Many people engage in martial arts training to learn a “trick”. They think they are going to learn a cool kick/punch, or some other kind of almost magical unknown technique, that will end every confrontation. After a few years most of us learn that this really magical unknown technique, doesn’t exist. We realize that the body is a machine and it’s limitations can be readily understood by all.
So we give up on that idea, and we move on to the next bit of magic tricks. We start looking for either, a mental trick, a spiritual trick or an energy trick. We want to find a way that our minds, spirits or ki/chi can do the magic. While many spend forever looking for these tricks, most of us, again, settle down and realize that these are not all we fantasize them to be.
Slowly most of us learn that these things all come with dedication, perseverance, honest sweat and hard work. It only looks like a trick to the uninformed, who don’t understand that it took time to learn these things, and that if it could be given over night, it truly would be just a “trick”.
However most of us continue to fool our selves. We think that training in the martial arts is going to some how make us an amazing fighter. We might shrug it off, and say that we train in the peaceful way, and fighting is something we actually want to avoid. However it’s impossible to deny your interest in physical conflict. Because the study of physical conflict IS the study of the martial arts. If it’s not physical conflict you’re interested in why not study zen, or dance. There is something about physical conflict that draws you to the martial arts, otherwise you wouldn’t be a martial artist.
Martial arts don’t teach you how to fight. I don’t mean that in a psycho babble, pseudo philosophical, superior egotistical way. I mean it very directly. You will never become a fighter by studying the martial arts. If you think you will be, you are again deluding yourself with a fantasy.If you believe you will learn to fight by studying martial arts videos, you are again looking for a magic pill, a “trick”. The reason is simple, Only fighting can make you better at fighting. If you want to have a direct experience with fighting, you cannot cheat by listening to people talk, and you cannot cheat by thinking about it a lot. Those things would be dillusional. You can only learn to fight, by fighting.
Buying the latest video series, or subscribing to a martial arts video on the internet only add more drills, and study of the drills till you perfect them. Sure you can learn a few new things but what is it you are looking for? all the gadgets, tricks, and subscriptions will not bring you any closer to the underlying Questions, and these questions are not about a particular System but more about you, yourself. Maybe it's doubt, fear, lack of confidence, or shame. What we all miss is the true understanding of our self's (not to get esoteric on you)in any and all situation. " It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential" -BL-.
Imagine for a moment a situation....how many techniques can you pull off in a stressful situation that will give you the results you are looking for?? Okay, now imagine the same situation but now you have to be accountable for the other persons actions/reactions and still pull off in a stressful situation, do you still have the same results? if you said yes your fooling yourself, we never know what each situation will bring nor what the other person know's, has, or will do. We can only know our self's and how we will react to situations. Many people look for the secret technique,do you know what a secret techniques is? in my opinion a secret technique is a technique that one has mastered with out flaw and has been able to apply it any many situations without fail.That is the secret technique.
"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 different kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times.” -BL-.
So in short it's not how many videos you watch to gain new techniques, but rather have you worked on what you have been given in class, to perfection in any situation?
Martial arts is about the Journey, who you become, and how it affects your life and the lives around you. Oh and yes kicking ASS!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
My thoughts on Martial arts & Spirituality
Martial arts and spirituality.
Martial arts and spirituality. What does that even mean? This is a question almost all of us ask. But few of us ever get any real answers. Some say it’s mixing religions such as Christianity or Islam with martial arts. Some think it’s dressing up in flowing clothes, spouting koans, and seeming esoteric. Some say it’s simply, “a bunch of crap”.
However I believe It isn’t any of these things.
I believe to understand the relationship between Martial arts and spiritually, you must first understand what each of them are on their own. Most of us pretty much understand, or at least have a clear concept of what the martial arts are. I’ll define it here as the study of physical conflict. But there are lots of definitions. Most of us have spent enough time with the martial arts, that we have a pretty clear definition, at least for ourselves. It’s spirituality that many of us have a hard time with.
To many, spirituality is simply going to church and reading the bible. While these things are spiritual things, they are part of a religion, and not the spirituality itself. A religion is a school of spirituality. The main goal of these schools is to put people in touch with their spirituality. The practices of a religion (prayer, bible reading, church services, worship etc.) are designed to put you in touch with your spirituality, but they are not the spirituality itself. By adding the practices of your religion to your martial arts, you are not working with spirituality, you are you are not working with spirituality, you are simply adding more practices. Which most martial arts systems already have more then enough of. Religion’s are to spirituality as Martial arts are to fighting. They are schools that point to a thing, but not the thing itself. Mixing the practices of a religion into your martial arts doesn’t train your spirit.
The trappings of spirituality are not the spirit. While different physical objects can help evoke your spirit, they are not the spirit itself. Wearing a Zen masters robes certainly does not make you a Zen master. Reciting words and incantations that you don’t understand does not make you a spiritual person. Seeming aloof and exotic to other people doesn’t do a thing for your spirituality either. It starts with you.Your spirit is at the very core of what you are. So how could you find it in things outside of yourself?
