Sharon Alward, Sensei

      Okinawa, Japan         

MartialArts 2

Intro

Sharon Alward's research into the bodily dimension of knowledge has led to the exploration of concepts of ritual. Alward's creative projects have examined ritual gestures in an attempt to reassert the connectedness of things and to examine the concept "leading with the body and the mind follows"(C. Levi-Strauss).  Alward's performances and her video/film projects have examined rituals based on Orthodox Jewish prayers and the rituals of Christian ascetics and martyrs. While she has explored mostly Judeo- Christian expressions of compassion and mercy, i.e.: Jewish mystics (August 2002) the Hebrew Bible (Covenant 2001), Christianity's seven deadly sins and gothic text (Christian Woman of Virtue 2000), Western notions of abjection and redemption, (Dreitta Inni 2003), Christian New Testament (St. John the Baptist 1998, Receiving 2001) mercy and grace (Reconciliation 2002) Alward is now interested in expanding these experiences into other cultural notions of art and spirituality

Alward's current research began by examining historical Zen movements that chart the bushido (the way of the warrior). The concepts of bushido include rectitude, courage benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honour, loyalty and self-control. The Bushido and its ties to Zen claim the path to enlightenment is through the practice of physical rituals. This research led to an interest in the warrior mindset of both martial training and daily life or "martial arts".  In her search for the soul of the modern warrior, she began to study the classical tradition with its' strict physical discipline and mental search for wisdom.