Bujutsu Fighting Gangs in East Timor
PART I
Written by Gaku Homma
January 5th, 2008
Wherever I teach, I usually begin with two thoughts.
“Human beings make the martial arts; the martial arts
do not make human beings”.
“Bujutsu (martial fighting techniques) have been
developed from man’s human instinct for survival. Budo or
the Way of the Martial Arts has developed from man’s search
for self”.
I have had the honor to visit many countries, especially underdeveloped
countries, and have met many martial artists as they practice “on
the front lines” in their native communities.
It has been
fascinating for me to explore the development of the martial
arts around the globe and to study the function and standing
of the martial arts in local communities in relation to the social
structures, cultural influences, religious beliefs and political
environments in each country I have visited.
I have discovered that many of the challenges and problems are
the same even in different countries with different cultural
backgrounds, and that the martial arts have developed in many
countries along similar lines. It is with this experience, and
my 34 years of experience as a martial art instructor in the
United States, that have formed the basis for my observations
and opinions of the martial art situation in East Timor.
From November 17-22, 2007 I visited East Timor to teach Aikido.
I was able to visit this faraway island country at the invitation
of Sung Ju-hwan Sensei. Mr. Sung Ju-hwan is an instructor for
the Korean Aikido Federation in South Korea under Ikam Yoon Sensei
(www.aikido.co.kr) also just completed a tour of duty in East
Timor as a United Nations Police Officer under UNPOL (UN Integrated
Mission in East Timor). Mr. Sung is also a skilled security and
marksmanship instructor and was sent to East Timor to train others
on a one year tour of duty.
The country of East Timor (Timor-Leste) is home to the TAF or
Timor-Leste Aikido Federation which has a current membership
of about 30 practicing men, women and children. The TAF began
in 2003 when an Italian Aikidoist was stationed in East Timor
for about four months. Mr. Yoshikazu Wada, sent to East Timor
by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) practiced at
the Azabu dojo under Kosaku Takano Sensei and volunteered his
time to teach Aikido in East Timor during his off-duty hours
from 2005 until 2006.
The year 2006 in East Timor was marked by civil unrest, internal
war and the disruption of most civilian activities. It was during
this time that all foreign residents were ordered to evacuate
East Timor by all governments of origin. Wada Sensei worked
as long as he could teaching Aikido until he was forced to leave
in April of 2006. Aikido was not practiced again until the arrival
in March 2007 of Sung Ju-hwan Sensei who reinitiated the program
with returning Mr Wada and Mr. Ziad Ysuf Abuamer. Mr. Ziad Abuamer
is an instructor practicing Aikido in Alexandria, Egypt under
the Egypt Aikido Association and Kenji Kumagai Shihan who was
also sent for active duty in East Timor as a UNPOL peace keeping
officer in 2007.
In 2002, the Japanese Self Defense Military also came to East
Timor to assist the UN in its peace keeping efforts for a two-year
period. When they left in 2004, they left behind tatami mats
used for their Judo practice which have been very useful for
the practice of Aikido in East Timor today.
There is a lot of information available on the history of East
Timor, but in a simple summary, the history of East Timor can
be described as tumultuous. In 1999, violence erupted domestically
in East Timor by anti-independence groups resisting departure
from Indonesia; leaving many dead and over 150,000 as internal
refugees. Today 39 countries have supplied 1,623 soldiers to
serve as peacekeepers and nation builders with the United Nations
in East Timor. A UN civilian staff of about 400 and a local Timorese
support staff of about 10,000 works to keep our world’s
newest independent country on its feet.
This struggle for independence in East Timor has had an interesting
facet. According to local authorities, there are 15 to 20 gangs
in East Timor that practice Bujutsu martial art fighting
techniques under the title of the “Martial Arts.” Among
these groups, fighting is a constant, and fighting to the death
is a common occurrence. Much of the UNPOL’s time is spent
policing what they call “the Martial Art War” in
East Timor. This, as you can imagine, gives the martial arts
a very bad name in this area. These gangs do not practice Budo.
