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Strictly in the category of : “Just my opinion, but....”
I recently received the excellent book "Masters of the Blade" by Reynaldo Galang.
The chapter on “AMOK!”.., page 36:
“Blood Rituals”
“Bleeding in practice provides Warriors a chance to capture treasured experience and insight. When you are wounded, continue and feel thankful that you have an opportunity to garner valuable and possibly life-saving experience. Continue for as long as you can and observe your overall condition: heart rate, adrenaline dump, respiration, weakness in the knees, lightheadedness, loss of footwork and timing, etc.
It is good advice to stop before you go into shock or pass out.
Before you receive first aid, feel joy; taste and drink your own blood. Wipe it all over your face and make a Warrior’s blood mask. Give your blade a bloodbath to quench its natural thirst. Make blood masks on your brothers who want one. Celebrate in this heightened state while everyone present raises their blades in respect and shouts “AMOK!” in celebration and the group recites “Facing the Enemy” to convert what might otherwise be a negative experience into a positive, empowering one.”
P. 37/38: AMOK!’s Guardian (Kelee Arrowsmith) will take command when Sotis dies, and any challenge to that transfer will be decided by a live blade duel.”
Is it just me, or do these people need psychiatric help?
"Give your blade a bloodbath to quench its natural thirst?" What the hell? And maybe give it a name, also..."Life-stealer" or "Widow Maker", something different no doubt from what you call your penis ("The Glory of all Womankind", no doubt).
"Taste and drink your own blood": Yummy, humans please queue this side, trainee vampires over here....
"Make blood masks on your brothers who want one"...What a novel way of spreading AIDS....
Everyone raises their blades, shouts "AMOK!" and recites "facing the enemy"...yes, rituals can be empowering, but this smacks of a combination of Ku Klux Clan, Ninja Brotherhood and ten year old kids swearing blood oaths to each other.
As for lineage in a martial arts organisation being contested via "Live blade duels", not only is this stupid beyond description, its also, by definition, illegal and the survivor would be up for manslaughter or murder. But it sure sounds good, if you have a private little "I'm the deadliest ninja in the playground" fantasy going!
How about this as an alternative: When you are wounded, you stop and the instructor applies first aid whilst the rest of the class/ group continues training. When you are bandaged up, you decide whether you can continue or not. Since, in a combat situation, you would not have such a choice, you attempt to continue unless you are truly incapable of doing so. You possibly say "thank you" to your training partner (as they do in Libre, for instance), for exposing a flaw in your defense and just go on with the business at hand....thereby mirroring, as far as is possible, the way things happen in a combat scenario".
Rituals are important, for sure, and "initiation" can have a significant psychological effect, ...BUT....the ritual should be appropriate to the cultural context. Given that this training is taking place in a modern, "Western" cultural context, this really is "playing-at-ancient-warriors-ninja-bullshit" time!
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