tumblr_m13wgjPWyf1qh5grto1_250Martial Arts is a discipline that is often misunderstood. It is the art of war played out between individuals instead of armies, even deeper, it is War played out internally instead of externally.

Through the years it has acquiring a reputation that’s hard to shake, of people saying it’s just about fighting only, its not going to help You on the street, that not all it’s practicioners can fight and that just because someone is a black belt it doesn’t mean that they are tough enough. They talk about how other fighting arts like boxing or kickboxing are better because they only teach techniques that You can use in full contact competition. People associate martial arts with mysticism and smoke and mirror tricks. They think when they see a martial artist break a few boards or bricks or bend spears that it is some kind of stunt. they think all the flashy moves are for show. They think the martial arts practitioner is a hypocrite for talking spiritually but not walking it every second of their life, no mistakes allowed. They assume martial artist are ego driven, power hungry, nerds that used to get beat up and had to learn to defend themselves (even though this could be true). It is assumed there is no concrete explanation for their seemingly superhuman abilities therefore it can’t be real. It is almost universally overlooked that Martial Arts is actually the science of the mind. This is true because the mind rules the body and it is imperative that the mind has to step back for the inner soul to shine through. It is the art of war played out between individuals instead of armies, even deeper, it is the art of war played out internally instead of externally.

I have been involved in martial arts over half my life and there was a time that I also was guilty of having these same prejudices. What I have discovered though is that fighting is just the inevitable conclusion in martial arts when all else fails. How can You negotiate with an enemy when they are armed either physically or mentally and You have no weapons? So martial arts is the great equalizer. Since there are so many ways to get attacked or enter into conflict, it is almost impossible to prepare for each individual scenario.  

Our approach to this problem is to link the person with their body, mind and spirit through rigorous training. This training is designed to break down the physical body to the point where it is willing to accept new programming in order to overcome the exercise that it previously failed at. Our human body from birth and even sooner, from conception only wants to improve it’s condition. Self-perfection. Just like how a tree only wants to grow big and move towards the sun, our body wants to heal and be as efficient as possible in it’s energy consumption in order to continue to heal, grow and reproduce cells to stay alive. All this happens subconsciously, however a qualified martial arts instructor is aware of this process and knows it is their duty to use this process to take the practitioner to a higher level of excellence.

Even though there are infinite scenarios in which we can be attacked there are only a finite amount of weapons we have at our disposal to defend ourselves. The martial artist learns to use every one of these physical weapons through repetitive movements. We train the body for movement, not for big muscles. In nature there are few things more beneficial than true functional strength. Functional strength is gained through muscle endurance, cultivated over an extended period of time such as the time it takes to get a black belt, or time it takes to get farmer strong, approximately 5 years.  

There are many different styles of meditation, all designed to take us on the inner journey, the path less travelled. this is how we truly make contact and form a relationship with our true self. Our soul. Once that unity is achieved fighting is just a formality or a technicality which doesn’t have to happen. Bullys pick fights they believe they can win. It is more difficult for them to see as a victim someone who has is trained and has made a body, mind and spiritual connection that shows subliminally or even outwardly. This now becomes more of a mental warfare.  

Martial arts is a moving meditation. It questions everything  You think and forces You to alter Your core beliefs. This is true because people often come looking for help but failing to realize that You can never solve a problem with the same energy that caused it. So what is needed is a change in thinking. Here’s what it looks like after all the training and hard work has already been done. In moving meditation we first learn to quiet the mind. It’s job is only to observe as a witness what happened and if intervention is required then the mind must be flexible, able to change shape according to the situation and improvise, in a Jazz kind of way. This is the same for all spiritual meditative practices. The only difference is that in this scenario someone is trying to kill You while You do this. This is also true in non-contact styles because visualization plays a big part so in the mind the conflict is still real.

Black Belt means not that You are an expert but that You have mastered your basics. With basics mastered fighting can now be a spiritual practice because the body instictively already knows what to do and now that It has been taught the technique and the timing and the distancing and the core strengthening, intent, energy direction, to not quit and to persevere among other things. It’s up to You the practitioner to sit back and be the observer in the NOW and allow the body to do just that, defend itself, with no blockages. Any intervention should be You stopping yourself from finishing them off.

Now go train. Bless