When you get up in the morning, be aware that any accomplishments you achieve are for today, and are not promised tomorrow. Man is born anew each day, and as the saying goes “he never steps into the same river twice, for he is not the same man”. As such, it is important to keep track of where you are in each instant of the day, and how your energies are being used – whether you are walking to work, at the doctors surgery, or cleaning the dishes. This mindfulness is very easy to do and doesn’t require any special knowledge or technical training, it just requires awareness. A lot of the time you can leave technical advice to one side, but never this. The thing to understand is to take care of tomorrows problems by doing everything correctly now, moment by moment, and then the future will be free from impediments, as long as we take care not to leave loose ends lying about.
If you eat a meal, this does not nourish you for the next day or month. No, instead you begin all over again the next day. By the same token, you do not learn some martial arts techniques today and then have the answer for tomorrows problems. Chances are you will need entirely different tactics tomorrow and the day after that. Yes, it isn’t enough to view problems as and when they arise – each problem solved leads to further problems that crop up, and as long as they are viewed intelligently you will be more and more prepared. This implies viewing things from the right perspective, a perspective which encompasses everything and anticipates nasty little surprises before they arise. I will come back to this in a moment.
The capabilities you have developed today are the stepping stones for the achievement of goals tomorrow. Or, if you like, each solution is sign post in the right direction, not the definitive answer to all future problems. You can only see this truth from a position of greater intelligence in the mind than merely reactive intelligence. If we have been lazy for months on end this may set us back a great deal in terms what we can possibly achieve today. In other words, if we have not so much as taken a step on the right path for a long time, we don’t get anywhere near we are headed. However, it can be a substantial step in the right direction just to acknowledge this fact and start again from humble beginnings. Yes, if we’ve strayed from the path we have to accept our lot, which might mean a fall from grace or even huge dissatisfaction in not yet achieving much. But no matter, this dissatisfaction is the only stimulus which can drive us forward again, and is common to all. And so long as you work immediately to get things in order again, then tomorrow will be better.
To stop yourself being too negative , and to save you from losing hope, its a good idea to contemplate and meditate on all that is beautiful and inspiring. It is only the most inspiring examples which motivate us wholeheartedly. This is the sign of true art. “You might say, that’s all very well, but life’s tough and full of chaos!”. All the more reason to avoid getting bogged down. So focus on the most beautiful and inspiring thoughts, and the powerful feelings which these invoke. Most people let these feelings pass by and give up pursuing them, fearing the emptiness that follows. Or they go to extremes and wear themselves out. However, by doing this and sustaining this inner state in all its subtlety with the will, you will be in no danger of falling into despair. This inner state is known as the centre line, the centre of gravity, the Hara Centre1, the Dan Tien, the Svadhisthana… The be all and end all of existence to disciples of this science.
Those who have fought to gain access to the reservoir of life, the centre, no longer bother about how many physical contests they have won. It is meaningless to worry about external validation when you have internalised this power. Some envision this centre to be an energy, a life force, or a felt sense of things. The Chinese sages call this Chi, which runs along the meridians, and the Indian masters call it Prana. It doesn’t really matter where this centre is situated physically, because there are many “centres” which all link up, all you have to do is meditate the centre and contemplate it to get in touch with it.
There are disciples who have no special proficiency in combat who have nevertheless found the centre. There are also fighters who have beaten everybody and yet lead meaningless lives. However, there are many ways to skin a cat and just by dedicating themselves to their craft, many fighters who themselves had no special philosophy were able to feel forces and energies within themselves which guided them accurately, simply because they acted with purpose, conviction, strength and intelligence. In other words, whatever is done in the spirit of truth and dedication develops certain chakras and energy lines, whether that is the goal or not. Of course, it’s better to see things correctly, as this removes a lot of barriers from the off.
Taking this pursuit of the centre seriously is what will lead you to the source, even if you have no idea where to look for it, it is the sincere effort that counts2. I am well aware that this point of view is often considered ridiculous, and at first sight it may seem totally trivial to concentrate on a centre point from which everything else springs. However, for others it is an idea of the highest esteem, which at the very least prevents the negative effects of an inflated sense of superiority, so often indulged in by those who deride everyone else. You could say the the centre is the master, the source of all knowledge.
Look at all the opportunities we have for testing ourselves daily. There is really no need to have a few serious contests and then proclaim yourself a champion for all eternity. Personally, Glorious conquests of that sort have never appealed to me, all my time and energies are absorbed in other activities. Don’t get me wrong, we should be grateful for what science and experience has revealed to us about the fighting arts. They have revealed a lot, which I appreciate. However, in my opinion these technical aspects reflect a more general reality. For example, the left side tends to be more receptive to “feel” as well as horizontal movements, whereas the right side tends to be assertive in nature and moves vertically. This can be seen when people feel their way around in the dark with the left hand, or when they point assertively at things with the right. This shares certain parallels with the jab in boxing, which is the “feeler” and the sword strike which tends to be chopping or stabbing. But I don’t want to get in to this here, so I will leave it for now, but just see how many instances you can find this to be true, there are countless.
Contests are a great way of testing your skills and finding the sense of urgency required of combat, and more importantly of life’s demands more generally. But the reasons people do this are often alien to the the wider requirements of life, at least as I see it. Many people train for a tournament, have a few matches and then spend the following evenings indulging in amusements, letting their hair down at the bar. There’s nothing wrong with doing this if that’s what people want to do, but it hardly puts you in the right frame of mind for serious work the next morning.
