Newsletter 944
The Higher Martial Art
I had an interesting class the other day,
one of the students is always late,
always lazy,
and wastes his and other student’s time.
So I sat him down,
along with the whole class,
and I chewed him up a little bit.
I said,
five years from now
you’re going to have a job,
a wife,
a kid on the way,
are you going to give people a hard time then?
Blank look back at me.
Then:
Martial Arts are about control.
Fighting is part of it,
but you have to get past fighting
and learn how to control.
Life is nothing but people
and how you control them,
or how you are controlled by them.
He cocks his head quizzically.
I’m the boss here,
can you control me?
He shakes his head no.
So you won’t be able to control your boss
when you get a job.
You won’t be able to move ahead,
you won’t be able to choose what to do,
you won’t be able to work your own hours,
you won’t be able to make the money you want to make.
Now he’s blinking.
I’m starting to make sense to him.
Martial arts is about control.
If you don’t learn control here,
you may not have a chance later.
The boss in five years
doesn’t care about you learning control,
he just wants to get the job done,
and he is going to go with the people
who can best control what they do.
My voice is raised now,
and the class is staring.
There are times when I want them to think,
now is not one of those times.
Now I want them to get it.
Shut up and get it:
the world belongs to those who can control it.
I finished with:
If you’re an idiot now,
if you’re going to waste your time
by being lazy and foolish,
then you’re going to be an idiot in five years.
So I suggest you practice these forms
so you can learn to control your body.
And practice those applications,
so you can learn to control your opponent.
And practice freestyle drills and methods,
so you can control the chaos that life can be.
Now,
the student in question improved slightly.
So I will have to repeat it tomorrow,
maybe in altered form,
maybe in connection with some other dojo lesson.
And I will repeat it again and again.
Because that’s what teaching really is.
Here’s a link on how to translate chaos to control,
force to flow,
the world to your pleasure.
http://monstermartialarts.com/how-to-translate-karate-into-tai-chi-chuan/\
Have a great work out!
Al
Following is a great win that shows one thing…you aren’t going to get the answers, you are going to get the questions, the questions that lead you to understanding your own martial art. Do you have the kind of mind that can do this?
A WIN!
Al, the reason I finely decided to order these DVD’s (Five Army Tai Chi Chuan) was that after one of my classes, which I am continuing to teach at the park, I was invited by a fellow name John to learn Tai Chi with him and some of his students. I found the art to be fun, but when the class ended I inquired about the martial application and to my surprise John told me that there where none, that it was only to be used for relaxation.
Bull, I then showed him how I could turn just the few moves that I had just learned into a usable defense (only because I read the Master Instructor manual.) This got me thinking about this art and I know the best place for me to learn it was from you.
Have a great week
Stephen
