In martial arts, it is important not to just go through the motions without engagement in what you are doing. For example, you don’t just do a series of punches and kicks in some exercise session, and then wait for that to end. This kind of clock watching can lead to dead forms, as well as practices which lack the needed dynamism necessary to engage with the deeper aspects of martial arts. It is important to generate a certain amount of energy, and then keeps this flow of energy high so that there is a more fluid exchange and circulation on all levels.
When people act enthusiastic without meaning it, because that’s what the exercise demands, they often feel flat and merely performative. This happens when people pretend to engage with what they are doing superficially. They then feel they are simply complying with demands. In response to this compliance, people harden up, flatten, or try to become more dominant and controlling over others to try and secure an advantage for themselves. So because they have missed the deeper meaning, they go for something superficial. This reduces their scope for dynamic activity so that they become limited in their overall capability. Their identity also becomes correspondingly limited. this is because they associate themselves with some small aspect of the whole, rather than the bigger picture.
“So they move from self defence which manages risk in the long term, to the elimination of risk across short time horizons. This eventually leads to diminishing returns in martial arts.”
In the example of self defence training, rather than regulating themselves in a healthy way overall, people may instead seek to simply oppress or dominate others. This is often done beyond what is required for functioning in their environment. Instead of working on the whole, many people enlarge a small aspect of themselves well out of proportion. So they move from self defence which manages risk in the long term, to the elimination of risk across short time horizons. This eventually leads to diminishing returns in martial arts. What is this whole I’m talking about? It means you develop yourself as an integrated person, all at once, rather than trying to contain everything in one compartment.
The Prowling Tiger
“The tigers presence is responsive to the ecological need as a whole, and doing in so it is adaptive. Rather than eliminating all risk, it engages with it.”
When a tiger is prowling in the forest, its physical presence is very much minimal. You probably won’t notice it’s there. It does not go round disturbing its environment and drawing attention to itself, thinking it will dominate that way. Like this, the tigers presence is responsive to the ecological need as a whole, and doing in so it is adaptive. Rather than eliminating all risk, it engages with it. This is what is meant by responsibility. Like the Tiger, you can respond as you need to according to the situation as it transitions dynamically, not according to some limited time and place, or ecological niche. This is the source of the Tigers adaptive capability, and it can become be yours.
The tiger in the forest maintains a distance from others, but it does not withdraw. It is in a state of total responsibility in terms of its impact on the environment. In this way, the tiger responds with total engagement to what it is doing, even if this means withdrawing or creating space between itself and the attention of others. Therefore, the Tiger is able to engage in the ritual of the hunt when necessary, without clinging to this ritual, which would otherwise become a drain on its own resources. Thereby, the Tiger is able to retain its vigour in all aspects of life without clinging to transient situations unnecessarily.
When the ritual of the hunt is the only thing on the Tigers mind all the time, there is a certain dominance. However, there also tends to be an over exaggeration of on the survival aspect of life. In terms of martial arts, this means that too much emphasis on dominating others tends to bring about a kind of lifelessness within that person. They will say “unless it has to do with fighting, I will not engage with it”. This type of head strong martial artist will not look at the situation and say “I will withdraw from this temporarily to learn more about it, and come back better prepared”. It is good to be willing to take on all situations, but it is only if you are really disciplined that can you prevent this kind of approach from becoming a long term barrier.
“The Tiger does not meet this uncertainty with a rigid set of reactions and attitudes. This would be inefficient. When efficiency recedes, energy follows.”
The complexity of the environment, within which the tiger flourishes, is not dependant on some purpose built system. For example, the Tiger does not operate in a boxing ring, where there is only the one on one contest. The Tigers life is a fluid unfolding, moment by moment. With this, there is naturally sense of uncertainty about what will happen next. Rather than trying to control everything and make the outcome certain, the Tiger acts according to what it can do, even if that is not much. It does not dwell on things outside of its control. At the same time, it acts decisively. It is the same in the life of the martial artist. When it is time to withdraw, it is not worth second guessing this act, anymore than when there is a clear opportunity and time to advance.