They are groups of young fighters who practice Bujutsu fighting
techniques, and with a deadly attitude.
**
The average salary for foreign UNPOL Police is $3,000.00 US
per month. Civilian advisors sent to East Timor earn on average
$7000.00 per month. Locals hired by the United Nations as policemen
for example earn twice the salary of the local police at $140
per month versus a local policeman’s salary of $70 US.
This means at current UN intervention levels over 4 million dollars
per month is being spent in East Timor mostly to quell violent
attacks by rival “Martial Art” gangs. For East
Timor locals, $1 US per day is considered as an average salary.
In this kind of economy, the massive amounts of resources being
spent on controlling these “Martial Art Wars” seems
wasteful indeed. Think of what could be done to improve the local
community in the way of education, medical assistance, social
services, infrastructure development etc. if resources were not
being used in an endless attempt to quell the violence. I believe
that this “Martial Art” gang problem must be fixed
before East Timor can emerge as a whole united independent nation.
We need to figure out a way to change the mind and direction
of these martial art gang leaders for any progress to be made.
In tackling this issue I think it is important to first examine
the allegations. Is it correct to blame most of East Timor’s
problems on these martial art Bujutsu gangs? Why has
the label of “Martial Art Wars” been associated with
these groups? What are these groups fighting about?
I think it is most important to examine these labels carefully
and to look behind them to examine the true problems and the
true origins of the issue. .
In Japan, the term “Martial Arts” incorporates the
concept of Budo. The concept of Budo is a Japanese
concept incorporating Do; meaning the way or path of
the Martial Arts which includes moral reflection and higher philosophical
thinking about the journey or path of the martial artist, not
just the resulting mastery of physical techniques. The “highly
educated” advisors and professional consultants sent by
the United Nations to East Timor seem to have had their own misunderstandings
about the difference between Budo and Bujutsu.
The problems associated with the martial art gangs in East Timor
and how they are dealt with differ depending on each advisors
background, experience and education on the subject.
Fighting martial arts such as Bujutsu, Kakutogi and
others have developed all over the world. These fighting arts
are NOT based on the Japanese concept of Budo. They
are based on the primitive instincts of man’s physical
survival and need for protection. These are based on technical
prowess and physical superiority without much thought or reflective
philosophy. There are always winners and losers in these arts,
and success can be measured in the infliction of pain, injury
or even death.
We need to make a clear distinction between Budo and Bujutsu for
the purposes of understanding the theories related to in this
article and played out in reality in East Timor. The Martial
Arts referred to in East Timor are arts of Bujutsu and
are not related to Japanese Budo.
While in East Timor I learned of an agent report on the rebuilding
of East Timor dated Sept 2006. If this report is correct, it
lists the population for East Timor at the time as 940,000. It
was reported that there were 29,000 young people in East Timor
at that time that were registered members of Bujutsu martial
art fighting gangs. It was also estimated that there were 9000
additional unregistered youths affiliated with these fighting
gangs. The capital city of Dili has 13 districts, and each of
the martial art gangs has branches established in each district
in Dili.
According to this report, if correct, most martial art gang
activity occurs with the involvement of a high percentage of
the population. The report went on to qualify that the majority
of criminals arrested in East Timor were members of these martial
art gangs. With such a high percentage of Bujutsu gang
members in the population, a high percentage of criminals makes
logistical sense. It means that in this volatile environment
and company of 29,000 people, some of these members might also
be soldiers or even police. However you read the statistics,
this report gives an impression that is clear: Bujutsu fighting
gangs in East Timor are BAD NEWS.
I think that labeling these bujustu fighting gangs
as BAD will not stop the problems in East Timor and will only
serve to agitate the situation. BAD labels challenges members
of these groups to believe more in their own leaders, recoiling
from these insults with an emphasized sense of stubborn bravado.
