To Win, You Lose

Everybody would agree that some paradox contains truth. It is not unusual one gets opposite result from an action he takes. For example, Japanese says, if you were in a hurry, you would take longer route. It is similar to English expression "hurry makes waste." If one were in a hurry, he would make a short cut, and find him in a traffic jam. If one over-speeded, a police might stop him, resulting in taking longer time. The longer route would have less traffic to take one to his destination quicker. As English version is saying, if one needed to accomplish a difficult task in a short time, he should take a deep breath, relax, and do it with peace of mind. Then one would not make waste. Japanese sword art, Kendo, teaches trainees that they "lose to win". In other words, "If you want to win, you lose. If you lose, you will win."

There was a sword master in 15th century. The master had only one student in his life, a boy. The boy asked his master to teach him sword skill to defeat his clan's enemy who killed the boy's father. The master moved by the boy's enthusiasm, taught him skill for about a year. One day the master called the boy and told him "You are not strong enough to defeat your father's enemy. There is just one way, however, you can defeat him." The master told the boy it was risky. The master asked if the boy hoped to try it.

The boy asked how he could. The teacher said; "Plan to fight against him twice. The first fight you will inevitably lose. Be careful not to be killed in the first fight. You will win the second one." The boy was puzzled but he fought the first fight as taught. The boy lost, badly wounded, but survived. One year later, the boy asked his enemy to fight again. His enemy was surprised the boy is still alive, but agreed the second fight.

In his second fight, the boy successfully defeated his father's enemy. The boy told his teacher that his enemy was not even half the man in his first fight, still puzzled. The teacher told his student that his enemy was in his half way defeated, because he was shocked by the boy survived, and still want to fight despite the first fight. The teacher continued that the boy acquired stability of mind by losing and almost being killed in the first fight. Instead, his enemy was so relieved by the fight he son, and lost his mental stability shocked by the boy's survival and determination to fight again. The boy's stability of mind reached the point that the skill cannot overcome. The master told the boy that he knew the boy would win.

The teacher is "Itto-sai Itoh" the boy is "Tenzen Mikogami". Both are legendary masters in Japanese sword art, Kendo. It shows the importance of mind stability, which can make a difference between win and lose, or life or death. It is also intriguing that this story teaches people the mechanism how one could gain or lose the stability of mind.





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Paint the Fence and Wipe the Floor

The movie, "The Karate Kid" is remade and released in this year, 2010. Jackie Chen plays the master role very good. Still the impression of the first version "The Karate Kid" is strong. In any Kung Fu movie, the most interesting part is the training. Since the hero is not strong in the beginning of a Kung Fu movie, it is fascinating to watch the hero growing stronger. It is also appealing to watch how the master trains his student.

In the first version of "The Karate Kid", just right after the master Miyagi agreed to teach the boy, Daniel, Karate, the first thing the master ordered the boy was "Paint the Fence". The boy frowned because he was expecting his teacher to teach fighting skills. Master Miyagi totally ignored his student and asked him to wax cars after the boy finished painting his fence. The third request from his master was wiping the floor with a wet rag, not with a mop.

Since all these works contained basic Karate movements for attacks and defenses, the boy has mastered basic motions by the time he has finished all of his works. In an actual training of martial arts, things would not happen that easy. It takes years for a trainee to master one skill and comfortably use it. However, the movie shows the truth about martial arts' training especially in Japan.

The very first thing one needs to do, after he started martial arts' training, is wiping Dojo floor with a wet wag. The master does not allow him to use a mop. Since it is a just a wet wag, he must take crouching position for keeping his hands on the floor. He keeps the crouching position and runs forward to wipe Dojo floor. When he hits the other sidewall, he turns back, sit on his heels and run back wiping Dojo floor in a straight line.

Since the Dojo floor is a wide space, the one would be exhausted if he repeated this for several times. There are reasons for this. When one starts to practice martial arts, the most crucial factor is to strengthen his lower part of the body to gain stability. At the same time, in the contemporary life style using cars and remain sitting in offices and schools, people's lower part of their bodies are not so strong.

By wiping Dojo floor with a wet wag, one can strengthen his lower body and be prepared for higher level of fighting and defending skills. If one ignored this training, his skill level would stop, and he would face difficulties to improve his techniques. Professional athletes practice not only their expertise, but also they exercise side-training, such as weight training or jogging. Wiping a floor with a wet wag is the oriental version of effective side-training.