Winning a contest through skill, on the condition that it actually tests capabilities, is of course a worthy goal. But it doesn’t go far enough. Bruce Lee said that a fighter only loses if he believes he loses. What did he mean by that? It means that if you lose a contest, you must say to yourself “That wasn’t the best I am capable of. This just shows I have spent too much time entertaining counterproductive ideas, and not enough time training”. Personally, this is exactly what I tell myself if I get puffed up about any achievement I have made. I have found that the more I absorb myself in superficial and materially orientated concerns the less time I have to dedicate to activities that give meaning to life. You are of course free to say this is just an excuse for not being productive or simply being afraid of fighting. But there are many people who would much rather be punched in the face or worse than to have their centre of existence undermined.
Not getting the results you want doesn’t necessarily matter, because the only one who can decide whether you won or lost is you. If you have been working diligently and vigilantly, rather than rushing towards a time limit, you will get there eventually, rest assured, whatever your goal. In fact, as I’ve just said, working within the centre can be an occupation of such joy that if you concern yourself only with this, it is such meaningful work that you no longer care how many thousands of hours your training takes3. Nor do you care what the results are. The more hours spent searching the better! Definitive success is likely to make you less vigilant, and just to please a few ignorant opinions is it really worth it?
If you entertain thoughts of negativity, for example by greedily insisting that you should win every contest you enter, then you have prepared yourself for a loss needlessly. If you recognise that things such as contests do not in fact determine victory, then you have made the first step in preparing yourself for progress. Often, fighters win contests in the most lifeless of ways, but they don’t stop to ask themselves what is actually gained from this. They say they are “efficient” and win due to this, and mockingly deride anyone who practices the more “inefficient” methods. Is it normal to inflict such drab unpoetic performances on people whilst claiming to inspire them as champions of this or that?
I can only speak for myself but I am not greatly concerned with efficiency. For me, a true Martial Artist is one who creates art, power, and strength of character into his own life by imbuing his actions and thoughts with expression and love. This can be done with even the most seemingly trivial and insignificant gestures, whether one throws a punch at anyone or not.
Victory does not happen overnight according to one particular event. If a General goes to war and wins a skirmish, if he has any intelligence he doesn’t immediately let his guard down and forget about protecting the borders by letting the troops go out partying. However that is what many people do when they win a contest. They assume that their skills will serve them in the future just as well as they did at that one moment in time years ago, even though they have since given up working day and night to engage in training. They rely on their “good genes”, without realizing that even Genes cannot function properly without environmental interaction and training, without which their power withers. And I am not talking just about the outer environment, but the inner environment which can be considered much more important. Recent scientific research has even revealed that even our most fixed inherited material is enhanced (or debilitated) by our subjective lives.
I have found myself that it is when we least expect it that we are taken by surprise. Many people who get attacked on the street are hit because they failed to remain vigilant at the crucial moment. They get discouraged that their techniques don’t work, or they simply get bogged down by those around them and lose all energy and perhaps even self respect and therefore motivation. Even in the gyms, people come in looking extremely closed off and cold, no doubt because they think this makes them look intimidating. And then they pass this attitude on to others. What can you possibly learn in such a lifeless environment?
It is not uncommon to see people turn up late during training sessions and not so much as greet the instructor make an effort to be on time. Perhaps you think its unimportant to demonstrate a good attitude of openness, and I can only speak for myself but if I turned up to training every morning feeling and looking cold and absent I would have left the Martial arts a long time ago. Many of the places people get together to have a good time involve you being surrounded by wooden lifeless expressions without a spark of interest for being there. Either that or there is such nervous tension in the air that by the time you get home you’re exhausted from it all. Obviously not all situations are like this, but it is common none the less.
Personally I have found that if the mind and body are in a prepared state of vigilance, the body knows what to do, if you have prepared properly with years of work. I just think of the centre, in whatever manifestation this takes at the time. As a default, I think of the Hara centre, and nothing else. Of course, you can then think of the different links to this centre, because nothing works in isolation. For example how the arms and head relates to it, but it all leads back to the Hara. I don’t concern myself much as to whether my techniques actually work in terms of combat, because combative movements are derived from more general considerations, such as clenching the fist to increase will power, and manipulating the fist by using the pressure of the thumb to turn it. Whether this is an effective way to land a hit is purely coincidental in my opinion.
Often, it is only when you panic and try to go over in your head what to do theoretically, or you try to stay and fight when you should fall back, that when things go wrong. Yes, if through some misconception you believe you should stay and fight a losing battle (for example, one than you cannot envisage any good outcome), then don’t stay, or better yet don’t let the situation arise. Or, if you decide you must finish a fight that you started out of anger and refuse to act diplomatically as a moral duty, be warned this can play heavily on the mind. You are of course free to think what you like, but as for myself I am totally convinced that subjective morality has an impact on objective motivation and overall physical capabilities. Or more accurately, it does for me, whether or not it does for anyone else is up to them to decide. I have found this from experience, not any formal training.
Whether or not your training is effective, or will save your life, obviously depends on what you consider effective, and indeed your definition of life saving practice actually is. As for myself I think of nothing else but achieving Harmony and equilibrium within my organism, with the goal of fighting off disease, negativity, and other ills. Whilst developing health, strength, and will power. These I develop through various mediums, such as boxing, meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, and more importantly the seemingly trivial activities of the day by engaging with them mindfully. This is what my inner master asks me to do, one aspect of which is the Hara Centre, which is for me the true source of inspiration and teaching. Of course, there are many rules, but there is also great abundance and freedom. I am not at all concerned with dominating others or activity which upsets this balance. If I gain some competence in practical Martial Arts, then that is of course welcomed, but whether or not this comes I just get to work.
References
1 Inner Disharmony https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/01/05/inner-disharmony/
2 Facing Trials with sincerity https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/12/19/facing-trials-with-sincerity/
3 The Skill is not Separate from the Work https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2020/07/04/the-skill-is-not-separate-from-work-and-contemplation/
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