The sense of loyalty in these types of Bujutsu groups
should not to be equated with a normal blend of common sense,
common loyalty and reality. Desperation in these Bujutsu groups
creates a furthering of the bonds of loyalty and negative labels
only serve to encourage this.
Where then, do these Bujutsu fighting gangs originally
get their techniques and ideas? From my experience as an Aikido
instructor who has traveled to many parts of the world teaching
Aikido and working with other styles of martial artists, my conclusion
is that what has resulted in “Martial Art Wars” in
East Timor and similar problems in other countries came from
the movies and Hollywood…
In the Nicaraguan countryside I met a group of martial artists
that were wearing handmade keiko gis, what looked like a hakamas, carrying
homemade nunchuks and sticks and called themselves the “Samurai
Gorilla.” I have met many of these kinds of groups in my
travels who have developed their own surprising, sometimes scary
and sometimes outright humorous interpretations of the martial
arts. One thing they all had in common? They were all very, very
serious about their practice.
In developed countries, especially in highly populated areas,
after a new martial art movie hits the theaters, there is usually
an increase in the number of new students at local community
dojos. We saw this ourselves after the release of “Above
the Law” (an Aikido-based martial art fighting movie) in
Denver many years ago. You can tell these new students
dream of learning the super stunts they saw in the movies but
at least there is the opportunity in a structured dojo environment
for students to realize that these expectations are not based
in reality but what they have been told by Hollywood.
Those that live in isolation away from developed urban centers
have little chance to learn the true validity of the martial
art movies that make their way into their towns and villages.
They have little information and no experience from which to
judge. The psychological reality of their own conditions promotes
insecurity, especially if they are living in areas plagued by
poverty, violence and political instability. It is easy in this
kind of environment to idolize the heroes in these “martial
art” action movies. A cult-like mentality is not hard to
emerge in the minds of Bujutsu gangs who have little
else to rely on. Sometimes the leaders of these Bujutsu gangs
manage to copy and develop a high level of technical proficiency
(however mutated) in the martial arts they see on the silver
screen; adopting the attitude of fighting to the death literally
with their own concepts of honor. These gangs become a symbol
of psychological confidence for the young people in their communities,
and the more grotesques and intimidating these groups are, the
better. Bujutsu uniforms bear patches of skulls and
other frightening symbols. Tattoos and scars are a badge of honor.
Initiation into these gangs requires a commitment to violence
and divides the community by pitting one group against the others.
If you think about it, this scenario is not so different from
some of the problems evident in developed countries in other
parts of the world.
It is not surprising to me that Bujutsu-styled martial
arts are on the rise around the world or that the focus of these
martial arts on peak performance and outlandish toughness has
taken hold at an increasing rate; even to the point of violence
and death.
If one cannot buy a toy new, one makes one in its liking from
what one has available with the tools of imagination and ingenuity.
**
I have had a lot of experiences with martial artists in many
parts of the world, and by no means have all of my experiences
been negative. I have met athletes, Olympians and community leaders
that have come from these kind of Bujutsu fighting gangs;
men and women who have risen to become a source of pride for
their communities instead of a source of loyalty for the misguided.
In East Timor there are 29,000 young people interested in these Bujutsu martial
arts. I think if you looked carefully there are good people among
them too.
As a tactic for dealing with the East Timor martial art Bujutsu gangs,
authorities of UNPOL have been trying to introduce “real” Budo martial
arts to East Timor in an attempt to dissuade the Bujutsu groups
from their violent behavior. Authorities do not believe that
the Bujutsu fighting gangs base their skills on the
martial arts at all, relying instead on methods of brutality
and weaponry of destruction. While positive in general, I have
two concerns about this approach. In order to reach these Bujutsu gangs
I think it is important to show them respect. To antagonize these
groups my making them feel that their Bujutsu styles
are inferior or not valid will not achieve a positive result.
My concern would be that the next war might be between the Bujutsu fighting
groups AND the Budo martial art groups which would nullify
any attempt to quell the violence already prevalent in East Timor.