The Tiger does not meet uncertainty with a rigid set of reactions and attitudes. This would be inefficient. And anyway, this kind of simplistic action would not even work. When efficiency recedes, energy follows. That means, becoming efficient and performing useful action is more important than being just strong. And yet, in martial arts we tend to think that decisive physical action is the only action. Action is about responding with economy, which may involve creating space, or regulating your nervous system for example, so that you are in better condition to think clearly. This may be the kind of positive action which works in a given situation, even though uncertainty remains and you don’t get a decisive victory once and for all.
“There is no equal and opposite force here. the Tiger does not meet a raised voice with a louder one if it is not necessary. Meeting situations violently at all times can lead to a dissipation of energy.”
The Tiger, or some other big beast out there, does not see a threat and then respond in kind, just like that. There is no equal and opposite force here. The Tiger does not meet a raised voice with a louder one if it is not necessary. Meeting situations violently at all times can lead to a dissipation of energy, even if there is a short term victory. Of course, sometimes it is necessary to take decisive action and defend yourself to the utmost. At other times, it is necessary to sit and wait, to watch and learn.
When you meet fire with fire unnecessarily, you might win the contest, but you could easily end up burnt out and drained. It is often beneficial to sink into the posture, and contain energy until it matures further. This is sometimes known as ‘sinking the Qi’ in certain Chinese systems. Put simply, this means you ground yourself in a suitable kind of posture, and focus on the Hara Centre, within the lower abdomen. By lowering the centre of mass, you are able to relax tension and slow respiration for example, whilst maintaining energy. The idea is that you stabilise yourself through posture and gravity, instead of finding peace because you dominated someone else. Then, whatever the outcome, you remain stable and in control of your own internal situation because you stay centred, ready, and aware.
When you see practice as a means to contain your experience and practice self discipline, life returns and all energy becomes refined. In this way, the body is a kind of container which is used to let something mature slowly. This does not mean you contain pressure without any kind of disciplined practice and no release at all. For example, when you sit with uncertainty, it becomes an opportunity for discovery, provided you are disciplined and remain attentive to the process. There is a controlled release through breathing when one sits meditatively. This can be done whenever you get the opportunity, rather than during a formal practice session. For example, you might be waiting for a coffee, so you sink into the posture and become meditative for a few minutes.
There is safety to be found in holding ones attention towards this unfolding meditative process, even in times of uncertainty. There are many situations where sustained attention towards becoming grounded can be beneficial. For example, if you mourn the loss of a loved one in a state of full conscious awareness, this reduces the emotional hijacking often brought about by impulsive activity. There can be a beautiful sense of grief being transformed over time and a reduction in stress.
None of this means that difficult situations become a breeze. It means that you are able to recover more quickly and with less exhaustion, even when the situation becomes overwhelming. This is exactly what predetermined reactions and scattered behaviours do not make space for. In this way, many who experience loss develop prolonged anxiety much more than in the past, because there is generally a lack of training to regulate the system. At the same time, physical action must always take place in an environment that requires you to be malleability to it. This means that rather than the environment yielding itself to you, you must remain flexible to it. It is of course fear of the uncertainty, rather than acceptance of it, which brings about all kinds of anxieties.
“A martial artists must contain a certain sense of groundedness within themselves, whilst being flexible to the outside world.”
For the tree to grow, it requires a solid platform. This platform is the earth. As the tree grows into the wider atmosphere, it is more exposed to the elements and branches out into a more flexible form. This is very much like how a martial artists must contain a certain sense of groundedness within themselves, whilst being flexible to the outside world. If the tree remained as a root, it would never transform. It is only through transformation that a tree defines itself. If there were no outside conditions, there would be no transformation. Therefore, there would be no understanding about the internal process of how a tree grows, because there would be no context. In terms of martial arts, the outside environment gives meaning and expression to the internal form.
We perceive things and define them according to how they act as opposites. Internal and external, dark and light, these are all opposites which form a unified whole. In this opposition we find wholeness, a wholeness which we inhabit. Due to our perceptions of opposition, we think that things are actually spare which are not. In our own deeper experience, which is beyond all this duality stuff, it is a mistake to view opposites as fragmented categories to organise our thinking around. These separate categories which we perceive through the senses are simply tools so that constructions can be made. The senses distinguish so that relationships can appear and be built. Separatedness creates a map so we can understand how the terrain fits together.
