At the heart of martial arts philosophy lies the principle of becoming like a circle—a form in which pressure is equal at all sides, allowing energy to circulate freely and function to become unlimited. This symbolic and practical concept is rooted in how energy, structure, and pressure interact within the human body.
According to martial arts tradition, true upward movement and expansion only occur from a stable foundation—the Hara or lower abdomen. Like a bubble that starts as a flat surface and expands outward, the body must have a grounded base in order to build symmetrical energy. If the base is unstable, energy cannot rise or distribute evenly, leading to imbalance and dysfunction.
According to martial arts tradition, pressure only builds higher and develops evenly if it starts from a solid base. Otherwise the energy cannot mix with enough internal matter in order to have a stable enough foundation to properly build upward momentum. This mixing of energy and matter occurs in the Lower abdomen, or the Hara Centre. This is what it means to “Move from the centre”. It is like how if you build a house on a lopsided platform, structural weaknesses eventually happen because you cannot distribute the pressure well enough from a stable platform.
So the soap bubble starts by being compressed flat, a potentially energy, like a flattened diaphragm. Compression creates a potential energy of its own
As with a house, the base of the martial artists is minimal and flat. Curvature happens when the structure elongates. It is like how with a soap wand, the film is always flat until it is filled with air. Filling it with air increases its overall surface area. So the soap bubble starts by being compressed flat, a potentially energy, like a flattened diaphragm. Compression creates a potential energy of its own. And then it eventually spreads as it is filled with movement energy, which travels up. This is essentially what martial arts is all about. We will come back to the bubble analogy later.
Becoming rounded
The idea is to become like a circle, so that any pressure which happens externally is matched by the internal pressure and is equal at all sides.
As we looked at earlier, when the bubble expands its surface area goes from flat to three dimensional. As the bubble fills with air, this creates a curvature. This creates a spherical shape. Another way for this curvature to be initiated, or equalisation of force, is for it to happen externally. As pressure is added to certain points such as in the hands or elsewhere, or if the body is pushed and pull in many directions, this creates an increased surface pressure. The idea is to become like a circle, so that any pressure which happens externally is matched by the internal pressure and is equal at all sides.
When a small insect lands on a bubble, creating small curvatures on the surface, this increases the outside pressure. This increases internal pressure as well because the polar forces in the water content try to equal out this curvature made by the small insect. If the bubble were not round, then the pressure inside it would not be the same at every point of the surface. In terms of martial arts, it is possible to stimulate internal pressure by adding external pressure. When one becomes like a circle, they become balanced, and there internal pressure matches the outside. This idea is behind the theory of acupressure.
Expansion of the Bubble
When we breathe efficiently, increased tension and a pull in several directions creates an overall expansion. This expansion allows the structure to take in more content, such as air. For example, the diaphragm is domed shaped so that there is equal pressure across all sides. The base of the diaphragm is flat and wide, particularly when one inhales, and like any foundation it is compressed. This means it is able to create a potential energy of its own.
Whether pressure is stimulated internally or externally does not really matter. It is about linking external and internal activity, which act upon one another. It is pressure which holds the expansion of energy together. Otherwise there is just stretching and laxity. Energy expansion within this stretching moves us towards growth.
Water and Circulation of Energy
When we talk about hydration, it’s not just in terms of consuming water. We are also talking about circulation and distribution of water. If you breathe, you can breathe deeply by using the abdominal muscles and intercostals, or shallowly with just the upper lungs. In other words, you can breathe from a stable foundation or not. Breathing works to enhance circulation of blood and other forms of energy around the body. When you increase this flow, then there is a smooth functioning and even distribution of energy. However, functioning can become impaired for several reasons.
For example, the abuse of steroids can enlarge muscles by increasing the consumption of energy within certain neurochemical transmitters. This increases water retention there and the firing rate of the surrounding neuron’s, as well as the neuron’s size. This can lead to over stimulation and lack of circulation. This can cause a person to become excessively yang, or of a fiery temperament, because their energy proportions become out of balance.
With steroid abuse, people often experience low general well being with high emotional volatility. Water can be used to hydrate the joints as well as other areas of the brain and body. This requires circulation and balanced distribution of energy. This can be difficult to achieve if the neurotransmitters become over stimulated in certain local areas, such as around particular steroid hormone sites.
From limited functioning to the unlimited
In cases of limited by highly volatile local activity around such sites, the survival circuits of the brain tends to become a dominant factor in behaviour. This high pressure within limited pathways leads to heightened fight or flight response. This is because the brain naturally assumes that with limited functioning one’s survival is threatened. This is ok in an emergency, but an emergency is not supposed to keep you on high alert for longer than necessary. The way to bring this down at all other times is to become more flexible and fluid, as well as more rounded as a person. Rounded means equal distribution of pressure.
If energy is going only one way, rather than going back and forth, then it is only natural that one’s survival instincts will kick in.
When resources are scarce, a person will tend to become more survival orientated and become reactive. Another way of looking at this is that when someone’s survival pathways get chronically over stimulated or enlarged, they tend to view everything as a competition. This eventually leads to a loss of balance, and burn out. It also leads to feelings of insecurity, because energy becomes excessively outward bound rather than self sustaining. If energy is going only one way, rather than going back and forth, then it is only natural that one’s survival instincts will kick in. Being stuck in a survival mode prevents wider circulation of energy, and constrained energy leads to limited functioning. This creates friction. It takes a lot of energy, functioning in a limited way, to become survival orientated all the time. When one becomes like a circle, they move without friction, even over uneven terrain.
Wider circulation of energy is a way to preserve your health rather than just survive. Survival is important, but the eventual aim of martial arts is to increase energy circulation within the wider circuits of the brain and body which promote health, well being, and maintenance of energy. This requires work. Unfortunately, today many people do not engage in the level of work necessary to keep them healthy. They either under do it, or over do it. Just as when you overwork for too long, under work can lead to limited functioning and prolonged activation of the survival circuits. In both instances the survival circuits kick in because you are functioning in a limited way. This leads to reactivity rather than balanced response.
In such an emergency situation, if you are balanced, you are able to act in an unconstrained way, even if there options are limited.
In terms of martial arts, when you get the balance right between work and maintenance, you are then better able to choose when and how to act effectively in an emergency situation. In such an emergency situation, if you are balanced, you are able to act in an unconstrained way, even if there options are limited.
Sweating is a good way of cooling the system down. Athletes sweat more than the average person because they are efficient at cooling themselves down. If you retain heat and do not manage to cool yourself down, then this is another way the survival circuits are likely to get heightened. Ideally, if you sweat predominantly from the head, this is considered better than all over the body. This is because in terms of energy it is considered a good sign that the energy is traveling upwards and exiting at the top like a hot spring. It is usually a sign that there is enough upward transmission of energy.
To become like a circle is to embody balance, symmetry, and responsiveness. It is to distribute energy and pressure equally across the whole system, allowing for unlimited functioning in body, mind, and spirit. This is not just a physical shape but a living principle—a way of being resilient, fluid, and whole in the face of life’s pressures.
