229. Genchitaofu Baguazhang’s Shen - 艮氣道福八卦掌の神
I thought that today, I would send shockwaves throughout the martial arts community and dabble in the occult. So now that I have done it, how do you feel? Most people won’t feel anything because physically nothing has actually been done, except making an intention through the podcast. But you know what? Even though I haven’t done anything apart from these words, there will still be a select small group of you around the world who will throw a hissy-fit and leave in rage. If you do know somebody inclined to behave as such, and you’ve witnessed it, congratulations! You have just witnessed the power of influence. Sadly for me, though, I wasn’t there to witness it. Instead I have to be content with having given you a taste of what it means to be a Shen 神. That nebulous word that means both spirit and god, and a whole lot of other things as well. But whose primary meaning is strongly influenced by the culture in which a person lives in. In most of mainland China it means god. In Hong Kong it means heavenly being, but not necessarily a god. In Taiwan its meaning is god as well but is closer akin to a spirit. In Macau, because of Portuguese Catholicism, it implies a saint or an angel. And in Singapore it is kind of a mix of all of these things. And then you have the rest of the world outside of the Middle Kingdom’s influence and direction. But where Chinese is the dominant culture. There the idea of what a Shen 神 is, is heavily influenced by martial arts culture. So there a Shen is something like a superhero. Not necessarily a superhero with magical powers but a person able to do things that an ordinary person will find next to impossible to do for themselves. And because the gap between ability and non-ability is so vast, the person of ability might as well be a fairy living in the marches. Which incidentally is why from time to time, the relationship between the Chinese authorities and martial artists have been a bit turbulent. Especially when the ways of government do not reflect the Will of the People, nor the Mandate of Heaven. In those times, the nominally independent marquees that hover on the borderlands become self-organising and launch a war of rectification. Thereby restoring the Mandate of Heaven. And as a reward they become invested as heavenly Shen in the Taoist Parthenon, while the minor players get venerated as raised immortals. All of this is worth considering more deeply, if one wishes to be more than just a street fighter fighting over financial scraps, and have a greater influence over one’s surroundings like a spiritual being capable of more than the average!