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CHAPTER 4

Physical Strength

The Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, 2001. “The first kuji, Rin, is about strength,” An-Shu Hayes told the assembled training group. Some of us had read his books and therefore knew the name of Kuji One as Rin (臨 in Japanese, pronounced “reen” with slightly rolled “r”). A few even knew the old Chinese Taoist history that explained why the Japanese kanji character, which literally means “face” or “meet,” came to represent Strength.

“There are many kinds of strength,” An-Shu continued. “And if we were going to study Kuji One deeply, you’d want to look at all of them. But let’s start with physical strength, because it is the most clear and maybe the easiest to learn.”

Inwardly, I was worried. I didn’t want to do a bunch of calisthenics. I was more of a long-distance runner, and not much of a gym guy. Besides, I came to the seminar in the misty mountains of North Carolina to learn magic, not attend a high-school PE class.

As if he read my mind, An-Shu continued with, “Now we could study things like weightlifting to understand strength. That would be the most literal and direct form of the knowledge, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But here we’re talking about something different. Is it possible that by changing something in our own minds, we could access more physical strength?”

I stood up a little straighter. The group considered his rhetorical question. And then we got our first exercise to experience a taste of Kuji One.

Exercise One – The Unbendable Arm

Get a trusted training partner close to your own size and strength. Your partner is going to be bending your arm while you resist, but there are some safety considerations to setup first.

Face your training partner and place your forearm on their shoulder as in the first illustration. Make sure your elbow is such that it can bend downward (or else you’re going to turn this exercise into a dangerous and painful armbar).

Your partner is going to use their two hands to pull down on your elbow and try to bend your arm. Since they get two arms to do it, as well as the leverage of your arm braced on their shoulder, they have a good advantage. Just relax and let them do it gently once to make sure that your arm can bend comfortably that way. Once you have that established, return to the starting position with your arm extended and your forearm on their shoulder.

With this safe setup in place, you can start the exercise. First you will experience their strength while you resist using conventional strength. Tense up your muscles and try to resist, while they use their strength to bend your arm. If you and they are similar in strength, you’ll be able to battle them for a few seconds, but they will win out as your arm tires because they have two arms and a better position.

Now for the Kuji One experience. Instead of closing your hand into a fist and tensing up to resist, you will simply place your arm on their shoulder in a firm but relaxed fashion. Open your hand as if you were reaching for something behind them. Although you are going to stay in place, really reach forward, as if a loved one’s hand was just out of reach. Breathe out as you reach, imagining your breath coming out of the palm of your hand.

Your training partner will now use their conventional strength to try to bend your arm. When they start putting pressure on your arm, you might be tempted to forget your visualization and focus on fighting them, but for this exercise, keep your mind on reaching for the imaginary hand. Keep breathing deeply and relaxed, imagining the out-breath going out through your palm. Do your best to ignore the person struggling to bend your arm.

You are likely to notice a big difference in the ease with which you resist. If you and the other person are similar in strength, and you follow the directions correctly, you will be able to resist them indefinitely with this method. They will likely exhaust themselves trying to bend your arm and give up in fatigue, frustration, and amazement.

If you are significantly stronger than your training partner, you may find that you are able to resist the arm bend even with conventional strength, but you’ll still notice a difference in how easy it is with this method.

If your training partner is much stronger than you, they may be able to defeat your ability to hold the position even with this exercise, but you and they both will notice a big difference in how much force it took to bend that arm.

The author resists his training partner with conventional muscle strength.

The author channels the power of Kuji One to overcome his opponent’s muscular effort.

“There are limits,” An-Shu shared. “How many of you think it’s possible for a person to focus their energy and drive their fist right through a wooden board?”

Although To-Shin Do, our martial art, does not practice board-breaking, many people in the group had actually studied Karate or Tae Kwon Do before finding us, so they raised their hands with enthusiasm.

“Of course, because many of you have done it. I’ve done it too,” continued An-Shu. “How many of you think it’s possible for a person to lose their focus, slam the same fist into a similar wooden board, and break their hand?” Several of the group raised their hands with a grin, some of them displaying scars and misshapen knuckles from their previous martial art. “So we know that proper mental attitude makes a difference at some level.

“But what about this? How many think it possible that a person could ball up their fist, focus their energy, and shatter a porcelain sink?”

We looked around at each other. We wondered if it was possible. No one had ever seen it done, but we wanted it to be possible. A few of us tentatively raised our hands, trying to indicate our hope that he would show us how to do such a thing.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve seen some incredible things in my 40 years in martial arts, but I’ve never seen that done, and I’m not sure it is possible. And even if it were, what about punching through a car engine block? Or an armored tank? Or a mountain range? There is going to be a limit.”

