Have a great work out from Texas!
Got here last night,
and immediately did a workout!
The only way to survive the insanity of traveling!
So,
I was in Arizona the other night,
and a couple of interesting things to note.
Upper Arizona is beautiful,
trees all over the place,
lots of wildlife.
Really gives a lie to anybody who says
we are running out of things.
Man,
there is so much space,
so much lumber,
so much wildlife…
there is no shortage in this world,
just crooked politicos who try to frighten you
by saying there is!
But enough ranting,
let’s move on to the good stuff,
let’s move on to that unique universe
of doing the martial arts in Arizona.
Lower Arizona is dry and dusty.
Wind blowing everywhere.
At first,
I was discouraged.
Then,
sitting up late at night,
listening to the desert,
I felt it…
Listen,
do you know how it feels
when you cram a bunch of people in a room?
100 people in a 20 by 20 room?
People knocking elbows,
bumping into each other,
sooner or late…
there’s going to be a fight.
And,
multiply that by ten thousand,
and you have a city.
People packed together like sardines,
not enough room,
everybody getting cranky!
So I’m sitting in the middle of the Arizona deseert
and there’s no people,
and I could feel the deep, deep spirituality.
The space.
The vastness.
The clouds overhead were surging with life.
I could feel elemental forces moving across the deseert floor.
And then there was me,
a mote,
a speck,
audience to this vast moving play,
this magnificent display of earth and element.
It was spiritual.
And,
moved,
I began doing my forms,
and I couldn’t stop!
Elements were moving me,
forces were shoving my punches,
nibbling at my stances,
making me feel ENERGY!
It was massive.
And,
of course,
I had a realization.
In truth,
I have realized this before,
but from different perspective,
which made it all the newer and more potent to me.
When you are starting out
it is good to be in a dojo,
to feel the bodies,
to interact with other martial artists.
But,
as time goes on,
you need space.
You are the center of the universe,
you need to look out,
to feel the massive space within which you sit.
Look,
your physical body is part of you,
but the real you is as far as you can see,
as far as you can imagine!
And that is space.
That is the true empty in empty hands.
That is the truth of you that is just waiting for you to…wake up to it!
Sitting in Arizona,
unable to stop doing forms,
I was in the middle of that realization.
Absolutely spectacular.
And,
it goes without saying,
I could see myself,
I could imagine myself,
doing my forms on top of Mt. Nipomo.
Monkeyland.
120 acres,
nearest neighbor four miles away.
Exuding the essence of me through the discipline of the martial arts.
Heaven.
All the best of modern society,
but isolated,
alone,
with sufficient space
to truly delve into the martial arts.
Now,
that in mind,
when you do Tai Chi
the image is often of doing it on top of a mountain.
Alone.
Horzons beyond horizons.
Able to see everything.
One of the most impressive images I have ever encountereed
was a cheap wookd block carving.
It was a viewpoint of a mountain range…
from above.
But how could the guy get above to see that?
How could he see a yin yang in a mountain range as if from hundreds of miles up?
By being alone,
by doing the martial arts,
and getting so much discipline
that he was a pooint of awareness
outside of his body
high in the stratosphere.
So,
that was the train of my thought,
and how it related to martial arts
and to monkeyland,
and all sorts of things,
as I stood in the desert
and did forms…
and couldn’t stop.
So,
here’s the Tai Chi URL,
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/
in case you want to get started on being alone,
creating space,
finding the purest,
highest,
most elemental level of martial arts you can.
Mind you,
don’t give up that hard stuff,
or partners,
or the blessings of living in community of city,
and don’t give up your karate forms…
but,
do your martial arts at night,
alone,
slowly,
creating massive space.
Becoming aware of yor true body,
of the true extent of your awareness…
your imagination.
Take a hike,
find a mountain top,
exude yourself,
see if you can discipline yourself to greater and greater awareness.
Have a great workout,
and I’ll tell you about New Mexico Martial Arts Soirituality next time!
Al