If a person needs protection from starvation, poverty, political
conflicts or racial conflict, human instinct tells us to make
ourselves scary and intimidating. The Bujutsu fighting
gangs in East Timor have been used for just such a purpose, facilitating
an attitude of physical and emotional protection. Images of dragons,
shiny knives and tattoos all go toward glorifying this principal
of protectionism. We need to understand this aggressive defensive
posture. If we approach these Bujutsu fighting gangs
by telling them they are wrong and incorrect I fear it will just
further serve to isolate and insult them. I also am concerned
that if current efforts to teach “correct” Budo matial
arts ARE successful and young people begin to leave
their old Bujutsu groups to pursue Budo martial
arts that the Bujutsu leaders might escalate in their
violent tactics to protect their positions and own organizations.
Escalation in this case could lead to more terrorist-like activities
using a higher degree of weapons meant for destruction. This
is something we need to consider carefully if pursuing this course
of action.
There are other mitigating factors commonly known in East Timor
that add to the problem with the Bujutsu martial art
gangs. There are people to be found in the shadows behind the
conflict between gangs that may benefit politically or economically
by the struggles between these gangs. I have seen this in other
countries; a component of underground involvement from outside
groups is not an uncommon occurrence. The benefits may vary from
place to place but not the influence or the results.
I have already written in this article about the discrepancy
between salaries of UNPOL staff and local East Timor natives.
With about 2,000 UN Police, civilian and diplomatic staff and
Australian and New Zealand military in East Timor, the economy
runs on the US dollar and the US dollar is even used as the national
currency. All foreigners residing in East Timor pay for goods
and services at rates similar to those found in the US. For
soldiers or foreign staff members to buy a hamburger for example
costs about $10 US. The same hamburger for a local costs about
$1.
There is an interesting example of the amplified revenue stream
created by foreign presence on East Timor: If there was an accident
on the road where a goat was killed for example, the the foreigner
must pay a fine of $300 for killing the goat. . A pig brings
$400, a dog $200 and a chicken $50. Compared to the local standard
economy these are huge price tags for farm animals and wonderful
windfall for the locals. It is not hard to imagine then that
if an animal is accidentally hit on the road, that there is usually
more than one “owner” that shows up asking for the
settlement.
Of the UNPOL police in East Timor, only a few are from countries
like Japan and Korea. While I was there, there were only two
from Japan. Most of the international peace keepers are from
other underdeveloped countries where a policeman’s salary
might be $200-$300 per month. At a pay rate of $3,000 per month,
these servicemen and women can earn enough in a one or two year
deployments to build a very nice house back home. I have seen
some of these houses in other underdeveloped countries and they
are commonly referred to as “UN Mansions”.
Not only are the prices for food and animal casualties escalated
for foreigners, rental rates in East Timor compete on the high
side on an international scale. The rental rate for a one bedroom
apartment hotel in Dili is the same or more as a one bedroom
apartment in downtown Denver. The owner of the apartment building
where I stayed on my visit in November does not live in East
Timor, but for his 1 star level long-stay hotel he is making
tens of thousands of dollars of revenue per month. I would bet
that the owner of this building is not in any hurry to have the
current “Martial Art War” situation resolved; it
would mean a large loss of revenue for him if Foreign Service
work in East Timor came to an end.
The economic benefits of the “Martial Art Wars” in
East Timor are not limited to only local or personal benefits
for individuals. On the international level, there are large
oil fields located under the oceans surrounding East Timor. Having
East Timor caught up in its own internal problems keeps this
fledgling country from gaining international power and pressing
its neighbors for its share of the oil and mineral resources
within its boundaries. Therefore on an international level
too there might be neighboring countries that are also not so
eager to have this “Martial Art War” come to an end.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I understand a little about
world politics and there are always these kinds of factors in
play on the international stage. It is not unusual nor am I condemning
this, it is just interesting to consider.
