Can martial arts films gain philosophical depth by inserting Taoist quotes in their dialogues? The practice has become very successful because it gives the hero a halo of thoughtfulness. If we remove the Taoist insights, I suspect that those films would lose a good part of their appeal.
A different question is whether Lao-Tzu, Chuang-Tzu, and Yang-Tzu are turning in their graves every time that martial art instructors quote Taoist insights. I cannot even count the times that martial art movies have depicted the hero lighting a candle and reciting some quote from the Tao Te Ching.
Nonetheless, I am fairly sure that the ancient Taoist masters did not intend to have their wisdom used primarily for martial purposes. Why do I say so? Because Wu Wei, the non-action principle, constitutes one of the pillars of Taoist philosophy.
Lao-Tzu would have steered away from conflicts and fights. Even if his honour and fortune had been at stake, I doubt that he would have engaged in one-to-one combat, with or without weapons. Instead, he would have figured out the way to attain victory without having to physically hit his opponent.
Lao-Tzu and the water metaphor
In Chapter 78 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu uses the water metaphor. Wise individuals behave like water, he explains. The softness of water exemplifies the Taoist mental flexibility.
In spite of setbacks, mistakes and opposition, the Taoist will not fall prey to emotional immobility. He will just choose an alternative path, one that circumvents the obstacles at hand. He will not grow upset, despondent or revengeful.
Lao-Tzu’s prescription for happiness should be also viewed as a formula for successful, smooth living. All we need to do is to align our actions with the Tao, let things run their course, and enjoy the process.
Conflict and combat are fundamentally misaligned with the Tao because they feed on debate, friction and hatred. Lao-Tzu did not concern himself with winning in any specific encounter because, as he indicated in Chapter 30 of the Tao Te Ching, it’s impossible to live successfully if we contradict the Tao.
Taoists do not care to engage in fights because they expect evil people to end up badly automatically. Sooner or later, evil individuals will be on the receiving end of their own actions. If we just let the Tao operate normally, things will fall into place.
Martial arts require long physical training. Would Lao-Tzu have regarded such training as an effective use of one’s time? In case of conflict, he may have withdrawn, removing himself from any contact with his opponents, but would he have spent years learning to fight?
Wu Wei and peacefulness
According to tradition, Taoists will fight fire with emptiness and distance. They would not even bother to carry water from the river to put out the fire. It’s simply too much work. Instead, they will remove any flammable items from the vicinity of the fire, and let the flames consume themselves.
The strategy of emptiness and distance is perfectly aligned with Wu Wei. Instead of taking direct action against the source of the problem, Taoists prefer to isolate the source, remove the risk of propagation, and let the problem take care of itself.
Chuang-Tzu also stated this principle, but in a more cryptic manner. He said that a wise individual cannot be harmed if he empties his soul, that is, if he refuses to engage in conflict or does not even acknowledge the insults.
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) would have endorsed this way of fighting by not fighting. His “Ethics” accept that individuals will behave according to their values, and that there is little we can do to change someone else’s values. Thus, conflicts can be predicted, and also avoided and circumvented.
Taoist tradition includes stories that depict the irrationality of violent reactions. If a third-party makes a stupid mistake on the road and damages our car, we’ll feel angry and jump ready to fight, but if we suffer the same damage fortuitously, we will remain calm and assess the situation objectively.
From Spinoza, I have learned to distrust emotional reactions that arise from short-term perceptions. If we fail to look at the whole picture, we will miss the real cause of the problem. The more knowledge and wisdom we possess, the easier we’ll find it to prevent and circumvent conflicts.
The Tao Te Ching and softness
Do Lao-Tzu’s insights about conflict resemble Christianity? When Chapter 63 of the Tao Te Ching recommends to practise virtue at all times, is it not anticipating the teachings of Jesus Christ (6 BC-30 AD), especially for what concerns our attitude towards opponents?
There are indeed some overlapping aspects between Taoism and Christianity, but Wu Wei remains unique to Taoism. While Christian may treat enemies with compassion, Lao-Tzu will do nothing of the sort. Instead, he will step away, isolate the fire, and calmly watch the flames consume themselves.
Despite Lao-Tzu’s preference for conflict avoidance, it’s fair to affirm that Taoism has influenced martial arts in one crucial aspect, namely, asymmetry. All Eastern martial arts discourage symmetrical responses because of their predictability.
In Chapter 36 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu observed that, in nature, the soft and the flexible routinely win over the hard and the rigid. Life itself is made of soft, flexible tissues. Those will grow rigid after death, and eventually turn to dust.
Martial arts training encourages flexibility, teaches students to avoid being hit, and favours yielding space rather than going face-to-face. It seeks to attain victory with minimum effort and friction, making skills count more than brute force.
I wonder if any martial arts movie has ever quoted Chapter 37 of the Tao Te Ching, where Lao-Tzu states that, when the Tao does nothing, nothing is left undone. I regard his statement as the most accomplished strategy for dealing with conflicts.
After having removed the risk of propagation, Taoists prefer to watch the flames consume themselves. If they can solve the problem by doing nothing, they will refrain from action. Or do only the strictly necessary.
Harmony is achieved through Wu Wei more easily than by any other means. The Taoist principle of non-action lets harsh, reckless actions consume themselves. By stepping aside, it lets fools cause their own demise.
I would not categorise Wu Wei as a martial art, but as a method for letting the Tao bring events to their organic, natural conclusion. We keep peace of mind by avoiding trouble, and happiness by avoiding disharmony.
If you want to apply effective ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “Asymmetry: The shortcut to success when success seems impossible.”