“So, there is always localised pressure, which we may feel isolates us, and containment gives it a place to rise, circulate, and spread. In this way the martial artist moves from an individual form, to a universal one.”
Containment and Integration
The internal side of martial arts does not make you an entity of your own, separate from the enviornemt. If there were a total absence of external demands and we could just sit there at one with the universe physically, there would be no need to act as an individual, because the inputs we take in from the environment would be the same everywhere. What is you, and what is not, would be the same. So, there is always localised pressure, which we may feel isolates us, and containment gives it a place to rise, circulate, and spread. In this way the martial artist moves from an individual form, to a universal one. Earlier I mentioned about ‘Sinking the Qi’. The martial artist must sink the Chi in order to feel more integrated and whole, becoming organised in chaotic situations.
When the martial artist move from external to internal, they move from an individual form, to a universal one. Rather than releasing pressure through anger and frustration indiscriminately and suddenly, the martial artists uses the posture and breath as the valve and container. For example, they release pressure through the nose and mouth in a controlled and gradual way, whilst containing energy in the centre. This is why there is such an emphasis on the form and breath, because this creates an efficient container, with a built in filter system.
Let’s use the example of a flask of coffee. When the pressure is contained in the flask, it rises up and redistributes itself. If the container is sound, the process happens naturally as pressure is neutralised through containment. When it is contained efficiently, energy does not blow up it just evenly distributes. The system remains potent if this is done sufficiently well. This is what internal martial arts is all about. Otherwise the energy is simply allowed to escape, or used violently and wastefully. This makes a person vulnerable rather than powerful, because they only feel relief after discharge, or they develop a need for constant indiscriminate expression. This is unlike the Tiger I mentioned earlier, who is actually the biggest presence in the jungle. In terms of human behaviour, reactivity often makes their personality more forceful, and their expression more performative. This is not martial arts at its core, this is survival and emotional projection.
“In the familiar example of cramming for an exam, the student holds within themselves a certain cognitive pressure. The short term memory becomes saturated in information, which increases cognitive arousal and activity.”
In the familiar example of cramming for an exam, the student holds within themselves a certain cognitive pressure. The short term memory becomes saturated in information, which increases cognitive arousal and activity. This is totally unnecessary for the martial artists who generally contains pressure, which is a kind of information, where it is supposed to be contained. If there is an unstable container, with no efficient means of pressure release, this naturally leads to anxiety about coping with pressure. This anxiety takes many forms, and explains why so many people experience anxiety whilst retaining only a limited understanding of the vast information they had previously crammed in their heads. It would be better if they had contained less and let the information sit within them until it matured into understanding. Otherwise, there is not the necessary time needed for the material to transform, or the time for growth and connections to develop.
“In terms of martial arts, when the martial artists learns to contain the lessons they learn and to embody this learning, there is no longer the need for explosive expression under tension.”
So, in short term memory cramming, there is a routine building up of tension and release, so that one learns to develop and kind of pressure management, rather than a fully vibrant and alive intelligence. As I said earlier, information needs time to sit in order to mature. This is very much like how a meal needs time to sit in order for the flavours to sink in and form together. In the example of people cramming for exams, such individuals only feel good after the pressure is discharged on exam day. This kind of cramming can of course be useful in some instances, particularly if the individual is well rounded and this is only an initial phases of practice to be outgrown after a certain point.
In terms of martial arts, when the martial artists learns to contain the lessons they learn and to embody this learning, there is no longer the need for explosive expression under tension. Otherwise there is just superficial learning, which although measurable and fast in the short term, does not remain adaptable or present across dynamic situations. This explains why people generally forget about martial arts later in life after being good athletes. The lessons they learn and the information they take in does not mature. Nor does this information hold in the long term, because there is no structural integrity, no stable base. Information is pressurised through repetition and anxiety, then released in an exam or short term window, rather than allowed to rest and sit within the system. The relief that follows is mistaken for mastery. Or in terms of martial arts, learning some moves repeatedly under tensions does not lead to understanding or capacity to act fully and dynamically.
