The Big Question: What do Judo and action paintings have in common?
On an initial glance, martial arts and action paintings seem to exist on the opposite sides of a spectrum: sports versus art. Moreover, Judo comes from the East (Japan) while abstract expressionism comes from the West (United States). However, when one dives underneath the surface, Judo is a form of martial arts that trains its practitioners stylized body movements while an action painting records the painter’s bodily movement on a canvas. Furthermore, both require the practitioner to enter a semi-meditative state of “flow” during execution.
What is Abstract Expressionism? What is Action Painting?
In the 1950s, two forms of abstract expressionism emerged in New York. The action painting movement is centered around Jackson Pollock who worked on drip paintings. His method includes dancing around a canvas that is laid flat on the ground and pouring paint from the can or trailing it from the brush or a stick. The second group is called color field painting and is intended to use large areas of colors on a canvas to illicit contemplative or meditational responses in the audience.
Photo by Manuel Cosentino
What is Martial Art? What is Judo?
In the East, the earliest mention of martial arts occurred in the 6th century. The origin of martial arts is closely tied to Zen Buddhism which emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation, and intuition. This is the rationale behind the invention of Kung Fu: to prevent monks from falling asleep during meditations. In 1882, Jigoro Kano invented Judo, the gentle way, based on the principle of “using softness to control hardness.” Kano believed that using brute strength to resist a more powerful opponent is futile. Instead, a Judo practitioner must reduce the opponent’s attack by evading and, thereby, off balancing the opponent in the process (kuzushi). Judo practitioners engage in randori (literal meaning is “taking chaos”) and emphasize finding the “right” moment to attack when the opponent shows his weakness. The art of Judo, then, is to intuitively recognize such moments when one is fighting in the midst of chaos.
One: Number 31, 1950, Jackson Pollock, © 2019 Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
So, what are the commonalities between drip painting and Judo?
Both drip paintings and Judo randori emphasize the notion of taking charge of the chaos, either by creating a painting out of non-systemic pouring of paint on a canvas or by counter-attacking with the right technique at the right time. In addition, both processes require intuition – the ability to see beyond the moment at hand. Jackson Pollock had to see beyond the immediate trailing of his paint brush to incorporate the drips into a larger painting. Similarly, a Judo practitioner must “see” beyond the immediate attacks before him and trust what his body has learned over the years to defend and counter-attack.
From staff contributor Tiffanie Tam