
body, followed by blocking, striking, and grappling. The ultimate end of true martial arts
training mimics the goals of the spiritual realm: strengthening or encouraging
of others, saving others from harm, and serving others. The most obvious quality of a fully trained
warrior would be selfless service for others.
We see examples of this in the U.S. Armed Forces.
In the Spiritual Realm, the abiding
relationship takes a similar path of discipleship, beginning with
alertness-awareness and discernment. To
this is added self-control, proper attitude (toward self, God, and others), and
the skills of guarding one’s heart (the book of Proverbs teaches extensively in
this area). More advanced skills are
added, including spiritual warfare in prayer, contending for the faith in the
spirit of peaceful evangelism (think of the examples of Paul and Apollos), and
ultimately, strengthening and
encouraging others, evangelizing to bring others to salvation, and serving. Strengthening, saving, and serving describes
a cluster of mature, fruit-producing actions by the faithful believer. See the John 15 discussion about the natural
outcome of fruit in the life of the believer, and see Paul’s letters for
various kinds of fruit of the Spirit.
-- DS Fox, Ph.D., November 2011
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