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3 Points to Keep in Mind for Choosing Products and Services

Almost everybody might have dreamed about being independent and started ones own business. When one thinks about starting his own business, the first question he needs to answer is; "What products or services one should carry?" There are so many opportunities today. Many of them look attractive and workable. Please be careful and aware many of entrepreneurs make mistakes on choosing products or services for their business.

There are three points to research and consider what products or services one should take for own business:

1) One is comfortable and enthusiastic on the products and services, which he chose.

2) One is confident about the effect and the helpfulness of the products and services.

3) One has base knowledge and information base for the products and services.

Let us examine one by one. With regard to the above 1) comfort, one would have tried some supplement for his energy and had a beneficial result. The one was glad about the result of the nutrition supplement he used and explored his business opportunity. Fortunately, for him, the supplement business allowed him to carry the ones he loved. When he talks about the supplement and its effect, he is comfortable and enthusiastic. When one listens to him, his talk is powerful and persuasive. One should choose he is comfortable and enthusiastic.

The second point is similar to the first one but slightly different. This item is viewing the nature of products and services from buyers' standpoint. The potential buyers are skeptical about the effects and helpfulness of the products and services which one tries to sell. It would not be too much to say that buyers looking for a reason not to buy your products or services. If they noticed even a slight sign of showing seller's non-confidence on the effect and helpfulness, they would reject it. The seller must have full confidence about his product and services. In other words, one must select products and services, which he could be totally confident.

There is a lot of invitations for business to carry, such as consumable products, cosmetics, clothing, software, business training, web business training, language training, language training textbooks or even housing, one should select business which is familiar for him. For example, if one invited to computer related business opportunity, he did not have enough knowledge and information of the computer, or he has not even used computer, the computer related opportunity is not for this person, obviously. If one were invited to the nutrition supplement, which he had never used or been familiar, the supplement should not be his products.




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How to Avoid International Misunderstanding?

My wife is a Chinese. She tries to teach me Chinese language some times. Because both of us speak English and English is enough for our communication, her Japanese does not improve, so as my Chinese. Still, there are some expressions we collect both from Chinese and Japanese. I know that Chinese language takes a form of question such as "Do or do not you?", "Can or cannot you?", or "Have or have not you?". These question forms are quite normal in Chinese. They do not imply any strong meanings. They are used in regular questions. If this "do or do not" question is used in English, it means the questioning party strongly demands clear answer. If this form is used in Japanese, it means even stronger. This form is not a question in Japanese language. It practically means "Do as I tell you, or you are not my friend, any more." It contains the meaning of ordering or demanding.

This is almost scary. If a Chinese person asked a question in English to an American, in the way a Chinese does, he could upset the American. Even if a Chinese could speak some Japanese, if he used "Do or do not" style Chinese usual question in Japanese, this Chinese person would cause a misunderstanding with Japanese. His friend Japanese person would not speak with him next time.

In one English school in Japan, a Japanese boy student told an American teacher that he would miss his teacher after the class was over. When the teacher heard it, he showed a wry face. The student asked why he did that. The teacher apologized, but he told the boy student that the boy sounded like his wife told him so.

There are many other examples of different behaviors and customs in different cultures. Japanese are familiar with shaking hands. They are not comfortable with hugs. Many Japanese showed discomfort in being hugged and bent backward even when they were hugged. It is rude to call Japanese last names without titles. It sounds like one's mother is calling and scolding him. Japanese do not call their last names without titles. The most of Asians are uncomfortable in body contact greetings or communication. They do not use body contact style communication unless they are very close friends.

Is not there any way to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings? Does one need to remember all the differences in behaviors and customs? There are several ways to avoid misunderstandings.

1) The very basic is that one would be aware that there are differences.

2) One can ask language teachers what are major three to five most embarrassing behaviors in your counterpart cross-cultural customs.

3) He can watch other native people do. He can copy them.

4) One would declare that he belonged to a different cultural background. He can ask them to be tolerant even if he makes embarrassing mistakes.

The last and the most important advice is that one should not be over embarrassed or upset on one's mistakes. He can enjoy and learn from his mistakes.

The above 3) can also be used as a good icebreaker statement.