I actually felt disappointed. Ever since childhood, I had wanted to have the power to punch through trees and pick up cars. I wanted to be strong enough to move anything, but I was born as an average size human being. I was looking for magic to take away all the limits.

During a training break later, I got a chance to ask my question in private.

“An-Shu, how do we know what’s possible? What if the only reason we can’t punch through an engine block is because we believe we can’t?”

He smiled generously at my question. “You’re right, of course. No one can know for sure what is and is not possible. But it’s very important to be real. There is no point in fantasizing about what might be possible. Start where you are, study the methods, and get better. You’ll find out what’s possible, and when you go further than any of us did, we’ll come to your seminar.”

It was so practical. It made so much sense. Missing the encouragement in his statement, I flushed with embarrassment that I had shared my childish ideas. “Yes, sir, I will practice.”

Of course he knew my thoughts. “No need to be embarrassed. It’s normal for the mind to leap far into the future. It’s a way for our fears to keep us from actually working on the growth we seek. When you catch yourself, just bring yourself back and get to work on getting better now.”

I was amazed. I had never encountered a teacher so knowledgeable of both the topic and the path to mastery. I had never met a man with so much skill who could be so generous with his clumsy students.

My mind was churning with possibilities, and another question finally formed. “So, if board-breaking is something people can learn about Strength now, why don’t we do it in To-Shin Do?”

“Because it’s not the point of the practice,” he said. He got up without another word and walked out onto the mat. It was time for the next exercise.

Exercise Two – Getting Earthy

Get a trusted training partner close to your own size and strength.

You will stand in a natural stance, feet about shoulder’s width apart. Your partner’s job is to step up behind you, squat low with a straight back, and pick you up with their arms around your waist. Let your partner try it slowly and carefully a couple of times to make sure they can do it without jerking or straining their back. Remind them to lift from the legs.

The author stays neutral and allows his training partner to lift him.

The first time, don’t do anything special. Just let your partner lift you so that you and they get a sense of how difficult it is for them.

The second time, you will prepare yourself before they attempt the lift. Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly and completely. Imagine yourself as much heavier than normal. Settle your weight into your bones and let your legs soften a bit. Be relaxed and concentrate on your own heaviness.

Let your partner try to pick you up. If you start to get moved or lifted, don’t focus on fighting them. Focus instead on relaxing more and getting heavy.

It will make a difference if you can remain relaxed and focused on heaviness. If your partner is very strong, they may be able to lift you anyway, but they will feel the difference distinctly. It is like when a parent tries to pick up a child who is passively resisting.

The author gets earthy and his training partner cannot lift him at all.

Once you have this trick working for you, try not telling your partner which it will be. See how soon they can feel the difference when they try to lift you.

If you’re feeling particularly comfortable with the exercise, you might even be able to activate the heaviness after they’ve lifted you, and thereby sink back down to the ground against their strength. Be careful, though, because it is possible to hurt your partner if they are not aligned properly for your weight. Take appropriate athletic precautions.

“The patron of the power of Kuji One was called Fudo Myo’o in Japanese lore, or Acalanatha in Sanskrit,” An-Shu Hayes explained. “His name means The Immovable One.”

I had read about Fudo Myo’o (不動明王) as one of the Five Wisdom Kings known to Japanese Buddhism, certain historical ninja groups, and the yamabushi mountain shamans. I hadn’t realized that the image of Fudo Myo’o has existed in ancient India as well under the Sanskrit name Acalanatha.

“We can start with the practice of being physically immovable, but it goes much deeper. Fudo Myo’o also represents how to be imperturbable, unflappable, not distressed by the chaos around you.”

I thought of how in the exercises we had practiced, the physical manifestation of immovability was generated by holding my mind to the right thought. If my attention slipped, or I doubted myself, or I let my training partner’s struggles distract me, I would immediately lose the ability to resist their power.

“An obvious example of the use of that mental strength is the confidence and focus you can generate to bring strength to your martial arts practice,” my teacher continued. “Deeper than that is the ability to hold a space under social and emotional pressure.” He looked right at me as he said this, though I wasn’t sure why.

I raised my hand. “Do you just mean not backing down?”

He looked slightly irritated at my question. “You could put it in simple terms like that, but in real life it is much more difficult to do with intelligence and grace. When I was providing personal protection for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we often needed to secure a space for His Holiness, but we were working with monks, spiritual practitioners, celebrities, fans, and media. It would have been totally inappropriate to just get tough and ugly and throw people out like bar bouncers.”