“Dissolution doesn’t mean disappearance, it means integration. Another way of looking at this is that your energy finds freedom, which is all that really matters.”
When force is released prematurely, speed replaces timing. It is often better to foster a sense of containment, so that pressure dissolves itself within rather than wasted on externalities. This dissolution simply means a mature and subtle energy. Dissolution doesn’t mean disappearance, it means integration. Another way of looking at this is that your energy finds freedom, which is all that really matters. When energy is released prematurely, it is always limited. In this sense, dissolution means there has been a transformation. This is why it is important to perform action through the core and out through the periphery. There is often a waste product built up in martial arts practice, particularly the physical systems. This waste product can be flushed out in various ways, such as stretching, or taking a break from information overload. Waste product is best released by working from the centre and out.
Taking a break from information overload allows expression and release without depleting containment. In other words, you are able to fully integrate your energies, whilst naturally releasing tension which would otherwise build up and become harmful. It is very much like how a weight lifter must rest, and only train as much as they rest. That’s where the growth happens. It only happens within certain strict parametres, between two opposites – training and rest. This is what I was talking about earlier, and how overall sense can be made in terms of opposites.
Rest does not mean stagnation, it can be active and intense, just not so much in the physical sense. When there is containment and dissolution, there is a dynamic activity which is in a way a receding force, but in another way it is deeply transformative. This is why it is important to become meditative, stretch the muscles, or take some time out from physical exertion. These acts are restful in one way, but make you stronger in another. Becoming disciplined in this way will help improve sleep quality, as well as create a distance between yourself and any stressful situation. You are then better able to take on all challenges. This is because you are actually practicing being away from the harmful effects of being reactive, overdoing things, and building up unnecessary tension. Then it is not just theoretical, it is an experiential reality for you.
Containment happens at the centre, the foundation level. When you strike, you keep organised from the core, because the core is the Hara centre, the body centre of maintenance. When the core is stable and maintained in a certain way, the limbs move freely, and breathe and attention remain available to you without getting caught up in externalities. So the core dictates what pressures are felt there, rather than your brain getting worked up and projecting this into your system. As I said earlier, there is always a local pressure which allows for increased circulation with the whole. If this local pressure is localised in the brain pathways, then certain problems are a natural consequence. When breath and body release an action, it is brief and contained, rather than prolonged and unnecessary. There is no overkill. That means you move fluidly with the situation.
Self regulation vs Repression
Let’s use the example of an anxious dog playfully jumping up at you. There may be an initial apprehension. This is not because the dog is dangerous, it probably isn’t. In any case, panic would escalate the situation, and aggravation provokes agitated animals. There is a need for self regulation, and there is a physical element to this, just as there is in survival response. So the idea is to act from the centre, just as you would in a fight, but with a sense of containment and discipline. So in a way you hold back physically, but collapse invites hostility and makes you an easy target. This is why you remain energised and balanced. What resolves this every day situation is grounded and disciplined presence. This kind of bearing leads to a sense of disciplined authority as you are fully integrated internally and externally.
Holding back from heightening a situation is not repression. Repression disconnects you from the situation, and numbs sensation and awareness. The idea is to orientate your energies properly, giving them structure and form. This involves external and internal factors. When you can hold the internal energies within, you are able to redistribute any external pressures, which you might acutely feel, without losing energy. In martial arts this is done by maintaining a grounded posture, whilst working with the breath. You are then not undergoing any unnecessary adrenaline surges and energy is conserved.
Together, breath and body acts as a container system. One who can do this kind of work effectively is never afraid of pressure. Nor are they unconsciously led by others, or controlled by the limited expressions of their less refined outputs of energy which reflect back to them. In terms of martial arts, the accomplished martial artist simply use energy as needed in the best possible way, and transforms it into a greater possibility than the external situation may immediately present. This is not to say they judge something as good or bad, they just do what is needed and no more than that. Then, they neither explode nor shut down, they become fully integrated, like a Tiger in the jungle.
