Sunday Morning and the Martial Arts!
My day of …work out.
On the seventh day he…worked out?
Something to think about, eh?
But,
remember,
you don’t get where you’re going
by being a lazy so and so.
You get there by being
a lean, mean, work out machine.
Neutronic concepts in verse…click on the cover!
So,
where are you going?
There are stages of development,
you know.
First stage,
how do you tie a belt,
oh, forgot to bow,
how do I remember what to do.
Man, this is a LOT of work!
Then you get to black belt.
Lot’s of signposts before then,
but it’s still one stage,
reaction time disappears,
intuition appears,
and you absorb some mighty powerful stuff.
Second stage,
what the heck do I do now?
Do I practice this one art?
Work my way up the higher belt levels?
Do I sample other arts?
What do I do about this attack of pride
that seems to have lodged in my soul?
Third stage,
what the heck is this all about?
Do you see the progression here?
It is all about finding answers.
First you want to fight,
then you want to learn,
and it’s always about making decisions,
finding your way,
accumulating data until…?
If you are in an art that is competition oriented,
your progress is often truncated
when you get to old to compete.
If you are in an art with no roots,
an eclectic art,
then you either go away,
or you start searching for roots.
Lot of Kenpo people get involved with this one.
I was heavily there,
back in 69.
Some people make the transition
from learning
to teaching.
This is good,
because you actually learn more when you teach.
BUT,
there are some very serious roadblocks here.
Have you answered enough questions in your own mind,
to answer questions in others minds?
Are you teaching because you love the art?
Or because you love the domination?
This is a hard one,
especially considering what the martial arts are:
a discipline for dominating.
But teaching,
real teaching,
is different.
It is not about dominating,
it is about sharing.
Makes it hard to balance discipline with having fun.
Love of teaching is not enough.
Many instructors fall into this category,
they love to teach,
and they aren’t very good martial artists,
but the authority of the position
is very magnetic.
Electric.
A close cousin to domination,
without realizing it.
The problem here
is that nobody really knows how to teach.
They monkey see monkey do
how they were taught.
They follow the same method
that has been used for thousands of years.
A method designed for people
who weren’t literate,
who had no logic.
And they do this
even though the system they are teaching
is being degraded by all manner of influences,
including and sometimes especially
modern teaching methods.
I got lucky.
I studied with a fellow who didn’t talk.
He smiled,
he laughed,
he offered no opinion
just let us learn.
He didn’t inject himself into the teachings.
I studied for near seven years,
In that time he said maybe a dozen things.
‘A tight fist is a heavy fist.’
‘There are many paths to the top of the mountain.’
And so on.
Honestly,
I don’t remember the things he said,
I remember the feeling when he stepped on the mat,
the electrical current running up my legs.
I remember stepping on the mat myself
and suddenly being swept up
in a desire to work out
that was unlike anything
I had ever experienced.
Nobody ever dominated,
because he never dominated.
Nobody ever got lost in odd explanations of why this technique worked because of the neural synapsis that fired when the fight or flight syndrome was engaged because of the direction of the attacker’s eyes when…
All we did was the forms,
and we tried things,
and when the things didn’t work,
he was there to show us what did work.
That was the essence of the education,
you know,
to find out what worked.
When you find out what works
it answers all questions.
When you are lost in explanations offered
by people who want to be teachers,
or fighters,
or something other than martial artists,
then you end up thinking that the things that don’t work
will work.
The whole class skews.
The art skews.
When you get the explanation for what works,
by being directed to do the form,
and to find out what works,
then you learn the art.
And,
then you aren’t swayed into mystique land
or lost in the illogics,
or lose your roots.
Your roots are you.
After you do the forms
the way they are supposed to be done,
in silence and looking for what works,
then you answer your questions,
there are no more mysteries,
and you are left with you.
A greater blessing has no man.
Anyway,
thanks for letting me rant,
hope it helps.
And there is always
The Master Instructor Course,
if you need a little extra
in the way of instruction.
Works for every student,
every teacher,
because it is grounded in how the universe actually works
and it is rooted in the truth of you.
Now,
have a great Sunday,
or whatever day you get this on.
Remember,
any day can be a day of rest…
any day can be a day of work out.
Have a great work out!
Al
Matrix Martial Arts 