Budō

I have been reading and thinking lately about budō - which is usually translated as the martial Way: a Way in the sense of a Japanese "dō" (道), a Path to self-development. I realised today, that that thinking and reading has led to improvements in my approach and performance at work.

Last year was taken up in large part by a bad situation I allowed myself to get drawn in to; it went badly, and caused problems, and a degree of ill-feeling towards me from some colleagues. Towards the end of the year, rather than continuing to retreat and avoid, I made contact with the colleague directly affected, and from that, things have improved greatly.

I've had registrars (specialists in training) for the last two six-month terms. Both have been senior, well-known in the service, generally good. It's easy therefore to just let the supervision process become too cruisy, and unchallenging/non-confrontational - which is of course not really of benefit to the trainee. With the first, that was how it went, to be frank. With the current trainee, the second of these two, I've become more direct, confronting and challenging their particular issues, and following up things that are not as I think they should be.

It's also, I've realised, led to a similar development in my interactions with my patients, being a little more challenging and confronting at (appropriate) times.

I really do think it is my study of budō that is leading to those changes. And I find that fascinating. Karate-do (or any traditional martial art, when studied in a budō fashion; no sport karate, please) is about so much more than aggressive ballet in angry white pyjamas. xP It leads to (or should lead to) a greater clarity and honesty of self-appraisal, and ongoing development and improvement of the self. I commend it unto all.

(Though it is important to be sure you don't throw yourself into a McDojo, or a sport-oriented outfit - and that can be hard to determine.)

This is my first effort at writing the kanji for budō - using the Zen Pencils app on my iPad. ( I’ve since found the correct stroke order, and I was horribly far off. Must learn to do it properly...)