Because of our tendency to confuse spirit with practices and trappings, many of us come to the conclusion that spirituality is just a bunch of nonsense and doesn’t exist at all. However if you look to the normal instead of the extreme we can readily see examples of spirit in our daily lives. Some common indications of spirit are: “the spirit of giving”, “the Christmas spirit”, “Fighting spirit”, etc. We all understand these examples, and accept them with little doubt as to their existence. The reason is because we’ve all experienced them or seen them in our lives. We don’t think of these things as being different or special, they are just part of life.
Spirit is complete manifestation of true self. Once you surrender to your spirit, everything seems to come together for you. The same can be said of “fighting spirit”. When someone has a strong fighting spirit, they except the fact that they are in the midst of struggle. In fact they happily engage, excepting what is happening, exhibiting a kind of joy. They do this even in the face of agony or defeat.
Your spirit shows itself when you stop putting things off. Without fearing what is about to happen, simply being in the moment, naturally. We’ve all had the experience of getting up in front of a crowd to give a talk or present something. Maybe we allowed ourselves to be intimidated by the crowd, kind of shinking inside of ourselves. Not being the best showman we could be. We didn’t have the “showman’s spirit”. We didn’t allow ourselves to do as well as we could. We just didn’t have enough “spirit” to make the best presentation we could. Spiritual practice’s are those that teach you to except what is happening and who you are in order to let yourself, your spirit, shine through. When you are coming from a spiritual place you are acting without fear, worry, doubt, or any kind of dependence on what will happen next, you are simply being you, right now.
Understanding spirit, and spirituality in this way; its connection to the martial arts is undeniable. Martial situations are ones that require strong spirit. If your spirit isn’t strong you’ll never get through extreme difficulty’s. If your spirit isn’t strong it’s impossible to come through tragedy and not be a victim. And for these very reasons Martial practices make wonderful training grounds for the spirit. Lending the martial arts to being a wonderful spiritual practice. Most religions and non-martial spiritual schools have to add practices in order to train the spirit. Challenges and difficulties must be faced in order to strengthen your spirit. Non-martial spiritual traditions add things like: abstinence, fasting, tithing, worship, routine, strict moralities etc. in order to challenge their practitioners. Martial practices however have a built in set of challenges: fighting, physical fatigue, and habitual practice are the necessities of a martial method. Practices like these make simple sense in the martial arts. You never have to ask, “why do I need to be in good physical shape” ,” “Why do I actually need to test my skills against someone”, or “why do I need to train so much”. The reasons are clear, if you want to be good, you’ll have to do these things. You must use your spirit to get through these rigors, this trains the spirit. It’s hard to hide behind lies, and clever excuses, if you’re not training hard, it’s clear that your spirit is not in the practice.
The great thing about spiritual training is that it will naturally start to spill over into the rest of your life. When you honestly take on training in the martial arts, you take on a spiritual practice that makes you a stronger person. Dealing with things directly and honestly starts to be much less challenging. When you willingly participate in physical conflict, dealing with the rude woman/man who suddenly isn’t a big deal. When you force yourself to joyfully except vigorous exercise, doing yard work is no problem. A strong spirit is useful in all facets of life, and will do far more for you then make you a good fighter.
You must pay attention to this You must actually make Spirituality a practice. If you fight simply because you’re mad, or “want too” you’re not training your spirit. You are simply giving in to an indulgence. If you show up at your Kwoon and simply go through the motions, you’re not training your spirit. If you get excited and feed your ego every time you hit someone, or give them a kick, complaining every time you are hit, you’re not training your spirit. You must stay ever mindful, taking care in all of your training. This will make your practice something phenomenal. Something that will strengthen your spirit, and increase your martial ability. Eventually there will be no more “spirit of giving,”, or “fighting spirit”, because everything you do will involve spirit.
In summery I believe that knowing your skill as a martial artist, knowing the damage, pain, suffering that you can cause some one (it does not just start nor stop with them, it effects family and love ones and there lives) not only brings you closer to spirituality but compassion, love and forgiveness.
Martial arts and spirituality. What does that even mean? This is a question almost all of us ask. But few of us ever get any real answers. Some say it’s mixing religions such as Christianity or Islam with martial arts. Some think it’s dressing up in flowing clothes, spouting koans, and seeming esoteric. Some say it’s simply, “a bunch of crap”.
However I believe It isn’t any of these things.
I believe to understand the relationship between Martial arts and spiritually, you must first understand what each of them are on their own. Most of us pretty much understand, or at least have a clear concept of what the martial arts are. I’ll define it here as the study of physical conflict. But there are lots of definitions. Most of us have spent enough time with the martial arts, that we have a pretty clear definition, at least for ourselves. It’s spirituality that many of us have a hard time with.