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Why Does Not a Chimpanzee Commit Suicide?

Approximately one million people die every year in Japan. Some people die due to their sickness. Some die from accidents. Some others commit suicide. Almost thirty thousand people commit suicide a year in Japan. In other words, one person commits suicide in every 17 minutes. Why do people commit suicide? There are various reasons for people to kill themselves, such as money problem, health problem, lives' hardship, family problem, or relationship problem. They kill themselves from their depression and desperation arising out of these reasons. They think they are useless. They lose meaning of lives. They feel helpless. They become hopeless. The question is why only human beings become despair and commit suicide.

There was an article in Japanese newspaper. The article was entitled; "Why are only human beings despaired?" The article talked about an interesting story on a chimpanzee kept in a research institute, in Japan. The chimpanzee's name is Leo, 28 years old. It was May 2006 when Leo became sick with bone marrow infection. His body was totally paralyzed other than his head. He lost his appetite. Administers needed to give him an intravenous drip injection for keeping him alive. His weight once was over one hundred pound, dropped being seventy pounds.

He could not move his body at all. He stayed still in bed. He developed severe bedsore. People felt pity on him. They considered putting him to sleep. They could not do it, because he was conscious. He looked enjoying to interact with staff. He reacted when he was called. Leo was not depressed or despaired.

The Japanese article analyzed why Leo was not despair when he was seriously sick. They believe that a chimpanzee does not compare him with others or himself in the past. Leo did not have the sense of envy, grudge, or misery. He was not depressed or despaired thinking about his past or future. The past is history and tomorrow is a mystery to Leo. He was not envious, resentful, or jealous on others who had complete freedom of their bodies. He was not despair because he did not use imagination in the negative direction, in other words.

Human imagination, being the cause of despair, is also the producer for hope. Human beings should realize that the difference between hope and despair are only in their brains. If one used his imagination in a negative way, he would be despair. The other imagined bright future would be blessed with hope.

This chimpanzee, Leo, taught us it is important not to use one's imagination in the negative way. Leo made a miraculous recovery from his sickness. He recovered from his sickness and regained his freedom of body in 2007. Leo must be teaching to people not to despair. There is a hope.



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Do Not Let Loneliness Eat You Up

Among the many factors, which adversely affect people's minds, loneliness would be the worst. If one worked from the comfort of his home as a writer, designer, or photographer, he would have thought that he could accomplish more without constant interference from his family members, his spouse, children, or even from his dog. Then his wife goes away to take care of her old and sick mother in her hometown for a month. She is taking the entire family except her husband. He may think that he could then work more efficiently. It would actually be the opposite.

He would wake up in the morning and find there is nobody who cares about what he did. He would think that one more hour of sleeping would not hurt. He would end up sleeping the entire morning. In the afternoon, he might remember that he forgot to watch the movies he rented last week and would start watching them. He would then promise himself that he would not be this lazy the next day. The fact of the matter is that things would stay this way, until his wife comes home.

The above may be an extreme example. You may handle your loneliness better than the person I described in the paragraph above. However, the point is that one's productivity, when he is completely lonely, would go down lower than when he is with his family or colleagues. Disturbances are negative impacts on one's productivity. Even after subtracting this negative factor from the overall performance, the productivity of a human being is higher when he or she is not lonely.

Loneliness is not just a negative factor in one's productivity. It affects the stability of one's mind. Homesickness is one of the adverse effects of loneliness. If one kept lonely for a long time without interacting with others, he could start suffering from mental disorders which could include visual or audible hallucinations. It is thought that the loneliness is one of the main causes of addictions such as drugs or alcohol. As a matter of fact, many of these addictive diseases can be cured by social interaction such as group therapy.

Is there any advice that could help avoid any mental problems resulting from loneliness? There seems to be only 2 pieces of advice:

1) Find the cause of your loneliness. Talk about it with people who do not have conflicting interests.

2) Avoid being isolated. Continue to seek social interaction.

One can get professional help, such as a psychiatrist or mental therapist. One can go to church. He can volunteer to do community service. He can meet with his friends. Next time when our work is disrupted by our wives, we should be thankful for not allowing us to become lonely.






