The correct martial arts mental attitude
Newsletter 1146
Life is a fight.
A bunch of us students were talking with our instructor and somebody popped the question: “What’s it all about. What is the point of it all?”
The answer was simple: “To survive.”
I liked that answer, it was true, but I wanted something more. I finally settled on the answer: ‘To seek existence as.’
To survive reduces us to the level of animals. To ‘seek existence as’ elevates us. But, ‘seek existence as…what?’
That was the point at which I realized karate, any true martial art, was spiritual.
To survive doesn’t work because eventually you won’t. We all die.
But to do the forms, to seek perfection through endless repetition, to exchange strikes with a partner with an eye to improvement and not to ‘beat’ them, that sheds awareness on this fact of body, this illusion of mind, this…spirit.
You shouldn’t fight to beat somebody, for that reduces the race by one awareness. You should contest to improve the self, to create more awareness, and that enhances the race by more than one awareness.
Thus, my intent, when studying the martial arts was not to destroy, for though there is an art to destruction, the true art is in control.
Control yourself until your mind is calm and peaceful and an interesting thing happens…you learn to control others.
I learned to kill people decades ago, but learning to love through deadly skills…that was the trick.
Here’s a clip from my video/book, ‘The Last Martial Arts Book.’ This is probably the most advanced martial art in the world. It goes from hard technique to soft.
It is like Pa Kua Chang because it is modular, so you can learn it in pieces that all fit together. It is like Tai Chi in that it creates very subtle energy throughout the body. It is extremely effective on the street, the ring, or wherever. Most of all, it creates spiritual awareness.
The glory is that there are almost 30 video links, hours of detailed instruction, showing every single facet of the system.
Read this page for full detail… https://monstermartialarts.com/the-last-martial-arts-book/#url_2
Here’s the sample clip…
https://youtu.be/9Tfwomk5348
Have a great work out!
Al Case
MonsterMartialArts.com