My hope is for the 29,000 young people in East Timor. I hope
for true understanding of their situation, how it came to be
and all of the factors that might affect it. I wish for a light
of hope and positive direction for their future.
Some readers might question why we should even care about the Bujutsu fighting
gangs in East Timor. I imagine that the victims and the families
of victims in East Timor will never forgive them. I firmly believe
however that this situation in East Timor is a testimonial to
the state of the development of the martial arts in our world
today and I believe it is worthwhile to not only try to help
in this situation but for the sake of the future of all martial
arts to understand the evolution of how the martial arts in this
country have developed in this destructive direction.
The Budo martial arts were first developed in Japan
incorporating exclusive Japanese Samurai values and sense of
honor. With the introduction of Bruce Lee, Hollywood took hold
of the martial arts and created superheroes out of actors and
stuntmen with a vast repertoire of exotic and unrealistic fighting
forms. These action movies and their heroes have spread like
wildfire not only throughout the United States but to countries
ALL over the globe. For many of the political and individual
reasons outlined in this article, the influence of these Hollywood
movies have found their way into the fabric of the most far removed
communities; sometimes with increasingly disastrous results.
As a Japanese martial artist I have never been a fan of the Hong
Kong and Hollywood promoters and producers who started this Martial
Art Fighting boom through their creations. Their motivation was
of course one of profit not ethics and their movies have increasingly
descended into new depths of moral depravity and merciless violence.
The effects of these movies sadly are now being reflected in
the lives of the world’s innocents.
People living in small towns and villages have access to the
kind of “entertainment” found in the glorification
of killing and maiming and yet do not have the access to the
educational tools and comparative teachings of morality that
gives them the ability to discern that these movies are fiction
not fate. They believe in the reality of the martial arts they
see in the movies and have begun to adopt them as their own.
One example of this is the growing popularity of “no holds
barred” full contact, caged fighting competitions that
can be seen most any day on television.
The progression of this ongoing phenomenon I believe is partly
the responsibility of the Budo Instructors who have
for the most part raised little objection to the development
of the distortion of their arts. For you see, Budo martial
art instructors have also benefited short term from this phenomenon
with an increase in student levels; misguided or not.
**
How then is peace accomplished in East Timor? Who can accomplish
this? I think the answer lies in opening the minds of the young
leaders of these Bujustsu fighting gangs to give them
a wider view of the possibilities their martial arts might have
on improving the conditions of their families and even their
own country. It is the practice of Budo and the philosophy
of Budo that can change the direction for these leaders.
I think it is also important for the political leaders in East
Timor to strive for improving their leadership and increasing
social moral standards by not backing or using Bujutsu fighting
gangs as private militias or for political leverage.
The most important thing is to introduce these principles of Budo without
diminishing the Bujutsu leaders or the fighting arts
they have developed. The introduction of Budo martial
arts needs to be presented without challenge to the established Bujutsu groups.
Trying to recognize, negotiate and harmonize with the existing Bujutsu groups
is a more feasible approach, utilizing respect for what the 29,000
young people in East Timor are interested in learning. A first
step might be to provide a centralized location for all existing Bujutsu group
to practice. A show of respect for the techniques of the existing
East Timor Bujutsu leader could be accomplished by creating
a NEW government-recognized East Timor Martial Art from the technical
expertise each group currently excels in, creating a team out
of the leaders, each leading in their chosen arena of skill.
One leader could be in charge of weapon techniques, one leader
in charge of hand to hand technique, one leader in charge of
wrestling techniques etc. etc. This would give each current
leader a chance to work together instead of against one another
to create this NEW officially recognized East Timor Martial Art.
“The genie is out of the bottle” as the saying goes
and it is too late to try to negate or diminish what has already
been created in these Bujutsu groups. A better idea
is to try to find a way to unite them with a sense of individual
and national pride and accomplishment.
***
One can see only by candlelight in the predawn
hours in Kathmandul, Nepal. As the dawn breaks, figures moving
about in the shadows can be seen in the temples and shrines as
they prepare for morning prayers. Street vendors arrange their
daily wares for display on the coming bustling streets. It is
6:00 on a cold February morning.