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Learn the Strength of Willow Trees

It is the middle of January, now. It is getting to have some warm days that make us feel that spring is no longer far out. There are trees starting to grow buds. There are no leaves, yet. One can see lots of leaf buds on branch tops. Soon we will see some colorful lines on the small buds, which will eventually bloom into beautiful flowers. Trees will grow and regain young leaves.

Big trees look very strong. They open their thick and strong branches to the sky. They resemble strong and masculine men. In contrast, there is a tree which looks like a sensitive young woman. Willow trees are the ones which make us imagine women. There are willow trees everywhere in Tokyo. They seem to be prosperous in Asian countries. Because it looks weak and quiet, Japanese people used to believe that a ghost would always appear under a willow tree at night.

Are willow trees that weak? It looks weak and quiet for sure. However, they have fundamental strength that belongs the other side of the usual definition of strength. Usually, people would imagine firm, solid, thick, hard, big, heavy, or stable objects when they think about strength. It is like imagining a big and solid tree standing in a forest. On the other hand, softness, flexibility, elasticity, thinness, or lightness is supposed to belong to sensitive category. A willow tree would belong to this category. That is why willow trees carry a weak impression.

However, having equivalent functions as other big, hard, and masculine style trees, the willow tree's strength is different from others. While big trees with strong branches can be damaged by occasional strong winds like a hurricane or typhoon, it seems damages on willow trees are almost none. Their branches are thin and flexible. Their leaves are not thick or solid. They are blown by the winds and change positions with the direction of the wind. That is why they do not have any damage from strong wind.

Suppose a car hits a hard and solid tree branch hanging low on a street. The car will surely damage the branch hit. Now suppose willow branches are hanging low to the ground. The car would touch and swing their branches, but it would damage neither its branch nor its leaves. It teaches us a meaningful definition of strength. They are strong because they are thin, flexible, and light.

There are martial arts which use this theory of strength. Tai-chi, Judo, and Aiki are the ones. Masters of these fighting arts do not take on their opponents attack. They do not counter powerful attacks. When their opponents push, they pull. If their opponents pull, they follow to push. As soon as they find their enemy has over-pushed or pulled, they will apply their force to the same direction as their enemy to break his balance. This is the essence and mechanism of why smaller, thinner, and less powerful people can defeat big, masculine, and more powerful people.









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Is Virtue Universal?

Talking about the war is no longer taboo in Japan. Instead, Japanese people need to be careful when talking about the war outside of Japan. He never knows with whom he is talking. He may be talking with a person whose Grandfather lost his life fighting the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. A friend of mine happened to be talking about a ghost story of Japanese soldiers in Singapore. Unfortunate for him the person to whom he was talking was a Singaporean lady whose grandfather was killed by the Japanese army in the war.

Japanese before World War II used to believe that the Japanese race was the most superior race among the races of the world.The Emperor of Japan was God with human appearance. The Japanese Army was an Imperial Army, which belonged to the Emperor of Japan. Therefore, the army was divine. Japan was a divine country. Thus, she would never lose the war. All of these ideas sound ridiculous today. It is a historical fact that Japan lost the war. Japan was not sacred. The Emperor is not half God. In interviewing Japanese people who experienced World War II, they all say that they were educated about the sacredness of Japan in this way. If some one expressed a different opinion, he would be caught and most probably killed or kept in prison for the rest of his life. To fight and die for the divine country was a virtue.

The authorities were protecting what they taught to Japanese people at that time, even for ones who did not believe any of the above, it was easier to be obedient. It might have been more than the value of easy or not easy. If they did not obey the Japanese Imperial Government, they were either killed or kept in prison. So it was a life or death issue for Japanese people.

Japan lost World War II in 1945. It was proven that the virtue, which was most important for Japanese people's survival, was wrong. American soldiers were not cruel and violent. They were friendly and gave chocolate to Japanese children. They helped old ladies trying to walk to her home. The Emperor of Japan declared himself to be a human being, not God. Japan was not a divine country. It could lose the war.

This 180-degree change of virtue may be quite unusual even in human history. However, we are experiencing change of virtue in our daily lives. If one were an employee, it would be important for him to be obedient to his employer trying not to run any risk. If one were an owner of a business, he would need to run risks to be successful in his business.

Despite that virtue changes like money value changes over a period of time, there are some virtues, which seem to be unchangeable. Like the virtue of love. It is a virtue of humanitarian actions, which we experience across country borders and ethnic differences.






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