Maximum Efficiency, Minimum Effort... Judo and Capitalism

Maximum efficiency, minimum effort... Mutual welfare and benefit.

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These principles that guide one's movements and training in Judo are simple, yet profound. We can apply them to any given action that we will into being, and we can apply them to our interactions with all other humans, as well as with the natural world. These are the internal and external currents of energy that converge to create our world. Consider these principles in terms of multinational, corporate capitalism. Global financial markets funnel wealth to a small group of "elites". This system, out of alignment with natural systems, is hell-bent on consumption , destruction and domination. We are currently consuming our natural resources at an alarming rate and simultaneously wasting ridiculous amounts of food and energy...minimum efficiency, maximum effort and exclusive welfare and benefit for the few.

Kano's principles of Judo provide an insightful lens through which we can reevaluate our actions and interactions. Although the cultural momentum is hard to combat, we need only to reevaluate our own actions and interactions and this will change the very nature of the collective consciousness, one person at a time. The study of Judo teaches the practitioner to economize movement and energy and to apply force only when necessary for survival. The exterior world provides endless sources of energy into which we can tap. When our interior world is in alignment with those forces, we'll begin to create new systems that make the old systems obsolete. This is the way forward....

The following video features master Kyuzo Mifune. Some times the best offense is a good defense:

Here is a picture of me in competition where I injured my finger for being too aggressive, not following the principles of Judo.