To many, spirituality is simply going to church and reading the bible. While these things are spiritual things, they are part of a religion, and not the spirituality itself. A religion is a school of spirituality. The main goal of these schools is to put people in touch with their spirituality. The practices of a religion (prayer, bible reading, church services, worship etc.) are designed to put you in touch with your spirituality, but they are not the spirituality itself. By adding the practices of your religion to your martial arts, you are not working with spirituality, you are you are not working with spirituality, you are simply adding more practices. Which most martial arts systems already have more then enough of. Religion’s are to spirituality as Martial arts are to fighting. They are schools that point to a thing, but not the thing itself. Mixing the practices of a religion into your martial arts doesn’t train your spirit.
The trappings of spirituality are not the spirit. While different physical objects can help evoke your spirit, they are not the spirit itself. Wearing a Zen masters robes certainly does not make you a Zen master. Reciting words and incantations that you don’t understand does not make you a spiritual person. Seeming aloof and exotic to other people doesn’t do a thing for your spirituality either. It starts with you.Your spirit is at the very core of what you are. So how could you find it in things outside of yourself?
Because of our tendency to confuse spirit with practices and trappings, many of us come to the conclusion that spirituality is just a bunch of nonsense and doesn’t exist at all. However if you look to the normal instead of the extreme we can readily see examples of spirit in our daily lives. Some common indications of spirit are: “the spirit of giving”, “the Christmas spirit”, “Fighting spirit”, etc. We all understand these examples, and accept them with little doubt as to their existence. The reason is because we’ve all experienced them or seen them in our lives. We don’t think of these things as being different or special, they are just part of life.
Spirit is complete manifestation of true self. Once you surrender to your spirit, everything seems to come together for you. The same can be said of “fighting spirit”. When someone has a strong fighting spirit, they except the fact that they are in the midst of struggle. In fact they happily engage, excepting what is happening, exhibiting a kind of joy. They do this even in the face of agony or defeat.
Your spirit shows itself when you stop putting things off. Without fearing what is about to happen, simply being in the moment, naturally. We’ve all had the experience of getting up in front of a crowd to give a talk or present something. Maybe we allowed ourselves to be intimidated by the crowd, kind of shinking inside of ourselves. Not being the best showman we could be. We didn’t have the “showman’s spirit”. We didn’t allow ourselves to do as well as we could. We just didn’t have enough “spirit” to make the best presentation we could. Spiritual practice’s are those that teach you to except what is happening and who you are in order to let yourself, your spirit, shine through. When you are coming from a spiritual place you are acting without fear, worry, doubt, or any kind of dependence on what will happen next, you are simply being you, right now.
Understanding spirit, and spirituality in this way; its connection to the martial arts is undeniable. Martial situations are ones that require strong spirit. If your spirit isn’t strong you’ll never get through extreme difficulty’s. If your spirit isn’t strong it’s impossible to come through tragedy and not be a victim. And for these very reasons Martial practices make wonderful training grounds for the spirit. Lending the martial arts to being a wonderful spiritual practice. Most religions and non-martial spiritual schools have to add practices in order to train the spirit. Challenges and difficulties must be faced in order to strengthen your spirit. Non-martial spiritual traditions add things like: abstinence, fasting, tithing, worship, routine, strict moralities etc. in order to challenge their practitioners. Martial practices however have a built in set of challenges: fighting, physical fatigue, and habitual practice are the necessities of a martial method. Practices like these make simple sense in the martial arts. You never have to ask, “why do I need to be in good physical shape” ,” “Why do I actually need to test my skills against someone”, or “why do I need to train so much”. The reasons are clear, if you want to be good, you’ll have to do these things. You must use your spirit to get through these rigors, this trains the spirit. It’s hard to hide behind lies, and clever excuses, if you’re not training hard, it’s clear that your spirit is not in the practice.
The great thing about spiritual training is that it will naturally start to spill over into the rest of your life. When you honestly take on training in the martial arts, you take on a spiritual practice that makes you a stronger person. Dealing with things directly and honestly starts to be much less challenging. When you willingly participate in physical conflict, dealing with the rude woman/man who suddenly isn’t a big deal. When you force yourself to joyfully except vigorous exercise, doing yard work is no problem. A strong spirit is useful in all facets of life, and will do far more for you then make you a good fighter.
You must pay attention to this You must actually make Spirituality a practice. If you fight simply because you’re mad, or “want too” you’re not training your spirit. You are simply giving in to an indulgence. If you show up at your Kwoon and simply go through the motions, you’re not training your spirit. If you get excited and feed your ego every time you hit someone, or give them a kick, complaining every time you are hit, you’re not training your spirit. You must stay ever mindful, taking care in all of your training. This will make your practice something phenomenal. Something that will strengthen your spirit, and increase your martial ability. Eventually there will be no more “spirit of giving,”, or “fighting spirit”, because everything you do will involve spirit.
In summery I believe that knowing your skill as a martial artist, knowing the damage, pain, suffering that you can cause some one (it does not just start nor stop with them, it effects family and love ones and there lives) not only brings you closer to spirituality but compassion, love and forgiveness.
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