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James Sogi

3/20/05
The Way of the Speculator

Philosophers and martial artists seek the Way, beyond mastery of technique to the realization of the real nature of things. What is the Way of the Speculator?

In the Way of Go, Troy Anderson describes "Shu-Ha-Ri". 'Shu" is a thorough understanding of basic knowledge. "Ha" means going beyond the basic approaches used previously. "Ri" means to develop new unique personal approaches and a personal style that will extend existing knowledge in the field.

In Gorin No Sho, Musashi Miyamoto wrote, "In the Way of strategy, when you have fought many times you will easily be able to appraise the speed and position of the enemy's sword, and having mastery of the Way you will see the weight of his spirit. People look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. It is not the void. It is bewilderment."

Beyond observation of past prices is understanding of the black void beyond the price bars. The Way of the Speculator is seeing the weight and spirit of the market. Dr. Niederhoffer speaks of prospective analysis rather than retrospective and the machinations of the system and the thoughts of people far away. The Reverse Jacksonian Transformator watches prospective points and dates in the future that do not exist and considers the thoughts of people on the other side of the world. Understanding the heart of man and his place in the world is the Way of the Speculator. LACK calls it "getting the joke", the big cosmic joke. "With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void" - and the Way of the Speculator. (Id)

Many dismiss this as mumbo. But consider this: how many times has your "system" been wrong?. How many time has your judgment been against the market? How many claim zero drawdown? Have you ever been bewildered during a trade? Have you ever been in tune with markets and really hit it right? The money is a by-product and it will come. My father advised me, don't worry about the money, do good a job: the money will come in due course. The Way of the Speculator is more than perfecting a system, more than profits. It is realization of our nature and the world. The path there is different for each; few attain it, but it profits to seek mastery in the Way of the Speculator.

John Lamberg augments:

Not familiar with Shu-Ha-Ri, I did some searching and in the process came across this:

I found the following excerpt particularly interesting.

Another observation made about you and your system of instruction is that it is unusually rough. Is this true?

I don't think that is an accurate observation. The term "rough" implies to me frequent serious injuries. Are we more realistic in the way we approach our training? I must say yes.

When we practice striking, we strike very hard. If you miss your block or technique you will get hit hard. We practice unorthodox attacks and we practice them at very high speed compared to most dojo.

We intend to instill a more realistic amount of stress into our situational training. The fear of receiving hard strikes at high speed creates stress that simulates the fear response felt in a genuine confrontation. Eliminating this type of training only converts the art into calisthenics. It does nothing to prevent injuries.

The false sense of security that exists in many dojos actually cause a complacent mind and increases injuries. With a complacent mind a student is allowed to relax his situational awareness. He lets his guard down and gets injured. If you want to see a lot of injuries go to some Aikido dojos. People are frequently injured because they don't feel threatened in that harmonious environment.

In my dojo the techniques are not harmonious, they are threatening. The situations are threatening. If you are threatened in the street, it feels similar to training in the dojo. Isn't the training in a martial arts dojo suppose to be like this?

The term "martial arts" are thrown around a lot without any idea of their meaning. Martial means war or conflict. In a martial arts dojo we train for conflict. Without physical and psychological conflict there is no "martial" in martial art.

Fear, to be overcome must be confronted and experienced. Fear must become part of your life experience. Appreciation of fear and the appropriate reaction when confronting fear is the sign of a mature martial artist. Are not your dojo mates and sensei the ones that you should ultimately trust when learning to confront your fears. In a real dojo, they are.

Remember that most people who call themselves martial artists are nothing of the sort. Most dojos are not martial arts dojos either. They are glorified social clubs thriving in an environment of emotional stimulation which is heightened by a false or extremely limited perception of danger. When real danger shows itself in such a dojo the participants run for cover. In a real dojo the participants run toward the conflict.

James Sogi is a philosopher, Juris Doctor, surfer, trader, investor, musician, black belt, sailor, semi-centenarian. He lives on the mountain in Kona, Hawaii, with his family