The group laughed at the image of the Dalai Lama’s protection team roughing up Buddhist monks who had come to pray. An-Shu Hayes nodded at the laughter for a moment, and then suddenly became very serious. “It sounds funny to imagine, but well-meaning people make this mistake all the time. If your idea of strength is mere ignorant resistance, then you have no ability to project intelligent force in the world. In which case, your only choices are to be a doormat or a difficulty.”

The room went quiet while we absorbed that. I remembered role-models in my life, good-hearted people, who had either been pushed aside by the insistent needs of others, or who were pushed until they exploded with too much anger and righteousness. I cringed on the inside remembering loved ones who were not able to harness strength in an intelligent and appropriate way.

“So how do we harness the power of Fudo Myo’o?” I finally asked aloud.

Now he smiled at me. “That’s the right question. There’s a full practice for taking on that energy and power, with a number of safety mechanisms built right in so that you do it in the most positive form possible. Another day, when we have more time, I’d like to walk you through that practice. For today, let’s do an extremely condensed version to give a little taste of what it might be like to own that strength.”

He folded his hands into an unusual shape. It almost reminded me of a shape we used to make with an old childhood rhyme that went, “This is the church, and this is the steeple… open the doors, and there’s all the people.”

Forming the mudra (Moo-dra) hand seal associated with the Kuji One power of Strength.

“This special hand shape is called a mudra, sometimes translated as a seal,” he explained. “It’s used to anchor an idea. We make an unusual shape with our hands that wouldn’t come up in ordinary life, and we program that shape by focusing on certain thoughts and energies whenever we make the shape. Later, once we’ve put enough energy into programming the mudra with the right thoughts, we can go the other way and use the mudra to bring up the thoughts.”

Somebody in the group commented that it reminded them of NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, an approach to anchoring ideas in the mind developed in the 1970s.

“Maybe like that,” An-Shu Hayes agreed, “but thousands of years old.”

As usual, we fell silent for a moment as he reminded us that while these ancient practices may be echoed in modern attempts to understand the mind, they are far deeper and more thoroughly validated than anything created in the last few decades. I realized what a poor intuitive grasp I had of the scope of time these practices spanned.

“You could think of it like a checking account,” An-Shu continued. “You can write a check as big as you want, but you can only cash a check as big as what you have put in the account. Of course, you’ll want to start writing checks right away, using the practice to generate strength, but start small and make regular investments to build up your power. Don’t try to write a huge check with nothing behind it, because all you’ll do is damage your own credibility and confidence.”

An-Shu came around personally and helped us fold our hands into the correct shape, interlacing the lower two fingers, making entwined rings with the middle fingers and thumbs, and pointing the index fingers forward. “These rings of the middle finger and thumb represent the rope of Fudo Myo’o, with which he binds negative forces and holds them down. The index fingers extended represent his flaming wisdom sword, cutting through obstacles and delusion.”

“Take a deep breath in,” he said, “and let that oxygen focus your mind on the mudra representing the rope and sword. Release that deep breath, and settle yourself into a more solid and resolute state of mind. Go slowly. Luxuriate in the breath, and build that power.”

We went through a series of breaths, slow and deliberate, focusing and settling.

“Good,” he said after a few moments. “There is so much more than that, but this is an excellent start. Let’s try an exercise.”

Exercise Three – Manifesting Power

Get a trusted training partner who can put a little social pressure on you but can remember that they are playing a role to help you practice strength. It is essential that you succeed in the exercise, because the point is to program memories of success into yourself. Therefore, your partner’s job is to ensure that you succeed. You probably don’t want to try this on your lifelong rival…. Yet.

Preparing to practice Strength.

Start several paces apart, further than you would have a conversation normally. Take a few moments to settle yourself while your partner waits quietly at a distance. If you like, you could try out that mudra, breathing and focusing yourself on a sense of resolute strength.

When you feel ready, let go of any mudra and bring your hands up in front of you in a warning or warding off posture. Let those hands feel strong, palms facing your training partner. The sense is that they cannot move you. You will not pursue or attack them, but you will not allow them to push you.

Your hands coming up signals your partner to begin putting a little social pressure on you. Not physical pressure—just social pressure.

Remember that the point is to build success memories. Your partner’s job is to put just enough social pressure on you that you can feel the temptation to cave in or back up, or you are able to hold your ground and stay strong.

Start small. Have your partner just give you a dirty look. Hold your ground.

If that’s easy, signal them to say a few mildly rude words, or call you weak. Hold your ground. No need to reply. No need to move, either forward or backward. If you must do something, simply nod slowly and give a small confident smile.

