A Martial Artist Making a Difference - A Review of "Eat Sleep Sit"

One of the more interesting books being discussed by martial artists in the Bay Area is “Eat Sleep Sit - My Year in Japan's Most Rigorous Zen Temple” (published by Kodansha International, Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter). This remarkable book, written by Kaoru Nonomura, a young “salaryman” who was living in Tokyo, is the account of the year he spend in Eiheiji, the home of Soto Zen Budhism and founded by Dogen in the year 1244.

What makes this book interesting, especially to martial artists, is how many of the core martial arts principles the author encountered during his year long stay at this monastery. For example, the details of his everyday life in the monastery and attention to detail reminded me of the attention that is required when learning a martial art technique.

Take cleaning the mat, for example, a task that is a regular part of any dojo’s routine. The author writes, “The floor cleaning would begin at the highest point in Eiheiji, outside the Dharma Hall. Every trainee monk in the temple raced up the stairs in the sloping corridor at top speed, cleaning cloth tightly in hand. The sight was truly awesome. There were no straggles.” The reader will quickly realize that this in indeed a very tight discipline.

Yet, in the midst of all this, the author begins a metamorphosis. From an awkward monk trainee at the outside the main gate of Eiheiji, the Dragon Gate,” the writer’s reflections on himself, those around him and the monastery reflect a keen eye. Considering his eating bowl at the end of calendar year, about half-way through his year-long journey, he writes: “Eiheiji…is like the Buddha bowl. Food never seeps into the bowl and alters it, nor does the bowl dissolve into its contents. Whatever is put into it, the bowl remains itself, inviolate….Eiheiji is simply itself, and what each one makes of it is up to him. This is the nature of Eiheiji freedom.” One could also say this of any martial arts training and the freedom that can be discovered there.

What I found when reading this book was that I reflected on my own journey as a martial artist and the journeys I’ve seen and had shared of the martial artist I’ve trained and interacted with over the years. So when the author writes about his journey, there are so many parts of this I found myself identifying with, especially during the time training for a test or examination.

And then, the author recounts how one day he observed that something had shifted for him. “Now, I reconsidered the matter: what, indeed, was the point with all this sitting [zazen, sitting meditation]? Dogen instructed, “Shikan taza.” Just sit….The only point of sitting is to accept unconditionally each moment as it occurs. This is the less of ‘just sitting’ that I had absorbed after one year.”

When reading this, the thought struck me that the author’s practice had become embodied. This is the same with all the techniques martial artists must master, the many intricate movements within each single technique requires countless hours of practice to reach the point where the technique becomes part of ones flesh and bones. The author notes, “I found great freedom in this way.” Ah, there's freedom again.

Isn’t this, in a sense, what all of us are seeking in our training?

I strongly recommend this delightful and informative book. However, I must warn that the pages are like pieces of delicious chocolate-- that are best enjoyed slowly.