Key Aspects of a Person

Another aspect that differentiates FASST/Dux Ryu from alternative martial arts and defensive tactics courses in the ways they are and have been taught is that the FASST/Dux Ryu training philosophy is truly grounded in the Secrets of Warriorship. It begins by identifying and then developing in synchronicity a training program that addresses the three critical characteristic attributes of a warrior: spirit, mind, and body. These three characteristics must be superior to those possessed by any aggressor, principally if one is to be truly centered to neutralize a lethal threat.

The characteristics of spirit, mind, and body are the grave variables that, if impacted, will determine all outcomes in any form of conflict. It is the means by which to be grounded in handling everyday life adversity. However, one’s examination of spirit, mind, and body is best known as being employed to dissect an aggressor and to discover their vulnerabilities in relation to one’s own. Thereby, one formulates a proper strategy and employs the appropriate techniques to control the situation and resolve conflict in one’s favor. This is the way of the FASST/Dux Ryu trainee and the peaceful warrior that the great Chinese strategist Sun Tzu describes as “the ultimate form of warriorship.”

Most martial arts and defensive tactics systems, when they do address these three attributes, profess the concept of harmonizing as always in the order of mind, body, and spirit, which is left generally open to interpretation if queried. Whereas, by FASST/Dux Ryu philosophy, these individuals have the very order mixed up as it is always about having the proper spirit or mindset first. The mind, which is most often confused by the ill trained to mean the mindset, but which actually represents the academics of combat and body, is also misinterpreted by the majority of today’s martial arts practitioners to be only a reference to one’s physicality, neglecting to include potential as in the body of their work of past and future, or as in how their character is perceived by others and themselves.

The actual techniques for harmonizing spirit, mind, and body posses proven results, but unfortunately are not being taught in the dojos and are now seemingly lost due to circumstances beyond the average martial arts instructor’s control or understanding. However, FASST/Dux Ryu incorporates the old lost ways with the new. Unlike other systems that have become watered down to meet modern day commercial needs and consumer demands of instant gratification, or just as a matter of the passing of time and knowledge lost from one generation to the next, everything in FASST/Dux Ryu in its conveyance of the Secrets of Warriorship leaves no concept or principle left open to interpretation, assumption, or change, as exemplified by the way these warrior characteristics of spirit, mind, and body are defined by FASST/Dux Ryu:

• Spirit
  The spirit is one’s mindset–one’s focus–which is the proactive versus reactive ability to utilize fear and be committed to engage in conflict to the point of being unwavering in the face of overwhelming odds.

• Mind
  The mind is the academics–knowledge of strategy and tactics–and the ability to create, adapt, perceive, and alter a course of action to produce a desired result.

• Body
  The body is one’s explosive speed and the physical capabilities one possesses: endurance, trauma conditioning, timing, range, reflexive and instinctive reaction, as well as proactive/offensive limitations. The body is the essence of a person and what he projects as a member of society, as in one’s body of accomplishments and work (merchant, artisan, doctor). It is also how one is to be perceived by others–that which the Japanese samurai calls “face.”

One can be the fastest, strongest, and most skilled opponent (body) but, without the skill to develop the proper will (spirit), or the ability to develop the academics to determine when and when not to strike (mind), all is vanity. Akin to this scenario is the scene in the motion picture Raider’s of The Lost Ark where a sword wielding antagonist is so consumed by his own ego (poor spirit) in showing off his awesome abilities with two swords (body), that he loses sight of the advantage of the surprise attack (mind), only to end up nonchalantly and comically shot to death by the merely annoyed protagonist, Indiana Jones.

On its face, with little or no attention being given to the development and enhancement of the human spirit and/or the scientific academics–especially surrounding lethal combat–and by one only concentrating chiefly on physicality (i.e. how to grapple, kick, or punch), this all makes for a bitter game of chance. A vulnerable spirit and indecisive mind (no strategy) is prone to produce predictable responses and reactions instead of actions, which in lethal confrontations puts one at an extreme disadvantage, and which usually produces another predictable result: death.