If you are completely succeeding, your partner could even stalk over to you and point their finger at you, or crowd into your space. They are not to touch you in this exercise, so no need to defend or engage them, physically or verbally. Stay confident. Stay strong. Smile slightly and nod slowly when needed.

This exercise is physically simple, but it is not easy.

Hombu Dojo, Dayton, Ohio, 2007: “What concerns me for you, Kevin, is that you are not accustomed to holding firm under the kind of pressure you are going to experience with this project.”

An-Shu Hayes and I were sitting alone together at his martial arts school after classes had ended for the night. I was out visiting for advanced martial arts training toward 4^th degree black belt, but I had a secret agenda too. I had recently been contacted by the organizers of an upcoming visit by His Holiness the 17^th Karmapa, one of the four heads of Tibetan Buddhism. It would be His Holiness’ first visit to America in this incarnation and they had asked me to head the security team for his public talk.

Thousands of students of the 16^th Karmapa would be there to see him, plus the possibility of protests or worse from Chinese forces because the 17^th Karmapa had escaped as a teenager from a carefully groomed life in China. Facing organizing a team of over 60 direct reports to secure a building of over 50,000 square feet, with over 30 entrances and four different security organizations consulting, I knew I was in deep. I turned to my teacher for help based on his experience running personal security for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, particularly during the time that His Holiness won the Nobel Prize in 1989.

An-Shu Hayes was helping me understand that the problem was even bigger than the logistics. “You are very intelligent, so you will no doubt have a good plan. But that won’t be enough. Your plan will be undermined by well-meaning and powerful people who have their own desire to make contact with His Holiness. Your plan may even be undermined or overridden by the very people who asked you to make a plan, as they cave under the pressure of politics and money. How will you respond?”

He was speaking from direct experience I knew. Since it was impossible to know exactly what would go wrong, it was impossible to answer his question directly, so I asked a question of my own. “How should I prepare for that kind of pressure?”

He nodded. “The right question. It will be very difficult. To do a good job, to be strong but still diplomatic and intelligent, you will need a strength based in purpose. Your first step is finding and discovering your purpose. Why are you doing this?”

His question surprised me. Why was I doing it? It seemed obvious that when someone offers you such an important position, and the chance to be a part of such a big adventure, you say yes. However, that seemed like a very shallow answer now that it was being consciously examined. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to hold fast when confronted by mega-celebrities, powerful politicians, super wealthy patrons and federal agents demanding that I yield.

I then realized that I was doing it to follow in my teacher’s footsteps. I had always carried a certain awe that he got to bodyguard for the Dalai Lama, a man I considered one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our time. The adventure, the behind-the-scenes access, and the secret agent power of such a role was a fantasy right out of a movie, and I thought I would never get to have that experience. Suddenly the opportunity had come to me, and I wanted to live a piece of my teacher’s story.

Of course, he knew that. Before I could say anything, he continued. “You can’t live Stephen Hayes’ life. I was the only one who could live the life of Stephen Hayes. Many people try to go back and do what I did, but they can’t, because it was a moment in time and space. That moment is gone, replaced with the moment we have now. But you can live your life, and it can be just as big or bigger. So now you have this chance. What are you going to do with it? What does it mean to you?”

His statement was a tremendous gift of acknowledgment and freedom. I was inspired by his life, but I would have to find meaning, contribution, and adventure in my own. I closed my eyes right there at the table and took a deep breath. We had been meditating together for years by now, so he knew what I was doing and I felt comfortable taking a moment.

I tried to clear away all the fantasies and hopes and focus on what felt important about this chance to provide security for the 17^th Karmapa. I felt a real connection to Tibetan Buddhism, based on my studies with An-Shu Hayes and the vows I had taken in that lineage. Deep down, it wasn’t the celebrity of the Karmapa that was important to me. I knew that I could make a difference in bringing our spiritually-intelligent martial tradition to the scene of His Holiness’ teachings. I knew that the world would be a better place if I got involved, because I had the advanced dignitary protection training and real-life experience from my teacher backing me up.

I opened my eyes and found that his eyes were opening at the same moment, seamlessly emerging from meditation with me. “I want to do it because I can make it a better experience for everyone. The Karmapa will teach more easily, the people will learn more easily, and if there are troublemakers, they will be dealt with both more effectively and more compassionately if I am leading the team.”

Though I was certain of my answer, I enjoyed the validation of the warm smile that spread across his face. “That‘s right. That’s the motivation that can hold fast. Maybe you can do it.”