Integrity Score 390
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A Future China Strategy for India continues....
Oriental martial arts, such as Japanese karate, Korean tae-kwon-do,
Japanese judo, etc, all emanate in one way or another from Chinese
wushu, whose beginnings are generally said to originate from the
Shaolin temple in Henan province. This is where the Indian Buddhist
monk Bodhidharma (Da-mo/Tamo in Chinese, and Daruma in
Japanese) taught his version of south India’s Kalaripayattu to his
Chinese disciples. The culture stresses humility, respect for others, selfcontrol, and teaches students that the best way is to avoid a fight by
walking away. Martial arts teaching practice and the literature that has
grown up around it all emphasize this ‘walk away and avoid a fight’
philosophy, while simultaneously advocating constant hard practice to
fight and win in case a fight becomes unavoidable.
India has been ‘walking away’ from China ever since the dramatic
turn of events in 1962, but does not seem to have taken the second part
of the ‘walk away’ philosophy too seriously. The martial arts literature
has also produced a good hypothetical example at the level of
generalship. It may not be entirely relevant in fashioning a strategy for
Sino-Indian relations, but it is a good exercise for determining methods
of diplomacy related to the India-China situation.
In the concomitant area of ‘hard power’ however, India has been
remarkably deficient. In particular India has not been adequately ‘Seaminded’ and ‘air-minded’.
To be continued...