The first level underneath the Dasarath Rangasala Soccer Stadium
is divided into spaces for vendors but at 6:00 each morning over
20 different martial art organizations come for practice. The
spaces overflow with students spilling out onto the outdoor field
and by the training pool. On average 500 to 600 young people
come every morning before their days of work or study to practice
diligently the different styles of martial arts offered in Nepal.
I had never seen this before and heard that sometimes up to 1,000
young people participate in this simultaneous practice by different
martial art groups. The Nepalese government recognized
a need to organize these different martial art groups (similar
to East Timor) and organized a central location and funding for
participating groups and official acknowledgement and licensing
through the Government Sports and Education Department. This
centralized organization by the Nepalese Sports and Education
Department is a marvelous working example of a successful solution
to a similar growing problem. Now all of the different martial
art groups practice side-by-side (if not together) under a watchful
and encouraging eye.
**
The Budo martial arts used to be the
exclusive property of the Japanese. Today Japan is losing this
standing on an international stage. Even in Japan, the Japanese
Sumo wrestling champions are not Japanese and Japanese arts with
international organizations such as Judo, have current presidents
and board members that are of other national origin. Korean and
American teams win over the Japanese in international Kendo competitions
and the international committee headquarters for the original
Japanese art of Karate are now in France. I think that Aikido
too will not forever be organizationally structured through Japan.
It is a changing world, and someday I think that Japanese Budo instructors
will have a much less defined and diminished role if this trend
is not realized and acted upon.
Why is this happening to the Japanese Budo instructors?
I believe that it is because we have become passive in a sense
of superiority and ethnocentrisms. The power of the “Do” in Budo has
been lost in the competitiveness of today’s international
stage. Today it is the winning that is important and the winner
is strong. The path or “Do” or samurai spirit
of the artist is no longer of great consequence. It is now the
win, not the way, and we need to do something about this. It
is an illusion for Japanese martial artists to enter the world
stage wearing what would be the equivalent of samurai armor,
their hair in a top knot and carrying swords to compete in our
modern sports arena type environment. Today many Japanese use
the concept of Budo as a shield to protect them from
reality; a defense that is no longer proving effective. Today Budo instructors
from countries other than Japan only understand this sense of
Japanese Budo as something easily diminished and respond to the
Japanese with patronizing empathy. This empathy is sometimes
misunderstood by the Japanese as true understanding of Budo which
further disables appropriate growth in Japanese Budo instructors
and hinders their ability to regain their leadership role in
our world community
Martial Art Tournament organizers today do not care a great
deal about the philosophy of Budo. They are looking
for performance and a shot at the gold. Winning has become the
only value and the Japanese have either not recognized this or
are recognizing it very late in the game.
I have been talking about this for over 20 years and I believe
this is an important time for the legacy of this generation of Budo instructors
in our history. From our past, Japanese Budoka made
grand advancements in the martial arts by making the Budo arts
FROM the physical arts of Bujutsu. This was a profound
development in the evolution of the martial arts and is now a
development that is being threatened and reversed As Budo martial
art instructors today we need to be thinking about the effects
that the recent reversal in this evolution from Budo back
once again to the prevalence of Bujustu has had on our
world.
IN PART II
I would like to follow up this article and will soon be writing
a sequel, after completing more research into the history of
the martial arts and the current developments in evolution
from Budo to Bujustu in countries like East
Timor. I will further explore how we can look toward ourselves
as martial artists and instructors of Budo to help
with a solution. I would like to understand more about
the roots of the problems with the martial art gangs in East
Timor and for this I will return there about the time this
article is posted on our Nippon Kan website. If I can, I wish
to meet and work with local Budo and Bujutsu leaders
in East Timor myself and be able to communicate with them.
I will relate my findings and experiences after my return from
East Timor in February 2008
Until then…
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